When to ask for crit, and when not to

I have a great critique-partner team: four writers who read my stuff at various points in development and have applicable skills. These people have helped me a whole lot with the three books I've put out into the world, and I can never thank them enough.

But I haven't sent the stuff I'm working on right now to any of them. And I'm not sure I'm able to say why.

It's not like I've never gotten crit before.

It's not like seeing "Eeeeew!" in the margin deflated my writerly balloon.

It's not like I just want to write my own thing, how I want to write it, and goldarnit people are going to adore my genius, just you wait.

It's not like my CPs aren't craft geniuses. (See above.)

It's more like... see, I don't know. Maybe I was more confident back when I was sending folks pages? I'm not entirely sure what I fear would happen if I shared my current story with them. They wouldn't be mean, and I know their insights could help me create a better story, but ... dunno. I'm still nervous.

So that's my advice, I guess: share when it doesn't scare you. Share when you can handle the eeew in the margin. Share with people you trust because they are seriously skilled writers and/or marketers, and you know they have your best interests at heart.

And this especially: definitely share that manuscript with someone skilled in craft BEFORE you publish. Never, under any circumstances, write a book and then self-publish it before you have someone -- many someones, ideally -- read it. The last thing you want is some reviewer to be your harshest critic when it's too late to fix the book in any appreciable way.

In the mean time, if you're cringing in the corner and hugging your book to your chest, please know I get you. You aren't alone.

Feedback: When is it DNGAF vs Useful

How do I know who to trust with my work, at which stages, and how much weight do I give their input?

~rubs neck~

This is sort of a work-backward topic for me. First question is: do I have a legal obligation to someone? E.g, a publishing contract. If yes, then they get to have input in concept, completed draft, and final edits. There's a legal document that says who gets to have a say, in what, and what the consequence are for ignoring them. Easy answers there.

If I don't have a contract, but I have an agent, I am likely to seek their input on "what's next." Eg. I'm tossing around three concepts, which is the one they feel most able to sell?  To me, an agent is there to help me plan my career short and long term as well as sell my manuscript(s) to publishers. Some people have agents who also provide editorial feedback in addition to career planning and mss sales. If edits are part of the established relationship, then value your agent's opinion or get a different agent.

If I have neither a contract nor an agent and all decisions are mine, then I default to my gut. I'm not a sharer of concepts or incomplete works. I'm the Critique Partner who will hand over a completed draft before I solicit feedback. In reverse, I'm the Critique Partner who is most effective when I have your completed draft. My editorial strengths are in the development of plot and character. If I don't know where your character is headed, I can't really tell you if an explosive action response is the best next step. I have had potential CPs who worked best exchanging chapters so they were receiving near-constant feedback. I wasn't the right fit for them. I didn't like them any less as people, we simply weren't compatible as CPs.

Beyond the CP stage, I trust the professional editors I've paid. I've had one crappy dev editor, and the rest have been amazing. I've learned that I need to tell my editors if I have specific questions or perceived story issues, so they know--that in addition to whatever they find--they need to also acknowledge whether my issues are legit or "just me."

That's my process. While I don't like brainstorming my concepts with other people, I love brainstorming other people's ideas. Yes, it's a double standard.

Dear Readers, if you're questing for sources of feedback, the first question you must ask yourself is "what do I want from the people with whom I'm sharing my ideas/work?" Be honest; otherwise, you're in for a boatload of butthurt on both sides. Some authors need adulation, encouragement, and positive feedback only. They're not emotionally prepared for someone to respond with constructive criticism. Similarly, the "constructive" part of criticism is a skill that requires practice. Tact and tone are hard to convey in "track changes." If you're open to critique, great, but everyone has different thresholds and tolerances for how much and how phrased. Communication is key to fine-tuning any relationship. It's okay to say, "Hey, this [specific example] is a little harsh for me. Next time, it'd be easier for me to hear the feedback couched like [specific example]."

So, the short bitchy answer to this week's question is: I trust people who've proven their value. Everything else is DNGAF.

Who Do You Trust with Your Work?

This week at the SFF Seven, we're asking: how do you know who to trust with your writing, especially early drafts and idea bouncing.

This is similar to a question I get all the time, which is how to pick critique partners and how many I use, including beta readers, etc.

The short answer is that this has changed quite a bit over the course of my career. I've been a member of two different critique groups that met IRL, and I've been part of various clusters of critique partners and beta readers online.

Another short answer is that who I discuss my ideas with or share work with at various stages changes all the time, and varies depending on the type of story and what I need help with. I'm blessed with a number of writer friends at this point who can read for me, and give me what I need, usually blazingly fast, too.

I can also say that I've grown extraordinarily picky about who I bounce ideas with and who I ask to look at early drafts. This is because - and I've used this analogy before - stories in their earliest stages are like infants. Their skulls are still soft and they are fragile beings that must be carefully tended. Just as you'd never hand your newborn child to just any person on the street, you don't want just anyone giving your fragile new idea a good, hard shake.

