Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs.

Christopher Hampton

Down the Rabbit Hole

I watched a great movie yesterday, but is still wasn’t as good as the book. They never are because they can’t be. I am not exposed to the inner thoughts. I was an outside observer. I wasn’t in the story experiencing it.

Falling down the rabbit role is why we read. Whether we’re curled up on the couch next to a gentle fireplaces or on a crowded bus weaving through downtown traffic. Like Alice, we want to get lost in a new world. We want to fall in so deep that we are a part of the story. Our hearts racing with fear, laughing, crying, falling in love. To feel something more, something different. It is my job as the writer to get the reader there and keep them there.

Anything that threatens to pull the reader out of the story has to be ruthlessly excised from the written page. It cannot be allowed to interfere with the reader’s suspension of reality.

Things that make a difference in the reader’s ability to stay down the rabbit hole:  

Flawless Copy – Misspellings, typos, incorrect grammar, all remind the reader that they are reading a book. That they aren’t traveling down the Nile on Cleopatra’s barge. They aren’t floating down the Mississippi with a runaway slave.

Unbelievable Plot Points – The turns and twists of the story have to make sense within the plot. Batman can’t show up in Alice’s Wonderland without some serious explanation. Having Juliet live and hook up with Mercutio would make the reader question everything they had already read. They are no longer in the story but analyzing it.

Poor Word Choice – Using the wrong word, even once, can throw a reader out of the story. A word that makes a twelve year old girl sound like a forty year old business man jogs the reader, making them pause, go back and reread things. Or worse, using a word incorrectly. In the eternal words of Inigo Montoya “I don’t think the word means what you think it means”. Like poor grammar, it reminds the reader they are reading.

Pacing – The right mix of dialog, description, and action is necessary to move the reader along.  Too much of any one will make them skim. Making them skip over the story like a rock on surface of a lake. To little will leave them cold and alone, blocked from entering the new world.

Point of View – Head hoping from one character to another within the same scene can be confusing. As always, confusion pushes the reader out. It also makes it harder to care about the characters and the situation. First person and third person close are the best POV’s for holding a reader’s attention. Pick one POV per scene and stick to it. Constantly changing POV makes the story like the Missouri river, a mile wide and an inch deep.

Telling vice Showing – Showing us what is happening allows us to experience it for ourselves. Telling on the other hand is only providing us with information. A reader can’t get lost in information. They get lost in emotion.

Consequences – If the reader doesn’t care what is going to happen next then they are not going to stay in the world. It is by making the reader worry and fret that we entrap them in our world. This is why conflict is so important.

Anything that gets between the reader and the world of the story is wrong and needs to be eliminated. We as writers must strive to find and eliminate these barricades. Hopefully with a lot of practice we will stop erecting them in the first place.

What makes a good critique group

As has been repeatedly expressed on a hundred blogs across the Internet. Every aspiring new writer needs a good critique group. I won’t go into why they need it. If you have to ask then you’ll never understand. Instead I want to talk about what makes a good critique group. I can speak to this because I happen to be in one of the best groups ever. What is more, we know how lucky we are. You know it is good when people come early and stay late.

The things that make a good group:

·        Diversity. The five of us cover every decade from the 20’s to the 60’s and both genders from different walks of life. It allows us to see our stories from a lot of different Points of View.

·        Nice People. The group is made up of people that want to see the others succeed. There is no jealousy. Instead we are truly pulling for each other. This make things flow so much more smoothly. You don’t have to worry if their comments are motivated by something other than the story itself.

·        Willing to Listen. Each of us listens to the other opinions. We might not always make the suggested changes but we listen and analyze the comments.

·        Active Learners. Each member is constantly striving to get better. Reading articles, sharing ideas. Bringing books on writing. Anything that will help us do better.

·        Willing to share. We share our experiences with Agents and Publishers giving us a peak into the business of writing.

·        Similar Interests. We have read most of the same books. This gives us a common reference point. Some of the younger members may not know a classic movie, the older ones don’t know who the latest hot recording artist is but when it comes to books we are on the same page.

·        Hard workers. Each week we establish writing goals for the next week. The act of verbalizing what we want to accomplish is a great motivator. We critique about fifteen thousand words each week. An average of 4K from each writer, one or two chapters. Each member is diligent in making sure the critique is good and thorough.

·        Focused Group. We laugh and have a good time but the most important thing is the critiques. We share and talk about what is going on in the rest of our life, but a gentle reminder and the group quickly gets back on task.

·        Appreciative People. Each of us know how good we have it. That groups this good don’t come around very often. We are careful to not mess it up.

Now that I have told you what makes a great Critique Group. I have absolutely no idea how you find one this good. That’s your problem not mine.

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
― Anton Chekhov

“Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.”
—William S. Burroughs