Death by Critique - 6 Tips on How To Avoid It

Recently I talked about the risk of overediting your manuscript. In other words, making it SO technically perfect that it was about as lively as boiled broccoli. Some of you agreed with me; others argued that you can always make a manuscript "more perfect", that you should never stop trying to make it better.

As a perfectionist myself, I understand where those people are coming from. In all aspects of life, I feel like I can always do better, that I should never stop trying to improve. And improvement IS good. We can't get complacent. We should always be learning. BUT, I do believe that with a manuscript it's a bit of a bell curve when it comes to editing it.

You start with your funky rough draft. You rework, rewrite, polish. You work with your crit partners. The dot on the graph moves up--you're making it better! But I do believe you hit a point, a peak, where you've gotten it as good as it's going to be (before a professional editor takes a look at it.) If you keep pushing it after that point, you're reworking it so hard that you are draining the fire and magic from the words. You're taking out what makes that book special and different from other books (and oftentimes inserting your critique partner's vision of your manuscript instead of your own). You're murdering the vision your muse had in the first place. And the story is going to be pasteurized by the time it hits an agent's or editor's desk.

Don't believe me? Dear Author had a post this week talking about what she learned from this year's RWA from talking to editors. One of the points on her list spoke to this issue:

Editors think that authors self censor too much (and that critique partners may be doing more harm than good). I heard more than one editor say that the manuscripts that they like best are ones where they can see the raw voice of the author. Many times, submissions come in that are polished so much that they are too smooth to be interesting. Write with raw passion, authors. This is an industry built on emotion and the manuscripts have to show this.

Re-read that statement again. Editors are looking for the raw talent in your voice, in the way you tell a story--not if you had one too many adverbs on the page.

Now that's not to say you shouldn't study craft and grammar and use things correctly, but that isn't what you should be obsessing about. Polish your manuscript but you don't have to follow EVERY RULE ever created for writers. And your critique partners are there to help you, but what they say IS NOT LAW. Even if they are a more established author than you are. This is YOUR BOOK.

Six Tips to Help Watch Out for Death by Critique

But first, a disclaimer...

If this is your first book, get good critique partners and listen with open ears to everything they say (even if you don't incorporate it all) and read books on craft. On your first go around, many times more experienced crit partners are going to have advice you really need to hear. This goes back to my rule: Don't query that first book until you've had someone not related to you or sleeping with you to critique it.

If this is not your first rodeo...

1. Write your rough draft without input from others.

Stephen King said in On Writing--write the first draft with the door shut. Then after you're done, open the doors and windows and let others in. I have found this to be true for me. If I get feedback while I'm drafting, it freezes me up and confuses my muse. Critique and creativity do not make good bed partners for me. Now, I know some will disagree with this and prefer to have chapter by chapter input as they are writing. If that works for you, that's fine. (Julie Cross sends chapters to her editor as she writes and that works great for her.) But make sure it's really working for you. Have you finished a manuscript yet? Or are you just constantly re-working as you go because you're getting outside input?

2. Get critiqued on big picture.

Line edits (super detailed edits) are notorious for sucking out voice. Your word choice, the style of your sentences, structure of your prose is YOUR voice and your style. This is why finding the right editor for this is so important once you're publishing. You have to find someone who "gets" your voice and style. When others who don't get it (or those who are focused on following every rule) start tinkering with it, it muddles that at best, murders it at worse. So ask you crit partners for feedback on the big stuff: plot holes, flow, logic, characterization, emotional arc, plot arc, etc. Those are the things that are hard to see in your own work because you're so close to it. And save the line edits for a pro who gets you. My publisher has "style sheets" made for each author so that editors know what our style quirks are. Mine says things like: sometimes uses short incomplete sentences. That's part of my style, and though it's grammatically incorrect, it's kept.

3. Check your gut.

This is your story and these are your characters. You know them better than anyone. So if your crit partner gives you a suggestion, step back and make sure it resonates with you. I don't care if they are a NYT Bestselling author--if the change doesn't feel right in your gut, don't do it! That goes for when you have an editor, too. You don't have to make every change if you don't feel good about it. Have the confidence to know that you can tell the difference between advice that makes your book better and advice that doesn't. This confidence only comes with time, unfortunately. However, if more than one person bring up an issue, it may be something to look hard at even if your gut is fighting you.