There is a time and necessary function to the good, hard shake - but that's akin to the college years, when you figure they've got to get drunk and pass out on the couch at the fraternity house at least once and learn some lessons from it.

But not the baby story. The baby story needs love and nurturing. It needs someone who can see the potential and not that dreadfully bulging forehead. I even left one IRL critique group because I felt they were having a negative impact on my work, instead of a positive one.

That's not the topic question, though, right? The question is how do you know who to trust?

There are no easy or short answers to that one, though I'm very much looking forward to hearing what advice my fellow SFFers have to offer. It took me a long time to decide to leave the crit group that wasn't working for me. It can be difficult to separate the very real reaction most humans have to criticism from the intuition that something is having a very real negative impact.

None of us like to have our work criticized, even if we are privately pissed that they passed out on the fraternity house couch. Learning to receive criticism and use it effectively is a huge part of learning to be a professional author.

But not all criticism is useful, and it's not always kindly meant.

So, that's how I decide: I consider the source and their intentions. If feedback from someone feels negative or unkindly meant, I pay attention to where they are with their own work. Are they feeling good about the work they're doing? How do they critique other people's work? Are they otherwise supportive of me and seem genuinely pleased for my successes?

That last question is key, and helped me to decide to leave that group. When I mentioned a success, these same people were sour and unsupportive. I knew then that their criticism of my writing felt negative because it was.

When you figure that out, walk away. Don't trust them with anything fragile again.

A Very Few Thoughts on Podcasts and Blogs

DepositPhoto

Our topic this week is favorite podcasts and blogs we’d recommend.

I’m not a huge podcast person. I don’t get my information that way – I get restless and start feeling guilty that I should be doing something and before I know it, I’m off somewhere else while the podcaster talks to empty space where I was. Shrug. Even in school I had to take copious, detailed notes to make myself pay attention and not go off daydreaming. If there’s information I desperately need to retain, I do better consuming it in a written format.

I do listen to Jeffe’s First Cup of Coffee podcast on occasion. She and I are friends and I can sit still and listen to her and sip my tea while she drinks her coffee. She keeps my attention!

I used to like the one author Lindsay Buroker co-hosted, focused more on the business aspects of writing, but which is apparently no longer occurring. Shows you how up to date I am (not)!

When it comes to blogs, I think the world of blogging has slowed down and lost many contributors. I wouldn’t say I follow any blog regularly – except for SFF7 of course! – but I do like the Whiskey With My Book Blog.  Riley Moreland reviews a wide variety of books in my favorite genres (and others) and I’ve enjoyed many of her ’finds’.

I visit John Scalzi’s blog on occasion, Chuck Wendig’s, Gail Carriger’s, Pauline B. Jones’s…usually it’ll be an author I follow on social media who may have posted (or has a guest poster) on a topic that interests or intrigues me. I go and do a one-time read.  The Passive Voice is another place I visit occasionally, to read up on issues in publishing, but again, in response to seeing a post mentioned on social media.

I’m going to add a plug for one specific weekly post on my own blog – the curated roundup of New Releases I do for scifi romance, fantasy and fantasy romance, and paranormal. I also add in some time travel, cozy paranormal mysteries and other related genres. I usually have between 50-90+ books spanning these genres and it is – to my knowledge – the only place to find a weekly list of new releases in those genres only. I make a big effort to include indie authors and am committed to diversity and inclusion in my listings.

Here was the most recent post: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/2020/02/26/new-releases-in-scifi-fantasy-and-paranormal-romance-for-wednesday-feb-26/

Each week I pick eight scifi romance covers to feature and eight fantasy/PNR/Other covers to feature in my social media.

Happy listening or reading or however you consume words!

Blogs, Podcasts, and Writers, Oh My.

Blogs used to be a thing for me. I followed several of the heralds of the indie writing revolution and tried hard (from within my limitations) to comprehend what was being presented. These days, I don't follow blogs so much as drop in to visit once in awhile, mainly because the internet is a rabbit hole into which I all too willingly fall and then no books get written. I have to manage the addiction. Therefore, few I visit from time to time:

• Terrible Minds by Chuck Wendig 
• Whatever by John Scalzi 

I drop into their posts because the language is awesome and the subject of writing is generally talked about in connection to the broader context of the world we live in. They also share my politics. So yeah. Bubble. I'm surprisingly comfortable with that. Also, they make me laugh.

When it comes to podcasts, though, I'm usually not looking for craft info or discussions. I'm looking for inspiration and ideas. I want the weird, the eccentric, and the unexplained. I want to know what novels other readers are losing their minds over so I can go read the books and deconstruct those myself. It isn't that I won't try some other podcasts. Among those mentioned this week are a few really intriguing sounding ones. The podcasts I turn to with the intent of stirring my gray matter are:

• Stuff They Don't Want You to Know (Yes. Still.) I give you the Apple link to the podcast here, but you can also follow this podcast on Youtube if you prefer.
• Fated Mates - This podcast was originated for the PNR audience, but has branched out to cover all kinds of romance. It's longer episodes, so I rarely get to listen all in one go, but I find so many fun reads through this podcast.
• University of Arizona Science Lecture Series - This is hard science and you can search all over the podcast verse and find any science that lights you up and listen in on the lectures for free. When I listen to these things, I don't expect to always understand what's going on. I straight up do not have the math chops for quantum mechanics or other advanced physics. But what I do have is the ear to listen for a lecturer to say, "What we *don't* know . . ." and then the imagination to take that into a story somewhere. It's a lot of listening, and maybe learning something, for the maybe of a gem I can use somewhere. Whatever. It makes me feel like maybe I'm keeping brain cells alive. Humor me.

