![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Guest Blogging at Witchy Chicks - Talking Critique
Dec. 10th, 2009 | 01:14 pm
posted by: blackholly
The Witchy Chicks blog, run by Yasmine Ganelorn (who is one of the nicest people online, as well as being a wonderful author of paranormal romance) and nine other writers, kindly allowed me to guest blog.
Here's the first part, come over to their blog to read the rest:
This summer, I had the opportunity to teach several classes on writing to both teenagers and adults. When I started, I felt pretty unsteady. Writing is an odd thing to try and teach -- mostly, I feel, you can talk about your process and you can critique -- but everyone has to find their own method. To me, critique is the best thing that any writer can learn, so I focus a lot on that. The writer who knows how to be a good critiquer will go on to be able to think about their own work differently.
In my own life, I rely a lot on my critique partners. I can send them pieces of things when I get stuck, talk through plot problems when I am frustrated and rely on them to tell me when I'm making sense and when I'm not quite there yet. For that reason, whenever kids ask me for advice about becoming a writer, one of the three things I suggest is that they find themselves a good critique partner. (The other two suggests are fairly straightforward: read absolutely everything they can get their hands on and write a lot).
Giving critique is an important skill, but good critique is only possible where you have good communication, honesty, and trust. Two problems came up a lot this summer among people leery of critique:
1. Some writers felt that there was a lot of discussion of the flaws in a story without any suggestions about how to fix them.
2. Other writers felt that rather than critiquing the story they were trying to create, critiquers wanted to suggest the version of the story that they would have written.
Here's the first part, come over to their blog to read the rest:
This summer, I had the opportunity to teach several classes on writing to both teenagers and adults. When I started, I felt pretty unsteady. Writing is an odd thing to try and teach -- mostly, I feel, you can talk about your process and you can critique -- but everyone has to find their own method. To me, critique is the best thing that any writer can learn, so I focus a lot on that. The writer who knows how to be a good critiquer will go on to be able to think about their own work differently.
In my own life, I rely a lot on my critique partners. I can send them pieces of things when I get stuck, talk through plot problems when I am frustrated and rely on them to tell me when I'm making sense and when I'm not quite there yet. For that reason, whenever kids ask me for advice about becoming a writer, one of the three things I suggest is that they find themselves a good critique partner. (The other two suggests are fairly straightforward: read absolutely everything they can get their hands on and write a lot).
Giving critique is an important skill, but good critique is only possible where you have good communication, honesty, and trust. Two problems came up a lot this summer among people leery of critique:
1. Some writers felt that there was a lot of discussion of the flaws in a story without any suggestions about how to fix them.
2. Other writers felt that rather than critiquing the story they were trying to create, critiquers wanted to suggest the version of the story that they would have written.
Link | | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
Curse Workers I: White Cat
Dec. 6th, 2009 | 09:20 pm
posted by: blackholly
Allow me to present the US cover of WHITE CAT:
From the flap copy:
Cassel comes from a family of curse workers—people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail—he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to out-con the con men.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love—or death--and your dreams might be more real than your memories.
Edited to say: releases May 4, 2010
From the flap copy:
Cassel comes from a family of curse workers—people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail—he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to out-con the con men.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love—or death--and your dreams might be more real than your memories.
Edited to say: releases May 4, 2010