4. Re-evaluate your critique partnerships regularly.

Crit partners are wonderful. I don't think I would've gotten to this point if I hadn't joined my first crit group. I learned so much. But that doesn't mean that group or that person is going to be right for you forever and ever, amen. We outgrow each other. We go in different directions. Or maybe THEY'VE become too close to your writing as well and now can't see the things they need to see to help you. If you feel like you're getting crits back and the advice is no longer helping you or it's draining your voice (even though the advice is good-intentioned), then stop wasting their time and yours. Doesn't mean you have to stop being friends, but maybe you don't need to be beta readers for each other anymore.

5. Know enough about craft and grammar so that you don't distract from your story.

Yes, I'm advocating not shooting for perfection and for playing with style. BUT you also need to have a good handle on craft and grammar. If your handle on the rules and conventions is so low as to pull the reader out of the story, you're not going to get anywhere no matter how good your story may be. You need to know the rules in order to make deliberate style choices if and when you decide to break some of those rules.

6. Edit until you love the story, not until it's perfect.

Outside of crit partner relationships, edit your story until you can read through it and love it. Don't edit it until you can't find ANYTHING to change or fix because there will always be something you can find to fix. And that's when you start cutting too deep. It's like people who want a little plastic surgery. They just want to fix that bump in their nose. But then they get that done and realize--ooh, now that makes my chin look too big. So they fix that. Then their cheek bones don't look angular enough. And so it goes until they don't resemble the person they used to be.

Don't do this to your manuscript. The things we love the most often have imperfections--and sometimes that's the very reason we love them. Make sure your manuscript is the one that the editor can feel the raw passion bleeding from. Do that, and you're golden.

So what do you think? Does this idea send you into a perfectionist panic? Does it give you a sigh of relief? Have you ever sensed your manuscript was getting more and more anemic as you edited it? Have you ever had to leave a crit partner relationship because it just wasn't working or helping anymore?

Giving Up My Title: Why Writers Can't Have Too Many Sacred Cows

Photo by Sami Keinanan

Writing can often feel like a solitary project. For months and months you write in your cave--you create, you slave, you edit, you cut and paste and hit delete. You curse your uncooperative characters and then you fall in love with them. You put everything you've got into those pages.

So when it's finished, it feels like YOUR baby--a book you've lovingly created with your own twisted imagination. It's an amazing feeling.

But then the next step can determine how successful you're going to be at this whole writing thing. Because the next step is letting others in. To use Stephen King's analogy, you draft with the office door shut, then throw open the windows when you're done to let others in. What does that mean?

Get beta readers/critique partners AND actually listen to their feedback with an open mind.
I don't care how good of a writer you are. No one writes the best possible version of a book all on their own. Outside insight is a part of the process--unless the only person who is ever going to read the book is you. And please don't get beta readers just so you can stick your fingers in your ears when they come back--and instead of telling you how perfect everything is--they give you some tough feedback. It's your right to pick and choose which feedback you use and discard--but listen to every comment with an open mind first and look for WHY the person may have said that.

If you start querying and an agent/editor rejects you but gives you feedback, REALLY HEAR IT. 
 Agents/editors do this for a living. It is their job to figure out what works and what won't. If they took the time to give you personalized feedback, then this wasn't some offhanded comment. They are trying to help. It doesn't mean you HAVE to take the advice, but I would strongly consider what they say. I can't tell you how many times I see people tweet or blog about--well, I got a personalized rejection, but I don't really agree with what they said, so I'll just find an agent who agrees with me.

Don't get too attached to anything in or about your book. Have very few sacred cows.
We all have dealbreakers--parts of our story or characters or setting or whatever that feel like the heart of the book to us--that if we took that out or changed it, our story wouldn't be the story we want to tell. That's okay. That's your right as an author. BUT, choose those sacred cows wisely. Don't hold so tightly to everything that you can't see the bigger picture. My dealbreakers? I wouldn't have been willing to get rid of my happy ending or to make the book erotica and not erotic romance or to get rid of my dual timeline structure. That's it.

And why should you do these things?

Because once you get an agent and then a book deal--it becomes a team effort and a business. Your agent and editor have the same goals as you do--to make your book as awesome and successful as possible. But that often means you're going to have to make some changes that are hard.

When I first signed with Sara, she asked me to cut my very favorite scene in my book. I loved that scene. But when she explained why it didn't work--it totally made sense. So after a moment of mourning, I moved forward and did it. I was able to save my favorite parts of the scene and rework them into a new setting with new motivations. And you know what? It was so much better the new way! I would have never ever on my own cut that scene because I was too attached, too close to the book. And the book would have suffered for it.

