On Growing Up as a Writer - accepting criticism

I have recently realized (as in the last year) that if you can't take criticism, you aren't ready to send out queries. You aren't ready to publish. Because if you can't take criticism, then you aren't ready to improve.

I wasn't ready when I self-published my first book. I wasn't ready when I self-published my second book. I wasn't ready when I wrote book three. I was getting closer by the time I was writing book four. I turned a corner when I entered the 2010 ABNA contest.

I don't know what it was. Meeting other authors. Receiving helpful advice and critiques from people who know the world of writing better than I. Or maybe I just finally grew up. But somewhere during that contest, I finally learned how to accept criticism. I learned how to take suggestions for what they were: suggestions. When you enter the realm of writing (and probably any creative realm) you put a lot of yourself into your work. By giving your words to others to read you put yourself out there for judging. And sometimes the judges aren't kind.

But sometimes they are right.

And you need to be able to see clearly. You need to be able to see when they are right, when something does need to be changed, edited, tweaked, thrown out, or rewritten. You need to distance yourself during the editing process, because otherwise it will hurt too much. Throwing out whole paragraphs is painful if you can't distance yourself, because those words are your babies, they sprang from your mind and they live on the page and you can't delete them.... because that's like killing part of your creativity... but sometimes those first words... sometimes they just aren't any good. They need pruning. Some need to be tossed. Some, some few, might be perfect. Most will need revising.

If you can accept a critique from someone who isn't close to the material, it makes your job of editing easier. If you can blink back the momentary tears, the fleeting defensiveness, the half-second of disbelief, you will find that you can take the good advice and apply it to your words and they will be so much better than you even thought they could.

Sometimes you can look at that critique and your response will be, "Nope... I like that bit just the way it is." And that is fine. You don't have to change everything based on one review.

I write this because I ask for critiques often. I ask for criticism on my fan page, and here on my blog, especially come contest time. And I don't want anyone to hesitate to tell me something needs to be edited because you think you're going to hurt my feelings. I may take your advice, I may not... but you aren't going to hurt my feelings. I welcome your critique. I welcome your criticism. Because I want my writing to improve. I want my skills to improve. I want my talent to grow. So, thank you, to those of you who have helped me out with editing and critiquing the past few days. I really appreciate it.

Fridays

What is it about Fridays that makes it impossible to get anything done? I planned to start working on my new novel today. I planned to work on an outline at least, if not get a few pages written. But here it is, almost 4pm and I haven't written a word. I haven't even opened a pages document to start writing words. Maybe it's because my daughter is sick. Maybe it's because she ended her nap 30 minutes early. Maybe it's because I played DDR and watched half an episode of Angel instead of writing? Yeah, probably a combination of all of those things... but I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of it being Friday. :)

Progress Report

I am ready to submit my book to the ABNA contest, a full week early! Hoorah. :)

I have sold 15 books this month!

I do intend to continue with some polishing and I look forward to getting feedback from my editor(s), but I feel confident that my manuscript, excerpt, and pitch are as ready as they can be.

So, what next? A lot of waiting :)

Meanwhile, (while I wait for my editor to get through all the pages and send me his notes, while I wait for the contest to open, and then while I begin the waiting that is the majority of being IN the ABNA contest), I intend to take a break from Tellurae Aquaous, and start writing about Aelon Ere - my new world and entirely new set of characters. I also may start looking at ideas for the idea my brother gave me for The Mirror, and trying to flesh out an outline for that story as well. I'm also going to return to writing query letters to various agents and publishers.

That should all keep me quite busy! :) In addition to this, I have a house to run, a 2 year old to keep up with, as well as the potential for a couple (hopefully!) of large-scale changes to our lives in the coming year. I will keep you posted on all of this as it happens... of course, if it doesn't, I suppose you'll never know what it was...

New Year's Writing Resolutions

I do, in fact, have other resolutions for 2011 that are not writing-related, but I'll post them on my other blog. One of these days, I'm going to have a single blog that combines writing topics with everything else, but until that day... you're stuck with my dual blogging. Sorry. haha. Anyway, as a way to keep me accountable, I'm putting my New Year's Writing Resolutions in... ha ha.... writing :) - so feel free to ask me about them and how they're going, I could use the accountability!

And, without further ado: my resolutions for writing in 2011 --

1. Finish my rewrite of Book 1 by January 24
2. Carefully read the submission guidelines for the ABNA contest
3. Submit Book 1 to the ABNA contest
4. Make it to round 3 of the ABNA contest (I made it to round 2 last year)
5. Republish Book 1 with new artwork, new title, and rewritten manuscript
6. Do one book signing this year with Book 1

Happy New Year

Well hello there. I've been absent for a while. I was working on a quilt for my parents, and had to take a break from writing in order to get it done by Christmas. However, now that Christmas is over, I'm back to my re-writing/editing and am pleased to announce that I only have 27 pages left in the first run-through. I still have to go back through and do some polishing, and look over my editor's notes, but my January 24th deadline (when the ABNA contest opens) is looking more and more likely to happen!

In other good news, I have an illustrator for the new version of The Dragon's Eye, which I will be renaming King's Warrior once the re-write is done. I'm also planning on trying to do some book signings this year, and maybe travel to a book fair with the new (and improved) version of my first title... we'll see. I would love to be able to give out free copies of King's Warrior to anyone who has already bought The Dragon's Eye, but will have to think through whether or not I can afford such generosity... will let you know when the time comes!

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year! Stay tuned for more updates!