Category Archives: Natalie Bright

In Search of Meaningful Critiques

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In Search of Meaningful Critiques

By Natalie Bright

The creative writing instructor provided numerous reasons for joining a critique group and I rejected the idea at once. How could I possibly find a small group of writers attempting similar goals plus a willingness to meet at the same time and place for the rest of our lives?

Let us imagine we find such an assembly.  The unattainable involves leaving your feelings at the door and listening with an open mind as complete strangers criticize your best efforts. In return, you must provide positive comments and insightful suggestions for their work.

The final deal breaker was time. Whose real world itinerary allows meetings on an already unyielding schedule? I discovered so many reasons why NOT to find a writing group.

Based on the form rejection letters I’d received, I soon realized a second opinion might be more than helpful.

I turned to a son who listened intently to my ramblings. One day, he responded to my request of “listen to this” with, “That’s okay, Mom. I’d rather not.”

Not to be discouraged, I searched my heart and contemplated my dilemma carefully. I needed someone who believed in me, someone who was not afraid to bestow the gut wrenching truth.

Behold, there he sat, relaxing comfortably in his easy chair surfing through 210 channels of mind-numbing bliss. I approached my darling husband.

He agreed to help and seemed pleased that I included him in my newfound passion. Thrilled at the possibility of sharing a common interest besides kids, I envisioned lengthy conversations into the night, deliberating words and phrases.

I recognized a pattern appearing in his critiques. He started with “Promise you won’t get mad,” and ended “You should write a Western.” The critique itself consisted of one to two word comments, such as “needs research,” “no emotion,” and my personal favorite, “cornball.”

A critique group of strangers was the only option left.

Through a local writer’s organization, I found a few critique partners, who knew of a few more. We came together preparing to pour our heart and soul onto written pages with hopes of receiving sparks of inspiration — not only to learn ways to improve our work, but starved for any words of praise. We had to know if there were any good parts.

If you have not found someone to critique your work, keep searching. In case you are wondering, my husband continues to be the first line of critique, only because once in a while he surprises me with a unique, very male perspective so amazing and so opposite of mine.

More importantly, I have learned if someone responds to your story with “cornball”, it’s probably true.

Natalie Bright

 

Part 4 Giving and Receiving Critiques: Respectful Behavior

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Part 4 Giving and Receiving Critiques: Respectful Behavior

By Natalie Bright

The personality of your group can dictate the overall benefit you receive from participating. The members may be the most creative writers you know, but they may not be who you need critiquing your work. You may need a “brainstorming” group. You may need a group with several grammarians, who are experts in the rules of English. Or, you might consider a “genre” group, in which all members write mysteries, for example.

Your ideal group might be one beta reader or an online group with hundreds of members. The critiques you receive might be via email or a weekly face-to-face meeting. What do you want from a writers critique group? Identify your goals and share them with the group.

Essential Keys to a Successful Critique Group:

  • Leave your personal feelings at the door and listen with an open mind.
  • Don’t use up valuable time explaining away and defending your work. In reality, this would not be an option when reviewed by an editor or agent. Just listen.
  • Establish ground rules.
  • Critique the work, not the author
  • Be respectful of all work and individuals.
  • Share professional goals: critique with the idea of moving each participant closer to their goals.
  • Your work is not another writer’s work, and their work is not yours.

Happy writing!

Natalie Bright

Giving and Receiving Critiques: Consider the Ground Rules

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Part 3:

Giving and Receiving Critiques: Consider the Ground Rules

By Natalie Bright

In receiving a critique of your writing, it’s only fair that you’d be expected to give back.

Once you’ve identified several reliable critique partners, set some rules or guidelines to ensure that everyone is in total agreement as to how the critique should proceed. This only makes certain that the process is fair to everyone involved, and that it’s not a waste of your time. I’ve read numerous manuscripts for people, and it’s always nice to hear “send me one of your stories sometime.”

You can learn much about story craft by reading other people’s work, in addition to having them read yours in return.

The Rules Rule

Based on my experience, following are a few basic rules to consider for critique groups:

*Confidentiality

*Page limit: minimum or maximum number of pages to submit for critique

*Time limits for equal time of discussion

*New or edits: limit submissions to new material only, or can members bring edit? This eliminates the problem of someone bringing the same chapter over and over.

*Determine order of reading, if you meet in person.

*Find something positive, then move into the negative. Identify strengths and weaknesses.

