Being a Writer - Learn the Craft of Writing

In the June 2010 issue of The Writer, author Jane Yolen discussed the need to learn the craft of writing in an article titled, “Dedicate Yourself to a Writing Apprenticeship.” She explained that the process is slow and long, but is necessary to being a writer, to learn the craft of writing.

If you’re wondering what the craft of writing is, it’s proper writing technique, grammar, and style. These writing elements include structure, formatting, clarity, and in fiction writing, plot, character development, point of view, and dialogue. Even knowing the particulars in the genre you write is important.

So, what exactly is the meaning of the word ‘craft?’

Wikipedia’s definition is, “A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work.”

Merriam-Webster refers to ‘craft’ as an occupation requiring “artistic skill.”

And, TheFreeDicitionary.com mentions membership in a guild.

Between all three definitions we know that a ‘craft’ is a branch of a professional group or guild. It is a career or occupation, not simply a hobby.

Interestingly, there are various avenues that can be taken to become an accomplished or professional writer, but each one has the need for learning, practice, time, and commitment. Some writers may go to school and get degrees, others may learn from a coach or mentor, others from trial and error, failures and successes. But, whichever path is taken, there is a lot of work that goes into becoming experienced and knowledgeable, in being a writer. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

But today, with the easy-to-do-it-yourself self-publishing explosion, writers may not be viewed as professionals. Certainly, most people have read a self-published book or e-book that lacks proper grammar, structure, and even clarity. These products are easy to spot, but yet they’re available for sale, and the authors consider themselves writers.

While it’s great that those who want to write have a vehicle to publish their own work, especially in this overwhelmed publishing market, those who don’t take the time to learn the craft of writing do themselves and others an injustice. They make the self-publishing book market murky and the label of ‘writer’ less professional.

This shouldn’t be the case.

Think of a professional musician. Imagine him playing an amazing piece, smooth, fluid, and beautiful – every note is perfect. Now imagine another musician; this one isn’t in tune, can’t read the music, misses notes, and sounds awful. Which musician do you want to be?

You should want to be the professional; the one who offers polished and experienced work; the one who earns a reputation for quality.

According to WritersHelper.com, it doesn’t matter what your experience level is, there is always room for improvement. Writers should strive to “study ways to improve their craft.” While this may take time and work, it is easy to find the needed help and resources.

To begin, do a search for online writing instruction; try the keyword “learn to write.” You can also check your local schools for adult education classes, or take some college writing courses. There is an abundance of writing information available, much of it free or very inexpensive; take advantage of it.

Being a writer means you need to learn the craft of writing, and continue honing your skills.

Originally published at:
https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2015/08/24/being-a-writer-learn-the-craft-of-writing/

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. She is also an author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

You can check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! at:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

And, be sure to connect with Karen at:
Twitter http://twitter.com/KarenCV
LinkedIn  http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Pinterest  http://pinterest.com/KarenCioffi/

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Platform, Brand and You

What does it take to reach your audience and promote your writing?  Your Platform, your Branding, and your Website

Your Platform and your brand, presented via your website, tell your readers who you are and what you are about. These three, closely aligned will present a consistent message. Readers will return often to ask; “What do they have for me today?” “What more can I do to build my writing business?”

What is Platform?
Your Platform is useful if you are a blogger writing essays, articles, or books. Our success requires visibility, thus we must communicate with our readers. Work to make your message clear and valuable, fostering trust. As for me, I want people to know where I am, what I offer in the way of writing craft, and the pieces I’m working on. How do they connect with me? My Website.

OK, so what is my Brand?
You Are! You are your brand. We build brands through words, images and actions—your actions. Your brand is your promise, so deliver. Be consistent. Know who you are writing for and write to resonate with them. Make sure you send the same message through your words, images and actions. You are establishing an ongoing relationship.

Your writing is your business. Agents represent brands, publishers work with brands, readers buy brands, and companies hire brands. Develop your brand—it’s a strategic business practice.  Newbie’s: it’s not too early to start developing your brand. Get started; people are watching.

How do I get my message out to my readership?