 

Alexia's top blogs and podcasts!

With so many social media options out there it can feel like you're searching for a needling in a haystack to find an entertaining, informational account, blog, or podcast. But have no fear, dear reader! This week we've got you covered!

I regularly stop by these blogs. And as a result, my TBR pile continues to grow at an alarming rate. Click on their buttons to visit with caution:

    The Fantasy Inn

During my lunch break I like to tune into these podcasts:

     First Cup of Coffee  My Imaginary Friends The Manuscript  Writing Excuses

     by Jeffe Kennedy       by L. Penelope          Academy

                                             

The Manuscript Academy and Pub Crawl were two podcasts that I listened to early on. They were very helpful when I began querying for an agent, so if you're at this stage I recommend them! Pub Crawl hasn't done a new podcast for a year, but their website is fabulous and their authors and publishing professionals put up some great blog posts.      

And then there's all the book bloggers and publishers in Instagram. So many pretty covers and so little time to crack them all open. 

Who did I mis? Any blogs or podcasts you've found helpful or ones that are simply fun?                                                                           

Podcast recs for spec fic writers

I still read some blogs, especially review blogs (my favorites are Love in Panels and Whiskey With My Book), but life moves fast these days and, let's face it, most of that movement is either in cars or on workout equipment. In those two situations, podcasts are my way to go. I especially dig these:

• Myths and Legends: These guys take folk tales, retell them in a relatable way, give them context, and almost always put a surprising spin on things. This podcast is a treasure trove for story tropes and themes.
  
• Strong Female Characters: More of a fandom resource than a writing one, this podcast helps me connect with my people on a shared-coolness level, plus it's fun. It's run by SyFy Wire and "celebrate[s] the countless badass women in geek culture through funny, witty, and unfiltered deep dives into the nerdverse."
  
  
• Writing Excuses: Some folks have already mentioned this podcast, but it can be mentioned again. It is the definitive writing craft show, best one out there, and if you haven't listened to it and think of yourself as a writer of any sort, get thee to some earbuds.
  
• World Building for Masochists: This is a newer podcast, but it is specifically aimed at writers who like to deep-dive into their world building. One of its hosts is former SFF Seven blogger and writer of all things Maradaine, Marshall Ryan Maresca, and if you've read his blog posts in the past, you know he is  a very meticulous world builder.
  
  

Also, because I typically season my stories with a lot of romance, I also really enjoy a couple of romance-leaning podcasts that give good insight into writing craft and the publishing biz:

• All The Kissing: The ATK group arose out of PitchWars and offers some great craft discussion. If you can deal with some mention of fictional smooching -- and honestly, even if it makes you cringe, you should do it anyway, because romance is human -- you might want to check this one out. The guests are all super accomplished writers.
  
• Wicked Wallflowers: This podcast is purely about romance fiction, but it features not only high-profile (think, NYT bestsellers) writers but also industry professionals, like agents and editors. So if you've ever wondered what those sorts of people think about the current state of publishing and its future, this podcast might be interesting.

Currently I'm looking for a what-if, futurist, or even conspiracy theory podcast. I used to love listening to Art Bell-type black-helicopter radio late at night, but it's become unpleasant in recent years and I haven't really found a replacement for it. So if you know of a good our-alien-lizard-overlords sort of podcast, give it a shout in the comments. Thx in advance.

KAK Favorite Blogs/Websites

I haven't quite got into podcasts; it's no snub to the casters and fans out there. It's just a struggle for me to pay attention. Remember those Learning Styles from grade school? I wasn't the Auditory kid.

There are blogs I read somewhat regularly, or maybe they started out as blogs and are now fully fleshed websites.

• Fantasy Faction: Reviews and interviews for the latest in fantasy books. Supporters of Indie/Self-Published fantasy authors. Regular judges in Mark Lawerence's Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (#SPFBO).
• The Fantasy Inn:  Reviews and interviews for the latest in fantasy books. Supporters of Indie/Self-Published fantasy authors. 

Of course, there is the jewel of all must-read blogs if you're an author, and it's Writer Beware. Yes, I know it's been rolled under SFWA now. Still, it's available to members and non-members. What A.C. Crispin (RIP) and Victoria Strauss started more than 20 years ago is perhaps one of the most valuable resources to authors of all kinds calling out predatory publishers and those affiliated with the publishing industry. It's a pre-Con must-read so you can spot the scum, and a submission prerequisite to save yourself the heartache and financial losses of querying, signing with, or retaining the services of people and businesses out to exploit authors.