* Group size; do you want to limit the number of members?

Wordsmith Six

My first critique group, that I found through the creative writing course, sadly didn’t stay together for various reasons. Some of us had work and family obligations that made it impossible to attend meetings, and several others moved out of the area. A few of us from the original group met a few more writers through a local writers organization, and we formed a new group about three years ago. Six months ago we started a blog about our publishing journey.

Even though we write in a variety of genres, the commonality is that we are all actively writing and submitting for publication. We stay on task. I come away from every meeting with invaluable critiques.

Here are the rules of Wordsmith Six critique group: we meet every other week, and our meetings usually lasts three to four hours. Due to time constraints, we’ve set a maximum of ten pages each. If we don’t have our own work to read, members bring a general interest article on writing craft or share notes from a recent conference, for example.  The key is everyone participates.

We generally restrict readings to new material, however if a piece has had a tough critique, then we’ll look at it a second time after edits. We draw numbers to determine who reads first, and we each read our own work out loud to the group.

Productivity is the Key

This is a biggey rule: we work first, and visit last. Everyone arrives on time, we begin on time, and we get right to business. After the work is done, a few might hang around to discuss character motivation, books we’re reading, or just gabbing about families.  The main point is that our writing is the main focus, and the main goal is to keep everyone moving forward.

Members who only bring chips and dip do not make for a productive atmosphere. Everyone understands life is crazy, and some weeks are unbearable as writers. We all know this. Do your critique mates a favor, and become a dependable giver as well as receiver. As you become familiar with each others work, you’ll move beyond basic grammar checks. A magical thing happens when you begin discussing character motivation and plot structure. As you realize the development of your story through others eyes, you’ll be able to edit and polish your work until it shines.

Next week in Part 4, I’ll discuss responsible behavior.

Natalie Bright


Giving and Receiving Critiques: What to Expect

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Giving and Receiving Critiques: Part 2:

Giving and Receiving Critiques: What to Expect

By Natalie Bright

WAS is a pesky little word. I had no idea how much I truly love the word WAS until I joined a critique group. Someone actually counted the number I had on one page and it wasn’t pretty. Then there were other pages with not one WAS in sight. Who knows what goes on in your brain during the writing process?

That is an example of what an honest and unbiased critique of your work can do for you; invaluable insight into your tendencies and quirks.  If you write humor, obviously you want people to laugh at the funny parts. What if they’re laughing in places you didn’t even realize were funny?

When you listen with an open mind, a critique group forces you to step away from your work. You must take the gutt-wrenching, personal feelings out of the process and develop a critical eye.  Critique members can help you do that.

Next week in Part 3; establishing ground rules for critique partners.

Natalie Bright

Giving and Receiving Critiques: Why bother?

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Giving and Receiving Critiques: Why bother?

By Natalie Bright

Part 1:

The story you are working on is important. It’s so important that you spend hours writing and rewriting, and even more hours thinking about the characters, the setting, and the plot. There is no doubt that it’s very real in your mind, but how it comes across to the reader might be a totally different experience than what you intended.

Books on Impulse

Books have become impulse buys, and surprisingly I’ve purchased more eBooks than I ever imagined. One click and it’s there, ready and waiting, and saavy authors understand how to make that purchase a no-brainer. I’ve discovered some amazing stories in a wide variety of genres, all affordable and effortless. I’ve also discovered many wonderful authors. Some with great potential, and sadly, some that I’ll hesitate to purchase again because of the typos and very basic story craft mistakes.

If you’re thinking about putting your work out there, I say go for it. Make certain that it’s the best that it can be. You can’t afford to have your name associated with something that is less than perfect. Writing is hard work, and an honest critique is essential to your career as a writer.

Where to Turn

The first step is to ask other writers where they go for help. You need an honest, unbiased opinion. I’ve talked to many authors who have had great success with online groups. You can find other writers looking for critique partners by joining your local writing organization, or inquire at local junior colleges or universities. I met my first critique group through the creative writing course which was taught by a NYTimes Bestselling author at our local university.

Today, more and more writers have found helpful critiques online, either by joining an online group which may involve thousands of members, or simply exchanging work via email with one or two people. Some local writing organizations have large scale critiques where everyone is invited to participate.

Give it a Whirl

Experiment with several different venues until you find the one that fits. You’ll be rewarded with a polished, professional manuscript ready for submission and you’ll discover definite improvement in your productivity level.  The very best inspiration is being surrounded by creative people.