• Always be authentic, be personal and professional.
• Provide valuable information; you will build authority in your niche, through communication.
• Announce your website and purpose on social media sites.
• When you post to your site, do the same on your social media pages and provide a link to your website.
• Build an email list by offering subscriptions on your website and send out newsletters.
• Invite Guests who will contribute to your message by sending you articles to post.
• Provide added value resources.
• Take advantage of speaking engagements.
• Offer on-line courses, webinars and podcasts.

Add value - it’s the best path to grow your readership and promote your work.

 Grow Content = Successful Marketing

Content Curation and Content Aggregation are marketing strategies: https://www.writersonthemove.com/2019/07/content-curation-aggregation.html   
Great Content Strategy: https://www.writersonthemove.com/2019/06/create-strategy-that-delivers-great.html 

 

Deborah Lyn Stanley is an author of Creative Non-Fiction. She writes articles, essays and stories. She is passionate about caring for the mentally impaired through creative arts.

Visit her web-blog: https://deborahlynwriter.com/
Facebook at: Deborah Lyn Stanley, Writer

What Are Your Writing Strengths and Weaknesses?

Writing is such a unique journey for each and every writer.

Some find it easy to meld their chapters, one into another. Others find it easy to get just the right ending, with some kind of twist or surprise that gives it a great edge.

There are also other authors who find it easy to jump right into a story, writing a grabbing beginning.

No matter what aspect of the story, there will be some writers who can breeze though it effortlessly while others may struggle. That’s the nature of writing.

I find it relatively easy to start a story. I can create a beginning that jumps into the action, which is what most stories, especially children’s stories need.

But…yep, there’s a BUT… I often found it difficult to end my stories. I have no idea why. I can start it, bring it along toward an ending, but, then I fizzled out. My endings were initially weak and definitely lacking.

I first noticed my weak spot when I submitted a chapter book to 4RV Publishing. I pitched the story to the publisher during an online writers’ conference. The publisher allowed me to submit a synopsis and the first three chapters, which was also a bit lacking, but that’s another story.

The editor who read the chapters and synopsis liked the storyline, but was confused about my ending in the synopsis. As I mentioned above I have trouble with my endings. Aside from that, the editor recommended the publisher request the manuscript so they could look it over. They did advise I edit it first and work on the ending. I created an entirely new ending and sent it to a professional editor to be reviewed . . . and edited.

It’s funny, but I think there are at times some form of inspiration that can take us where we don’t usually tread...that helps us overcome our obstacles or mountains and take us beyond what we think we’re capable of.

In the case of my story, Walking Through Walls, I came up with a pretty good ending that tied everything together and afforded a surprise. I worked on this story for around two years and finally when it counted, I found the right path for the story to take.

We writers must pay attention to our writing weak spots and work on them. I was fortunate that an editor and publisher looked beyond my weak points and gave me the opportunity to improve my story. This is not always the case.

So, what’s a writer to do?

Well, the very basics are simple:

1. Make sure you’re a part of a critique group with new and experienced writers. The critique members may be able to help you over the hurdles. At the very least, they’ll catch a number of mistakes in everything from structure to grammar that you missed.

2. If you have to, write a few different scenarios in the section you’re having trouble with, to help you open up. And, if you’re still having trouble with your story, put it away for at least a week, preferably more, and then go back to it. It’s almost like magic; you’ll see it differently, with a newness and awareness. And, listen when inspiration comes knocking!

3. Read a lot of quality books in the genre you’re writing and even copy sections of them word-by-word. Make sure to include recently published books by top publishers. This is a trick to get your brain to think and write ‘good writing.’ Just be sure to only do this for practice purposes. Never, ever use someone’s work as your own – that’s plagiarism.

4. Practice your writing – hone your craft. I’ve gotten better at my endings through working and practice. This is why there’s a saying, “practice makes perfect.” Well, if not perfect, at least much better!

5. If nothing else works, hire a developmental editor or ghostwriter to help rewrite the sections you’re having difficulty with.

So, the tip of the day: Pay attention to where your writing weak spots are and work on them. You have options to help you get your story right.

And, listen when inspiration comes knocking!

So, back to the title of the post: What are your writing strengths and weaknesses? 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter. She is also an online marketing instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.
Visit her at: Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi (Sign up for her mailing list and visit her DIY Page.)
Follow Karen at: http://facebook.com/writingforchildrenwithkarecioffi

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Self-Publishing - 3 Tips to Help You Avoid the ‘I Want It Now Syndrome’ (What’s a ‘Wannabe’ Author to Do?)

