The Art of Critique

Presentation: The Art of Critique
Presenter: Pat White
Date: February 2, 2008, 11 am
Organization: Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America

Why do writers critique? Author Pat White asked the room of published and aspiring writers after we had shared our good news and bad and passed around chocolates. (My good news was, of course, that Nora Roberts had bought my “Ferrets Against Plagiarism” tee-shirt design.) Ms. White’s former chapter in Chicago used to conduct oral critiques every meeting. We critique because we want feedback on our writing and we learn from listening to other people’s critiques. We critique others in order to help the author reach the goal of getting published. The goal is to keep the writer writing and in that vein we must give helpful and compassionate advice. The process for an oral critique is as follows: first, the writer reads her scene out loud while the reviewers follow along and make notes on a printed copy; second, reviewers take five minutes to make comments on the paper; third, the oral critique commences with reviewers taking turns to voice helpful advice.

Critique Guidelines:

Start off your critique with a helpful or positive comment in order to set an encouraging tone for the critique as a whole. Starting off with a negative makes the author defensive and less receptive of the advice. Share two elements of the work you really liked before you share the criticism. Make sure to suggest a fix to the criticism, as it is not helpful merely to throw out problems. Don’t critique small points orally, such as “Would they really have 220 wiring in that type of house?” Instead, write them on the printed copy.

Reviewers should remember that it is not their job to rewrite the book. They should focus on the large questions: What’s at stake? What is the goal/motivation/conflict? Do you like the characters? Are they interesting? Do you want to fall in love with the hero and take the heroine out to lunch? Does anything stand out as odd?

The writer should not answer the reviewers, but may ask questions to try to better understand what is being said. Remember, the author will not be present when an agent is reading the manuscript to defend the work. Make sure to say thank you. If a common point is being raised by reviewers, ask for a show of hands as to how many people had the same opinion/perception. After the oral review collect the copies of the work on which the reviewers took notes and put all the first pages together, etc. Check to see how many of the comments are similar about certain sections – these are the major points to address.

My Critique:

Three (brave) volunteers then read aloud their scenes to the chapter. I started, and I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I thought I was going to be, even though it was my very first critique since high school. Firstly, I was advised to rewrite the scene from my heroine’s point of view, as my Point-Of-View (POV) tended to skip from omniscient to the heroine’s sister to the heroine with alarming frequency. Grounding the work in the heroine’s POV would help the reader identify with the heroine. Secondly, the reviewers suggested I start off with page seven, where my heroine finds The Book. The dialogue between the heroine and her sister, while delightful, was unnecessary if the sister would not play a major role in the proceeding chapters. Reviewers enjoyed my smooth writing style and descriptions, but felt I could cut some of them out. They liked the scene where the heroine gets her picture taken next to Platform 9 3/4 in her Harry Potter glasses, but felt it made her seem too young (ie 15). (I didn’t mention that in November I brought my Harry Potter glasses with me to London and had my picture taken next to platform 9 3/4 at the ripe-old-age of 25! ;) I unfortunately left my glasses in my friends apt that day, which is why I’m not wearing them in the photo.) It was incredibly helpful advice and I would like to thank all the lovely ladies in attendance, especially Pat White for leading the session.

Romantic Me:

While autographing a copy of her book, Ms. White informed me that she will be borrowing my name for her next heroine. Whooohoooo! I am to be immortalized in a romance novel! I didn’t ask if she would include a pronunciation guide. ;) This is quite the most exciting thing to happen to me since the Ferrets.

I heart Harry:

Since my scene about the aforementioned Platform will be disappearing, I’ll post it here for your enjoyment:

“Here it is!” Emma pointed excitedly. On the brick wall in front of them was a sign that read “Platform 9 ¾”. A luggage cart had been cut in half and glued to the wall to look like it was halfway through the barrier to meet the train to Hogwarts. Emma stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a pair of black glasses with small circular rims. She drew a lightning bolt on her forehead in eyeliner and placed the glasses on her nose, then struck a pose. “How do I look?”

“Just like Harry. Go over there and I’ll take a photo.”

She had to wait five minutes for her turn but it was worth it. “When are you going to read Harry Potter?” she asked her sister as they walked back to the tube entrance.

“I tried. Those books are too…fantastical for me.” While they waited for the train, Corinne wet a tissue and started scrubbing her sister’s forehead to remove the eyeliner.

“Hey, get off. I’m not five anymore.”

“Sorry, habit.” Corinne handed over the tissue to let her wash herself. Sometimes it was easy to forget that at twenty-two her little sister was all grown up.

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Tags: Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America, Pat White, writing

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