Next week, in Part 2, we’ll discuss what you can expect from a critique.

Natalie Bright

Show, Don’t Tell

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Show, Don’t Tell

By Natalie Bright

What does that mean exactly?

If you’ve ever been to a writers conference or taken a writing course, you’ve probably heard that term.

Here’s a great example:

John is angry.  (telling how John feels)

Instead of telling your reader, John is angry, show the reader:

John kicked the door in, stormed across the living room, slapped Maria, and hurled Joaquin through the window.

How is that for imagery? No question how John is feeling, is there?

That example is from a session I attended with Harvey Stanbrough, who is a short story writer, poet, and writing instructor. He’ll be back in Amarillo for the Frontiers in Writing Conference June 28-30.

To find out more you can visit website for Panhandle Professional Writers, link here: http://www.panhandleprowriters.org

Happy Writing!

Natalie Bright

In a rut? For heavens sake, don’t stop writing!

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In a rut?  For heavens sake, don’t stop writing!

By Natalie Bright

Here’s a few exercises to keep flexing that writing muscle while your brain stews on the work in progress:

Rewrite your favorite fairy tale, and add a twist.

Change the female protag to a male, alter the time period by rewriting the entire story in present day, or create an entirely new ending.

Journaling

Do you have an idea journal? Write down every idea that comes to you, no matter how silly it may seem at the time.

Start a travel log. A hiking log, with descriptive phrases of the sights and sounds and smells during your outing. Glue things you might have picked up along the way; ticket stubs, gum wrapper, leaves, twigs; you get the idea.

Dig Deeper

Scream to your journal, say your deepest hurts, sorrows, and admit your darkest fears. Those emotions are what you’ll draw on and translate to your characters.

A Word Book

I refer to my word journal often. It’s filled with phrases and sometimes entire chapters by some of my favorite authors, that I’ve copied. As I read their amazing words, I feel rejuvenated and inspired.

Keep exercising that writing muscle, and stay out of those ruts. Happy writing!

Natalie Bright

Monday Musings: For the Love of PIG!

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Monday Musings: For the Love of PIG!

By Natalie Bright

My middle grade novel is set in 1887 Texas and I’ve been researching provisions of the time period. My main character needed something that could be carried in a saddle bag for several days or even weeks. I hesitated to use pork. It wasn’t that long ago my 4th grader was told by a concerned classmate that he wasn’t going to Heaven because he ate bacon for breakfast.

It’s a PC World

The more I researched, the more I realized my main character would have in all probability had a slab of pork on hand. In this PC world, why has the traditional Southern diet become so offensive? Or as one blogger noted, “you spout religion while stuffing pork down your gullet“.

Understanding the culture in the South and our longstanding reliance on this animal may shed some light on this controversial meat.

From Where Pig Came

It was the Spanish explorers who introduced hogs to Florida in the early 1500’s. As colonists spread west, domestic and feral hogs soon became a staple of southern cooking. Various cuts of meat could be salt-cured and smoked, lard was saved in jars, cracklings used to flavor Johnnycakes, and the leftover meat was ground and mixed with spices to make sausage. Nothing was wasted, and it preserved well in the root cellars or smokehouses all across  frontier America.

Feeding Pioneer Families

Steeped in a rich tradition that all blessings for the table are gifts from God, pioneer mothers prepared huge country breakfasts of fresh eggs, milk, bisquits and hearty slabs of fried ham to fill empty bellies after early morning chores and to sustain everyone during a day of hard labor until sundown. My grandfather recalled he got tired of sliced onion in a biscuit for his school lunch, until the family slaughtered in late fall. My husband remembers two fatted pigs fed his family of five for the entire winter. The children’s classic Little House on the Prairie devotes an entire chapter to the hog and how they utilized every part of him.

The fear created around pork may be rooted in a parasitic disease called trichinosis, caused by eating raw or undercooked pork or wild game. We understand now that pork must be cooked to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. U.S. pig farms are ultra clean and heavily regulated.

Symbol of Luck

The Pig symbolizes good luck in many cultures around the world. People in Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Austria eat pork on New Year’s, based on the animal’s habit of rooting and pushing forward, making progress with every step. In Italy, the rich fatty content signifies wealth and prosperity, and tasty German sausage is legendary.