By Karen Cioffi

Self-publishing is a ship everyone wants to sail on. And, for good reason. This publishing avenue is quick and cheap.

Yes, self-publishing is fast. There’s no more submitting to a publisher or multiple publishers and waiting for (possibly) months for a response. Will they accept your manuscript that you’ve been working on for months, maybe years? Or, will they send you a generic standard rejection letter? Either way, the time waiting for an acceptance or rejection isn’t fun. With self-publishing, as soon as your manuscript is ready to go, it goes.

There are lots and lots of places to publish an ebook. And, you can publish with more than one service. And, you can sell that ebook right from your own site. That’s pretty convenient.

In addition to being a quick process, ebooks are cheap to create and publish. If you do everything yourself (aside from editing), it will cost nothing. In the event you need help, services like Fiverr have people who will help you for a very, very reasonable price.

But . . .

While it’s obvious to see the benefits to self-publishing, these benefits have one drawback in particular: everyone thinks they can write a book and self-publish it, whether or not they have the skills to write a book and whether or not it’s a quality product.

Part of the problem, possibly the main problem, is the 'I want it now' syndrome that self-publishing lends itself to. New authors don't want to take the longer 'proven' road of learning the craft of writing and having their manuscript edited before publishing.

This ‘problem’ does all authors a disservice. It lessens the validity of self-published books as a whole. Readers (buyers) never know if the book they’re buying was done professionally or if it was carelessly slapped together.

So, what’s the solution?

Well, there are three basic strategies to use when thinking of writing a book and self-publishing:

1. Learn the craft of writing.

The first thing a ‘wannabe’ author needs to do is learn the craft of writing. This isn’t to say you must get a MFA, but you should take writing courses and belong to writing groups.

2. Join a critique group.

The second thing is for the author to join a genre appropriate critique group. Having your manuscript critiqued by others helps with grammar, clarity, storyline, characters . . . you get the idea. Critique groups help you write your book. Those extra eyes will catch things in your manuscript that you glaze over.

3. Hire an editor.

The third thing the author should do, after the manuscript is as ‘good’ as she can get it, is to find a reputable editor and have it edited. It’s easy for an author to think she’s found all the errors in her manuscript, but in actuality, this is almost impossible to do. As the author, you’re much too close to the work to see it fresh and with unbiased eyes.

Self-publishing is an amazing opportunity for authors, but it needs to be done responsibly. Authors need to take the readers and the industry into consideration when venturing into it.

4. Bonus Tip: Hire a professional illustrator or graphic designer for the cover.

What’s the first thing a reader will see when looking at your book? Yep, the cover. The cover can be the determining factor as to whether that person will pick the book up to look at the back cover and/or buy it.

There’s almost nothing worse in self-publishing than having an amateurish, cheap looking book cover. If you have to cut corners, do it elsewhere - invest in a quality cover.

Summing it Up

Instead of being one of the “I want it now” authors, be one of the ‘I want it, but am willing to work toward it’ authors.

And, keep in mind that for content marketing this is even more important. While writing your own book or ebook is a savvy marketing strategy, you will need to create a quality product if it's to do its job of building your authority and credibility. Always do it right.


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 Want more followers? Want more subscribers? Want more sales?

Then you have to check out my new BLOGGING SMART VIDEO WORKSHOP through the Working Writers Club.

This hour long workshop will show you how to get more website visitors, more authority, and more sales. And, there are 3 bonus lessons . . . and, it's only $20. You can't go wrong.

On Point of View, Political Correctness, and Creativity

Guestpost from Carolyn Howard-Johnnson

Many of you know that in my other writing life, I take up serious themes like discrimination so I’m especially sensitive to it when I see in the publishing world.

Not long ago, my writing friend Leora Krygier was asked by a reporter for the Orange County Register if she felt qualified to write from the point of view of a young Vietnamese girl in her book When She Sleeps. Having once been in journalism and been in a position to do some interviewing of my own, I was a bit incensed. It seemed amazing to me that someone would presume to tell a writer they couldn't or shouldn't write from any point of view they so choose  or suggest that doing so would cause resentment. How could a reader (or a reporter) possibly presume we couldn't write from the point of view of someone of a different race, a different religion or culture. And why would they tinge that question with a hint-of-haughty in the voice, a bit of a look-down-the-nose demeanor.