Then when I got my edit letter last week from Kate, there was another scene I never would've thought of changing, but wow, it was a great suggestion. The change made the whole scene much stronger and upped the conflict with just a simple switch of action.

In addition to that and some other changes, she wanted me to change my title. *moment of silence to say goodbye to Exposure Therapy*

She wanted me to think of something that wasn't just sexy but that was romantic as well because Exposure Therapy doesn't speak to the romance part. Now at first, I was like--oh noes! I heart my title. But after a few minutes of thinking on it, I could see her point. The heart of my book is the romance and relationship and I need to make sure the reader feels that in the title. So, I've given her my suggestions and we'll see what happens, but it was just another example of how you can't be too attached to anything.

And I know most of you are probably saying--as long as I get an agent or editor, I don't care what they tell me, I'll do whatever they want me to! But when you're actually faced with it, it's a lot harder to do than you think. So prepare yourself now. Be open to feedback and think about what your sacred cows are. What are you willing to go to the mats for?

And remember, it is your right to say no to something. It is still your book. I didn't change everything that Sara suggested and she was fine with that when I explained my reasoning. But just make sure that you're willing to listen and consider everything before going with that knee jerk "no way!" reaction.

So what are some of your sacred cows? How would you feel if asked to change your title? And on the flipside, if someone does go after a sacred cow, would you have the guts to say no to representation or a book deal over it? 

Interview with Editor Brendan Deneen - Win a Critique!

Alas, we've reached the final day of epic-ness.  I know, I'm sad, too.  But don't despair, next week I have loads of information to share from my amazing trip to RWA Nationals, so stay tuned. 

Now, on to another interview of fabulosity (yes, I'm inventing words; it's allowed on Friday)--editor Brendan Deneen of Thomas Dunne books.

BIO: Editor, Thomas Dunne Books (a division of St. Martin's Press), former Agent, Co-author of the comic book series FLASH GORDON, Also known as the book-to-film guy. Most recent deal listed on Publisher's Market Place - Julie Cross's TEMPEST

Other Recent Deals: Mathew Costello's VACATION, David Wong's THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS a sequel to JOHN DIES AT THE END

What was it about Julie’s novel that captured you?  What made her story stand out?

I had been looking for a young adult time travel novel for a long time…I think for at least a year or two.  What captured me about Julie’s book (previously called ENEMIES OF TIME) was the premise: a young man witnesses his girlfriend’s murder and then jumps away by accident.  It was the perfect set up.  And was exactly what I’d been looking for.

What kind of submission would you love to see come across your desk?  What are you tired of seeing?

I’m honestly tired of vampires.  I’m just sick of them.  And I know there are lots of great vampire stories still to be told.  I’m a fan of them, in theory.  But it just feels like overkill at this point.  And I’m getting there with zombies, too.  I want whatever is next.  My gut had been telling me it was time travel.  And now I have my YA time travel book.  What’s after that?  A friend of mine suggested an underwater tale.  That’s a tough one to pull off but you never know…….  And I’d love to see a great YA or adult ghost story.  Will someone please scare the shit out of me?

What excites you the most about your job?  What’s the part you find the most challenging?

The most exciting thing is finding great new writers.  Two of the books I’ve bought since becoming an editor are by first-time authors.  The idea of finding never-before-published yet extremely talented writers is still super exciting for me.  Maybe it’s because I’ve written four unpublished novels!  I wall-papered my bathroom in college with rejection letters.  Perhaps I want to save someone else’s bathroom from the same torture.  The most challenging aspect is learning the infrastructure of a massive publishing company.  I didn’t come through the system as an assistant, so I have to constantly remind myself that there’s more than just reading and editing.  There’s SO many aspects to being an editor; it’s a LOT of work.  Luckily, it’s an AWESOME job, so I’m not complaining.

You’ve done a lot of work on the film side of things.  I often finish a book and think—wow, this would make a great movie.  But obviously, only a select few are chosen for that medium.  So, in your opinion, what elements make a story more suitable for that format?

It’s almost impossible to predict.  So much of it is timing; a great director happens to want a certain genre and a certain book happens to cross his desk at the right moment.  A studio head saw that any given movie was #1 at the box office so he wants the next movie like it.  But that being said, it’s important, especially these days, to have a commercial hook.  Romance, action, intrigue, adventure.  And most importantly, great characters.   I think authors should write what’s in their gut.  If it’s a great story and told with emotional honesty, Hollywood will take notice.