Life in the South

If you live in the South, the reality is that majority of us eat pork. Our love affair over a hickory smoked pork rib is not based on anything evil or satanic.  The family barbeque is a long held tradition from when we were little kids. Grease dripping down our chins and faces smeared with sauce is never considered rude.

For the love of pig; it’s a southern thing, ya’ll.

Natalie Bright

Books on Impulse

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Books on Impulse

By Natalie Bright

Impulse buy is a standard retail term meaning spur of the moment purchases. The buying is unplanned and purely spontaneous triggered usually by seeing the item. Who can resist the decorative tissues, gum, breath mints, cute bottles of hand sanitizer–all the little goodies jammed in the display next to the check-out. Why do you think the milk and eggs are at the far back corner of the grocery store? It’s basic retailing logic.

I’ve read that books are becoming more and more a form of entertainment classified under the term impulse buy. I’ve fallen victim to the ease of logging on and ordering books and more books, and last week this became even more apparent.

Making Connections

My blog about characterization and creating a history for characters was read by a writer who I had met at DFWcon the year before. By happenstance, we had sat together in several classes, enjoyed interesting conversation over a few meals, and after returning home, ‘liked’ each others Facebook pages.

Following Links

Last week, she sent me a private email with an attachment explaining her process of character development. I followed the links included in her email to her blog and ePublishing sites. Within a few seconds, I placed an order through my PayPal for her 45 page eNovella and there it was, on my desktop within seconds. Shazaam!

Buying on Impulse

That’s impulse buying at it’s finest, and this savvy author made it easy for the consumer. Within minutes of her email, I followed all of the leads, learned about her and her work, and made a purchase. It’s a great time to be a writer, and if you’re a fan of hot romance I hope you’ll follow the link and checkout Casesa Major’s blog.

What’s an impulse buy you’ve made recently?

Natalie Bright

Creating History for Fictional Characters

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Creating History for Fictional Characters

By Natalie Bright

“I’m not quite sure what I feel is missing.” This from an agent who had requested my middle grade novel. “It doesn’t feel fully cooked yet.”

What’s missing? This character has haunted me and has woken me up nights for almost a year. My critique group had critiqued every word, phrase and scene. They loved it! I posted this agent’s email on my bulletin board and studied them over and over. All the while this character keeps clogging my brain. She’s ready for two more adventures and I still don’t know what’s missing.

While lunching with writer friends, the discussion turned to their small town series. One already had a contract for seven novels, and the other had plans for four with hopes of pitching her idea in the near future. They discussed the dynamics of creating a fictional town with characters that must ultimately resonate with readers. I asked them how would one keep up with all of that detail, not just who is who, but the history of how they

got there, the street layout, the minute details that bring a story to life for the readers?

Their answer involved two very different processes, which I’d like to sharing with you here: Jodi Thomas [www.jodithomas.com] keeps all of that detail in her head. She becomes so engrossed in the world she creates, that if she writes any notes it’s hard for her brain to remember if she used that in the book or not. The town, the people, their quirks and strengths, all vividly ramble around in her amazing head. She can “see” the streets, the buildings, the characters as they play out the story. While she’s writing one book, her brain is working out details for the next and the next. Her character’s reactions and personalities chart the course.

Phyliss Miranda [www.phylissmiranda.com] begins with extensive research on her location and develops detailed characterizations. She charts a family tree for her characters, going back several generations. She writes detailed descriptions on what they look like, their good and bad habits, their favorite foods, childhood experiences, etc.

Both agreed that giving your characters a history is very important. I replied that my main character is only eleven, so she doesn’t have much history to tell. Their response was a rapid-fire line of questioning: How did her father and mother meet? Where was her mother born? Why did is her father a US Marshall? Where do her grandparents live? Horrors! I had to admit that I didn’t know the answer to any of those questions.

Today, I’m happy to report my character has a history. Over the New Year’s Holiday I created family tree charts, expanded my characterizations, drew a town plat, and because I write historical, I made a complete time line on creation of the town. And the best thing, I got ideas for two more adventures.

Now, if I only had the courage to submit it again…

NOTE:  Both of these authors will be speaking at Frontiers in Writing Conference June 28-30 at Amarillo, Texas. Jodi will be talking about finding inspiration to write every day at the Friday night dinner, and Phyliss will be conducting a workshop on developing characters. www.panhandleprowriters.org click on the FiW Conference tab.

Natalie Bright