My daughter, a cultural anthropologist, suggested that such ideas were a function of our intensity to be as politically correct as possible and The Register did have a large Vietnamese population, which was probably one reason they were doing the interview in the first place. Because I believe that being politically incorrect in most instances, simply promulgates bigotry, I tried to put all my arguments—arguments in favor of creative writers—aside and forget about it.

Then I ran into another instance of this kind of question in Time magazine. There is was in my face again:

Belinda Luscombe put on her snarkiest interview hat to interview Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Michael Chabon. It went something like this: "A central character in your book Telegraph Avenue, Arcy Stallings, is the black co-owner of a record store. Did you feel anxious writing from the point of view of a black guy?" In addition to the haughty and snooty tendencies listed above, her question smacks a bit of the passive aggressive.

I admit it. That got me a little riled. But the interviewer persisted: "But race is a charged subject. In the book, there's a white lawyer, Moby, who talks like a black guy. Didn't you worry that that was you?"

Then I went on a full scale rant, albeit a quiet one to myself. Exc-u-u-se me! But don't writers of fiction always use something of themselves when drawing a character? None of us can pull any character trait that we haven't personally seen, experienced, or read about from thin air! I sniffed! But it doesn't have to be us.

And doesn't fiction work—especially great fiction—because at our cores we are all the same? Sentient human beings who share needs and feelings? When I suffer under one kind of prejudice, as an example, isn't that at some level very similar to what someone else suffers under another? So wouldn't that qualify white-girl me to write from the point of anyone I so chose—if I took care. If I had a worthy subject and theme. And isn't that the job of the artist to decide?

And, (I actually huffed! Almost aloud!), haven't these reporters ever heard of research? Or imagination?

And what about that idea of getting too close to something, so close that we may feel responsible or fear we're putting our souls in danger? Or that someone might mistake sincerity for satire? Of vice versa? Wouldn't any thoughtful person understand that every time an author picks up a pen he or she puts herself in some kind of emotional (philosophical?) danger? And don't readers understand the difference between fiction and reality? Do they really think that every character in our books is us rather than seeing that every character may be us, but may also be a reflection of someone we've observed? Or read about? Or devised by mixing traits of many people we've met?

And this is the answer I came up with.

Apparently not.

CHJ

 

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson occasionally contributes to AuthorsOntheMove. She is the author of award-winning books This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a series of chapbooks of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Borrowing from the Superheroes

My husband—sweetie that he is—brought me a copy of The Smithsonian from his dermatologist's office. So thanks to Lance and Dr. Mantel, I am now a diehard fan of the magazine.

One of the articles was inspired by the new movie, Man of Steel. They take up how "superhero origin stories inspire us to cope with adversity."

The elements that make superheroes so popular can work with characters in any kind of fiction you may write (or read). Here are the ones that Smithsonian writer Robin Rosenberg found in several of the most popular superhero tales. Check your stories and novels to see how these themes (or "life-altering experiences") might be capitalized on to further pique the interest of your readers.

~Destiny—is your character "chosen" in some way?
~Trauma—has your character suffered trauma that increased his strengths or weaknesses?
~Sheer chance—Sheer chance is usually not as compelling as an action that has been caused or motivated, but sometimes a writer just has to resort to it. If an author makes that choice, he or she should put more emphasis on how the character deals with it.
~Choosing "altruism over the pursuit of wealth and power."

My own takeaway from Rosenberg’s piece is that literary criticism of the last decade has relegated backstory in novels as pretty undesirable, something that should be minimized at all costs. In my gut, I've always disagreed. Of course, we can't let backstory get in the way of momentum, but backstory is often part of your hero’s path to character building so they very well may deserve more attention.  I’m also reading Wally Lamb’s new novel and I’m pretty sure from the evidence that he agrees with me—at least in regard to literary fiction.

Backstory helps your readers relate and find meaning in loss, and it provides models for coping. If you are a write of nonfiction, you may find ways to use superheroes' themes anecdotally in your work.

In either case, understanding the psychological underpinnings of why we are so affected may benefit us all by "tapping into our capacity for empathy, one of the greatest [super?] powers of all."

