Critiques of our work: Balancing Praise and Constructive Criticism

As a writer, if you are part of a critique group, you know the scenario. You get some comments that praise your opening line, your use of descriptive phrases, and your voice for a character. Then you get the comment that indicates you need to re-write your entire first chapter. The results are that you stop writing for a short while, going though the emotions of 1) Am I a writer at all? 2) I'll stick to the positive critique or 3) I'll start from scratch and re-write the whole thing. You have to strike a balance if you are serious about writing.

Jody Hedlund, author of The Preacher's Bride, coming out this fall, covers this topic well as a guest blogger on Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent's, site during her "mixed message" series. It couldn't have been posted at a more appropriate time for me. I had just read through four such feedbacks from my critique group and recognized the emotional roller coaster.

I go though these emotions every time I get feedback for a submission. But it only lasts a day. In the meantime, my brain is processing both sides of the feedback and weighing it with my vision for the story, along with, of course, how many of them said the same thing. We learn from this feedback, both positive and negative. And that is why critique groups are so important to writers who want to grow in their craft.

Louisiana Bayou Tour

A tour through a South Louisiana bayou with Cajun  music background. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKH9JEdZREc

Yagnohoula Women's Burial Grounds

My fellow writer and friend, Connie Hebert, has a new book coming out. Yagnahoula: Story of an Ancient Women's Burial Ground.  “Yagnahoula” is the story of a 3,000 year old ancient women’s burial grounds at Dauphin Island, AL.

From her website: http://www.yagnahoula.com/
According to oral tradition, a tall, light-skinned tribe, called “Nahoula” or ‘people,’ came “from the sea.” They flourished along the coasts of what is now known as Mississippi and Alabama.

The bodies of the holy women among them, literally shone, because they carried a luminescence within their beings, much like the Transfiguration of Christ during biblical times.

Connie is from Lafayette, Louisiana.

Guide to Literary Agents New Middle Grade/Young Adult Novel Contest

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/default,month,2010-03.aspx

TMW Awards

Last night at the banquet of the Tennessee Mountain Writers' Annual Conference, I was presented with two awards.  The first place in the category of Writing for Young People for my novel, The Zone of Fear, and second place in the same category for my Nikki Landry and the Legend of Ghost Dog Island (an excerpt is in a previous post). Needless to say, I am still in shock.  Nikki would be jumping for joy!!! Now to get them published!

The conference was a wonderful three day event. I met some very talented writers, both published and pre-published, and made some new friends.  The speakers were awesome.  I got some valuable advice from Candie Moonshower in her presentation on plotting.  Sam Venable was a hilarious speaker at the banquet.  Overall, I was very impressed with TMW!

http://www.tmwi.org/

Excerpt from my Middle Grade Children's Novel: The Legend of Ghost Dog Island

Spikes led the way through the thick swamp.

“Slow down Buzzard.” A string of moss reached down and brushed my cheek, as I hurried to keep up with him.

“We need to get there before those clouds cover the moon, and we won’t be able to find our way.” He patted his back pocket where he had stuffed his flashlight. “I don’t wanna use old Red unless I have to. Batteries aren’t cheap, ya know.” He turned around and glared at me. “And for the last time, don’t call me that.”

The loud croaking of the frogs and buzzing cicadas rang in my ears. A male alligator grunted in the distance.

A chill went through my body, while the mud pulled at my boots. “We are going to die here.” I looked behind me to see how far we had come from the water’s edge.

He plowed ahead. “I have to get the spell, and she is the only one that can give it to me.”

The moon created shadows from the willows and cypress trees that lined a path into the swamp where it was rumored the voodoo witch lived.

No grown-up in the area admitted to actually believing the legend--even though they liked telling it. But the kids living along Bayou Platte seemed to know differently, and Spikes had a reason to want to find out the truth. And, as scared as I was, I wanted to see for myself what was on Ghost Dog Island.

My favorite Louisiana writer

James Lee Burke describes Southwest Louisiana like no other.  His Dave Robicheaux novels are riveting.  If you are from Louisiana and like crime mysteries, you will be totally hooked.  If you survived Hurricane Audrey and listened to Jole' Blanc as a child, you will relive those memories more vividly than you can imagine.   Read more about JLB and his books at: http://www.jamesleeburke.com/

You Gotta Have a Hook

Erin Dealey creates a catchy rap tune for writers.  Check out her rhyme on U-Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYqMA2mPG7I

50,000 words in a month???

Well, I'm here to report that I did not win the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, although some of my writing buddies did.  Congratulations Jody Casella and SR Cardell, and Connie Hebert.  Your fingers must be throbbing!

I did manage to knock out 26,000 or so, which was enough to get a few first draft chapters of a book that was rattling around in my head for awhile.  I encourage all writers to join this great challenge.  It pushes you to write without worrying about fixing things.

Did I say without worrying?  That's not totally true.  The hardest thing for me to do was to plow through the words, watching my errors and poor dialog fall behind me...waving at me, and calling for me to fix them.

The challenge is to keep writing no matter what, and go back and fix the problems after the first draft is done. Typos? Ignore them.  It's the amount of words that count, not the quality of the work.  The premise is that you should be able to pry a decent novel out of the mess at some point.

In the end, I know I have a lot of stuff that will have to be thrown out, but did write some stuff that made me say...Hey, that's not bad!

Dew on the Kudzu Story

Dew on the Kudzu, an online magazine for Southern Writers, published my short story "Alligator in my Back Yard" on 11-20-09.  Check it out. http://dewonthekudzu.com/

Character Driven Stories

 

I lay awake last night wondering what a character in a story I am working on was going to do next. How is it possible for characters to create their own story? Sit back and let them. They may surprise you.

I suppose some writers start off with outlines of what their stories are going to be. I start off with a certain character in mind. But, even if I have an idea of who they are, I don’t really know how they are going to react to certain situations. It’s like getting to know someone you have recently met and discovering all their quirks and behaviors. When new characters are introduced to the main character, they also take off on their own. Sometimes I have to rein them in if they get so unruly they are taking the plot in a direction I don’t want it to go, and sometimes I just let them do their thing. It keeps the story alive.

For instance, in one story, my protagonist meets a character and they start right off the bat fighting—well, more like arguing. It was not my intent--it just happened, so I let them go at it to see where their relationship was going. Well, they bickered throughout the book, but it worked to bring out the snarky side of my main character.

But how do you know when to build suspense and to wrap the story up? For some reason, the characters tell me when they are ready. Somehow, they create their own conflicts, drive the story to climax, and wind down to a conclusion.

Once they are done with their story, I go back and revise a few times, shaping it into something resembling enjoyable reading material. They make me laugh, cry, and continue to amaze me at their ability to tell their own story.