We all know that beginnings are vital in hooking a reader.  However, there’s been a lot of debate among the writing blogosphere about starting with immediate action vs. the glimpse into the ordinary world.  What do you like to see in a beginning?

I think beginnings should start with a bang.  I’m a big fan of starting in the middle of the action and then pulling a “24 hours earlier” type of thing in chapter one.  But if you’re going to start in the ordinary world, it needs to be funny or exciting or something.  I’m not going to read 50 pages of someone making a sandwich.  Unless it’s the most incredible sandwich ever invented.  Crap, now I’m hungry.

When you get time (if you ever do) to read for pleasure, what are your go to genres or authors?

I almost never read for pleasure, sadly.  For awhile, I was reading the Harry Potter books when on summer vacation.  I’ve actually never read The Lord of the Rings books (except The Hobbit), so I keep telling myself that I’ll read them on one of my upcoming vacations.  

Thanks so much to Brendan for answering our questions and for donating a query or 5-pg. critique!  To see the rest of his interview, make sure you stop by Julie's blog.

Also, if you haven't entered the contest yet, you have until MIDNIGHT (central) on Sunday to do so.  Six winners will be randomly selected and announced on both blogs early next week.

Today is also the final day to receive bonus entries.  FOR TODAY ONLY, I will also count a facebook mention like a twitter mention.  Just fill out the form below and check I tweeted (even if it was on facebook).  And remember, you can't earn a bonus entry unless you've already filled out the main contest form (link at top of page.)

Thank you to everyone who has pimped this contest this week.  We can't even tell you how appreciative we are.  Good luck to everyone who has entered!

*CONTEST CLOSED*

The Scoop from the Agent/Editor Panel

This past Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the Texas Two-Step Writer's Conference where Michael Hauge presented a workshop on how to use screenwriting techniques for your novel.  I'll have a little more information on that on Friday, but today I wanted to talk about the agent and editor panel they had at the beginning of the day.

These were the members of the panel:

• Adam Wilson, Associate Editor, MIRA Books and Harlequin Teen
• Holly Blanck, Assistant Editor, St. Martin's Press
• Joy Azmitia, Literary Agent, Russell and Volkening
• Becca Stumpf, Literary Agent, Prospect Agency

First, I do have to say that for those of you who haven't attended a writer's conference, they are one of the best ways to get in front of an actual decision maker and pitch.  I didn't pitch because my romance is category length and most don't represent those.  But, the agents/editors seemed very nice and approachable.  And contrary to popular belief, they are actual people.  Shocking news, I know.  :)

But anyway, during the panel I realized I truly do take blogging seriously.  Even when they were talking about things that didn't apply to me, I was taking notes to share with you guys, lol.

So here's what I found out...

• Harlequin Teen is currently very heavy paranormal, so Adam is looking for contemporaries and historicals to balance their list out.

• YA Historical is getting hot.

• Holly is looking for gritty, edgy YA and also for a funny heroine who can support a series (adult or YA)

• Vamps/Werewolves/Faeries/Angels/etc are still okay, but you must do something different with it (not weremooses one joked).  All of them agreed that they are getting bombarded with Twilight copycats still.

• If you are writing paranormal/urban fantasy, don't get so involved in world-building that you bog down the story.  They say they've seen a lot of stories that read like a science textbook explaining all the rules and descriptions of the paranormal world.

• VOICE, VOICE, VOICE - they said that you have to have plot (obviously) but that voice is what elevates the great from the good.

• They are tired of seeing the guy character that every girl in the book is in love with.

• Readers want more of the same but NOT copycats.  Michael Hauge reiterated this sentiment for movies.  Readers want something familiar with a different twist.  If your idea is completely out the box and off the wall, they said it can be harder to sell.  But if you're too close to something else like Twilight, readers will call you out on it.  So familiar, but unique.  Easy peasy, right?

• They also said that your BIG TWIST on the original can't just be something like "oh, my werewolves can make themselves invisible."  Think of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series--she has vampires (old idea), and the characters are at special school (done all over the place), there are good vamps and bad vamps (done done done) but the MC is not a vampire, she has a very unique voice, and she is the opposite of the damsel in distress.

So that's the inside scoop.  Anything surprise you?   Make you happy?  Make you groan?  Let me know.
 
 
 
 
 

*Today's Theme Song*

"You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morissette

(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)