There’s one more that Rosenberg missed. I think we're all searching for connection—human to human. If that happens to be human-to-alien or human-to-superhero, so be it. It's part of what we all need as readers.

Note: Rosenberg, a clinical psychologist, has written several books about the psychology of superheroes. Search for her on Google.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Learning the Craft of Writing

I was contemplating my NaNoWriMo efforts of the past 3 years and what I have planned this year and it struck me that although I’ve ‘writing’ since childhood, have had things ‘published’ over the years and now make this a full-time endeavor, I still know so little about the craft of writing.

That’s really what writing is all about—learning the craft. And that is what takes so long—because you must practice and read other examples of good writing from which to role model.

I’ve been doing a lot of both lately. I’ve read several really awesome YA books, like The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch (amazing writing)  and, of course, any of Cassandra Clare’s books. I’m currently rereading Divergent by Veronica Roth and Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.

All of this reading slapped me in the face with how these authors handled many of the obvious mistakes my own work contains and why I haven’t been pleased with any of it. But recognizing this fact and fixing it are two different issues.

When I wrote Odessa and several of the others in my two early series, I just sat down and let the story pour out of me then said, “Done.” But as I reread these books I’m disappointed in myself for the lackluster writing and poor flow. Does that mean I could write it any better now? Maybe somewhat better, but not as well as I’d like, yet.

So I went shopping on Amazon and found several books on craft that have made a WORLD of difference in my thought process and organizing the ideas I had but couldn’t get together. These books were: Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland and Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks.

What does all of this have to do with NaNo? I spent last month plotting and planning, revising characters and plotline for the manuscript I’ve struggled with over for the past 3 NaNos. And I must say, I’m excited to get started writing. I like this plot and character much better and I think I may have nailed it. We’ll see by the end of the month.

I also decided to start over with a brand new manuscript, rather than trying to piece the old with the new like a worn-out quilt.

Here’s the premise for Sunshine Colony:2525

In the year 2525 the world has collapsed and rebuilt itself into linked, self-governed villages called Colonies. 13-year-old Rayna Darwin was born into Seaside Village, Sunshine Colony the usual way--for those times. But her circumstances were far from usual--a red-haired twin was the most taboo birth possible. Her twin sold to Slavers and birth mother exiled, Rayna was rescued and given away to be raised in the Underground Black Market by loving Barren parents who dyed her hair brown and hid her true identity. She played with other kids when their parents came to shop, fell in love with one of them and never knew danger. That is, until a woman so jealous of Rayna's mother's good fortune and loving life she could no longer control herself turned Rayna over to the Peacers. Taken away to live with the other 12-20 year old girls in the government-run population control center called the Gestortium, Rayna's life takes a turn for the dangerous when she is recognized by a sadistic previous playmate who is so jealous of Rayna's loving home and life she formulates a plan to kill her. After all, she's done it before...     

                           

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Since writing this posting I have begun writing and am about 7 chapters into the new story. I read the opening chapter to my college-aged son and his highschool girlfriend—both picky readers…They were impressed and wanted to know the rest of the story. SUCCESS! Now to keep up that level of tension.

Rebecca Ryals Russell, a fourth-generation Floridian, was born in Gainesville, grew up in Ft Lauderdale then lived in Orlando and Jacksonville with her Irish husband and four children. Due to the sudden death of Rebecca's mother, they moved to Wellborn, near Lake City, to care for her father, moving into his Victorian home built in 1909. After teaching Middle Graders for fourteen years she retired and began writing the story idea which had been brewing for thirty years.  Within six months she wrote the first three books of each series, YA Seraphym Wars and MG Stardust Warriors. The world she created has generated numerous other story ideas including two current works in progress, SageBorn Chronicles based on various mythologies of the world and aimed at the lower Middle Grade reader and Saving Innocence, another MG series set on Dracwald and involving dragons and Majikals. She is finishing a YA Dystopian Romance which has been a NaNoWriMo project for three years. She loves reading YA Fantasy, Horror and Sci Fi as well as watching movies.  Read more about Rebecca and her WIPs as well as how to buy books in her various series at http://rryalsrussell.com  You may email her at vigorios7@gmail.com

Carolyn’s Critique Guidelines for Happy Writers

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers

(www.howtodoitfrugally.com)

         

These are guidelines that will help workshop leaders and critique group participants achieve more rewarding group experiences. The guidelines were distributed to all those who joined a critique group for the Glendale Library system I founded. They are informed by classes I took and classes I taught for UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, years’ of experience leading critique groups, and some guidelines used by therapists in group sessions.

