A month since my last update! Bad blogger. Bad. Bad.
I've had some exciting adventures in the meantime, so can you forgive me? I've meet a lot of new little ones- there is definitely a baby boom among my friends right now (If you live in Atlanta, do not drink the water! I'm convinced that's where all of these babies are coming from). I've helped TribeOne prepare for a month long tour. And am burning his CDs as we speak. I've also been looking for a new place to live, since my lease is up soon.
And, in actual writing news, I also attended the GA Romance Writer's annual convention. After I had to miss the Emory writing course when the schedule changed, I was pretty bummed about missing an opportunity to learn some new tips and meet some other writers. Luckily, a coworker told me about this conference (on the day registration closed- talk about a snap decision). I was really nervous about it, because I don't really consider myself a romance writer. But my paranormal YA contains a good bit of it, so I figured I'd learn something. I spent last Friday and Saturday attending sessions on crafting a villain and the importance of premise. I met other writers of all varieties. I survived my first pitch. I even had a request from an agent for the first fifty pages. Nifty! But I hear not uncommon for conferences and I'm not sure if I'm ready to send them yet- especially after the feedback I got from....
One of my favorite activities was the first five pages critique. We sat at a table with 3 others and gave honest feedback on the opening chapters of our books. I'm excited to make some changes (ahem, correct the rookie mistakes). I am also convinced more than ever I need to find a critique group. I'm torn between finding a local group that meets in-person or reaching out to the network of wonderful writers I've met through this blog. I think I might take criticism better over email (or at least the critique giver won't see my eyes well with tears and watch me run for a glass of wine), but I also sometimes need to have things explained to me a few times before I understand, which I could see getting very annoying over email. What do you think? Do you have a preference for in-person or e-critique groups?
I would totally critique you (if you want). I've only been involved in 3 formal critique groups (the rest were just groups of friends who were writers), and I've had mixed experiences. Like everything, it varies. And like everything, even if you have a rotten experience, you learn from it, ditch the rotten and keep the good.
ReplyDeleteAnd a 50-page request IS a big deal. WOOT!
Email critique may also be better for the giver. One of the problems with a writer's group is that they may not want to hurt each other's feelings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Interstingly, my experiences with beta readers over the email has been that they are still too nice! Maybe they just know how easily my feelings get hurt. But it's one of those "hurts so good" type things. I'd rather get useful and constructive criticism (that maybe hurts my feelings a little) than a big pile of fluff.
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