Following these guidelines should reduce a participant’s anxieties about plagiarism, sensitive feelings, copyright violations, fear of success, fear of rejections and other issues.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

With the understanding that all writing is unique and valuable, criticism will be offered as opinion only. Each critiquer offers suggestion(s) with no other intention than to help the writer who is sharing his or her work improve that work. 

           

With the understanding that all critiques are offered in the best interest of the work submitted, the author of that work accepts criticism without defense.

                       No one will be required to participate at any level of critiquing until she/he is ready. Observers may be encouraged to do so, but are welcome to sit out until they feel they can share.

Each participant reads from his or her work. He or she may suggest aspects of the work he or she would particularly like the group to address. As an example, if the work is not yet ready for a line-by-line typo hunt or grammar correction, the reader may say so. The reader may also choose to not to limit the group’s focus.

Critique Group Guidelines

1. As a guideline, each critique should begin with some aspect of the work the critiquer finds valuable or interesting. Suggestions for improvement are made after that. Please, no exception to this guideline.

2. Each work will be submitted one week, critiqued the next. The reader brings a copy for each critiquer in the group—usually five to twelve.  Double spaced. No more than ten pages (This requirement may vary depending on the size of the group.)

3. The author will read her/his work. Those who wish to offer suggestions will be allowed to do so. At that time the author whose work is being critiqued will listen only. She/he may take notes but may not explain his/her intentions. The reason for this is rooted in sound psychology; if a person is thinking about what he/she is going to say, she/he cannot absorb the recommendations. Also, the purpose of critique is to learn how one’s work is perceived so that changes might be made if the author wishes to do so, not to defend grammar, spelling, formatting, content or any other aspect of the written work.

~Guideline for accepting suggestions: Take what you like, leave the rest.
~If the writer hears the same criticism more than once, he/she should give
that suggestion more serious consideration. The author needn’t indicate
whether or not she/he plans to make suggested changes.

4. Each critiquer is given no more than three minutes to critique a work before she or he yields to the next critiquer. These time limits may be adjusted depending upon the number of participants.

5. At the end of each critique session, the author whose work has been critiqued may ask questions pertaining to her/his work.

6. When critiquers answer questions posed, there is, again, no defense of the reader’s work. New questions may be asked to clarify. The idea is always to listen and absorb 

7. Because a critique group works so much better with regular attendance we ask that each participant commit her/himself to one full season of meetings and to come prepared to critique at least one submitted work.

8. Any genre may be submitted for critique. We ask that if someone is critiquing an aspect of a genre with which she/he is unfamiliar, he/she say so. Suggestions made based on experience rather than taste only might be weighed more seriously by the submitting author/reader.

9. Much like a panel leader, your critique leader is expected to limit time spent on discussions when necessary, jump in with alternative viewpoints when opinions offered are different from accepted literary standards, and help the group avoid destructive altercations.        

10. During the first few minutes of each meeting, each participant is encouraged to share hopes and successes. The reasons for this are:
• Sharing is good experience for the pitches and other marketing skills that may be needed later on in the process of writing/publishing.
• Sharing gives others in the group resources that they might use in their own writing and marketing.
• Sharing—of the deepest sort—is what much writing is about. Sharing our successes and failures in a group setting is part of that process.
• Sharing gives others an opportunity to be supportive.

Note: Critiquers and readers should be especially alert when the material offered is not a complete work, say a chapter or a scene. Critiquers may be confused about things like timelines and characters. The reader simply takes that into consideration when deciding whether or not to make changes based on the criticism.

This is a group for all levels, those who are published, those who write with the goal of eventually publishing, and those who prefer to write for themselves and/or families. Each of us has something to offer others; each of us has something to learn from others. Each participant is welcome to form critique groups of their own from members within the group. These groups may be based on genre or skill level. But we ask that those who do so return to share their more advanced skills with new members as frequently as possible.

~Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning novelist and poet and the author of the bestselling HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers including The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or partnering with your publisher in a new expanded and updated second edition, www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo .