Obits and Blessings

If you asked writers whether they would want to write obituaries, most would probably not choose that as some of their favorite writing. But I’m blessed every time I write an obituary for someone in my church family. Writing the obituary for the funeral bulletin and the church newsletter is my memorial to the deceased and my gift to the family.

I interview the family and ask them to tell me about their loved one. Of course, I include details such as dates of birth and death, but I look for the things that made that person special. In most cases, I know the person because we’ve worshipped together so I add my own fond recollections as well.

Recently, though, I wrote the obituary for a member of our parish that I had never met because she was house-bound for several years. I do know her daughter, who shared wonderful memories of her mother. My friend was thrilled with what I wrote about her mother. And I got a note from a fellow parishioner: “I just wanted to tell you what a beautiful obit that you wrote for Donna’s funeral.  It seemed more like a celebration of life.”

Celebrating life, sharing memories, and bringing comfort to the family – what wonderful blessings I find in writing obituaries for my parish.

[tags]writing, obituaries[/tags]

Wow!

I get as excited about good reviews for books I’ve edited as the authors do, and I’m pleased to report that my clients have received a number of excellent reviews.

This week, David Bowles received a wonderful fan letter and a fabulous review of Spring House.  

The Jonesborough (TN) Herald & Tribune carried a full page review in the column “Digging for Your Roots” written by John L. Kiener of the Jonesborough Genealogical Society. The reviewer wrote, “‘Spring House’ is a novel in an unusual format. By this statement, I mean that the author footnoted his text.” He pointed out the value of the index and list of family surnames to genealogists and the value of David’s media kit to reviewers.

Congratulations, David!

Fr. Jerry is Home!

Fr. Jerry Sherbourne, the former rector of my church, who became a military chaplain, is home from a year’s deployment in Iraq.

Read about his homecoming. I’m so happy for him and his lovely family!

Beware of the Wrong Critique Groups

In my last post, I shared the positive experience I had with a critique group. But not every critique group works so well. One of my writer friends almost gave up writing because she had such a negative experience in a critique group.

How can you avoid the pitfalls of a bad critique group?

First, get to know the other potential group members before you commit to participating. I met the other members of my critique group through a local writing group and knew them for several months before we ever talked about forming a group. A writers group, local or online, is a good place to meet potential critique partners. You will know the person is serious enough about writing to participate in the organization, and you can observe how they interact with other people. Look for writers who are enthusiastic and upbeat; a negative person is probably not the best choice to critique your work, and a writer who thinks/acts like they know everything there is to know won’t be fun to work with.

In my experience, the most effective groups are made up of writers with similar levels of experience. For a brief time, we tried to add another person to our group – a woman who had already published several books while the rest of us were still unpublished. The group didn’t benefit the experienced writer as much as she would like, and we unpublished writers felt somewhat intimidated. Experienced writers mentoring new writers one-on-one is great, but a critique group works best if all the members have similar levels of experience.

Set some ground rules that all members are comfortable with. In our group, each member brought copies of a chapter for the other members every week; we read and marked the manuscripts during the week, then discussed them at the meeting. Some groups do all the reading at the meeting – reading and discussing when the manuscript is presented. Other groups divide up the work, so each members reads only part of the manuscripts. Any of these ways can work, but the group members need to decide in advance so everyone has the same expectations.

Groups can vary in size, but all the members should be satisfied with the size of the group. We found a small group of four was best for us; we couldn’t have spent as much time on each person’s work with a larger group. But for some writers, especially those just beginning or trying to fit writing into a hectic schedule, may prefer a larger group so they don’t have to have work ready for every session. We can learn as much from reading and evaluating someone else’s work – and from listening to the advice of others – as we can from having our own work reviewed.

The way criticism is given and the personalities of the writers are also important. In our group, we always tried to find something positive to say before pointing out any problems. Although we were thorough in our feedback, we tried to be considerate in everything we said. A friend of mine belonged to another group during the same time, and they described their critique sessions as ruthless. They thought it was a waste of time to talk about what they liked; they were there to improve their writing and wanted to spend their time finding out what didn’t work. Listening to them talk, many people would be offended at their ruthlessness, but the writers in this group found this was effective for them. Again, either way can work, but all the members have to be comfortable to avoid hurt feelings and damaged egos.

One of the strengths of our group was the variety of talents; we complemented each other and each of us benefited from skills of the others that we lacked ourselves. Without that diversity of abilities, your group will have less value than a group of people with a wide range of talents.

The recipe to avoid a critique group horror story: Get to know the members of the group before you decide to evaluate each other’s work. Make sure everyone is compatible and has something to offer. Agree in advance on how the group will work so everyone is comfortable with the structure and the critique style. Enjoy the friendship of fellow writers, and take advantage of the opportunity to learn and improve your writing.

[tags]writing, critique groups[/tags]

About Critique Groups

Who reads your work-in-progress?

I recently read some advice – rules of life – from a famous writer. Sorry, I forgot who it was!

This great writer said he never let anyone read his works-in-progress, and he advised other writers to follow his example. He said most people don’t know enough about writing to recognize whether your work is any good, and you’re apt to get one of two reactions: 1) the reader will criticize your writing and damage your confidence or 2) the reader will believe the writing is superior just because you, someone that person loves, wrote it.

While this advice has merit, I think writers can benefit from having someone else read our work to give us perspective. We can’t judge our own work objectively. However, it makes sense to be selective in who you let see your masterpiece-in-the-making. Sometimes people will find fault with what you write because they’re jealous of you; sometimes they’ll criticize because they think it makes them look smart. And your loved ones are probably too biased to give you a fair reading.

So who should you trust to read your work-in-progress? When I first started writing, I got excellent advice from other writers who were self-confident enough to be objective. My friend Grace Anne Schaefer read my novel Stroke of Luck when I was about halfway through the first draft. She said some words of encouragement, then suggested I add some dialogue. I’d written half a novel and no one had ever spoken! She pointed out a few more – less serious – problems, and I put her advice into practice right away.

Contrary to my advice that family members aren’t necessarily good choices to read your manuscript, my mother read my story when I finished the first draft. She said, “I don’t know what it was, but the second half of the book was a lot better than the first.” Grace Anne’s guidance had made that much difference.

A little later in my writing career, three other writers and I formed a critique group. The two years or so that the group met was the most productive time in my fiction-writing experience. We met once a week; each of us brought three copies of a chapter in our current work-in-progress. We read the chapters during the week, and the next week we discussed and critiqued each other’s work. We each told what we liked, what problems we saw, and what suggestions we had.

Our philosophy was that if one person mentioned a problem, the writer should consider it and decide whether or not she wanted to revise. If two others mentioned the same problem, the writer should seriously consider making a change. And if all three of the others saw the same problem, the writer definitely needed to make revisions.

This group worked because of the mix of members. Each of us had specific strengths - imagination, mechanics (grammar, etc.), historical knowledge and life experience, attention to details…. Although we all wrote romantic fiction, we wrote in several subgenres. We were all about the same level of writing experience, so we learned and grew together. Groups that aren’t fairly well matched in experience usually find that the more experienced members are mentoring those with less experience – a commendable thing to do, but not the purpose of a critique group designed to benefit all the members. Most importantly, we liked and trusted each other; we were supportive, encouraging, and rooting for each other’s success.

Participating in the critique group proved to be a positive experience for me. I enjoyed the camaraderie with other writers who became good friends. I learned so much about writing - evaluating someone else’s work can teach a lot to improve your own writing. I finished a novel in record time because I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t bring a chapter to the weekly meeting. And it was after becoming part of the critique group that my novel was published.

I’ve heard horror stories about bad critique groups, and I’ll make suggestions on how to avoid a bad experience. But I was blessed to be part of a wonderful group.

Related Posts:
The Value of Writers Groups
Beware of the Wrong Critique Groups

[tags]writing, critique groups[/tags]

Powerful Words

Robert Bennett, who recently contacted me for advice on finding a publisher for his book, sent me a link to a blog post at Sibby Online entitled “Three lives conceived through rape.”

Robert, conceived through incest, joined two women who were conceived through rape to share their stories at the South Dakota Right to Life Convention. Their stories are powerful and compelling.

Free Stories and E-Books

Although I’ve written only a couple of short stories, available free on my Web site, I enjoy stories I can read in one sitting.

One of my favorite places to find short fiction is More Than Novellas. The site has Christian short stories, novellas (usually posted a chapter at a time), and interactive fiction (where the audience writes the story).

BitBooks has links to free fiction on the Internet, categorized by genre. You will find links to short stories and novel excerpts, as well as publishers and authors, reviews, e-zines, and more.

My Web site includes a page with links to free e-books. Classics and other works in the public domain are available online at no cost, along with free sample stories and excerpts from contemporary authors who want to introduce their work to readers.

As an author, I believe writers should receive fair compensation for their work. But if you want to read great classics and find new authors, check out the free sites and save your money to buy the books of the authors you discover … and love.

[tags]free e-books[/tags]

Blog Carnivals

Have you discovered blog carnivals? I’ve discovered carnivals recently … and discovered how addictive they can become!

A blog carnival is a collection of posts on a particular theme from a number of different blogs. Many carnivals are ongoing, with new editions posted each week or month. Carnival hosts search to find great posts to share, and bloggers can submit posts from their own blogs.

There are carnivals on writers, religion, medicine, professions of all kinds, hobbies, business, sports, technology, arts and entertainment …. Think of a subject, and there are probably blogs about it, and if there are blogs about it, there’s probably a blog carnival.

Carnivals are a fun and convenient way to find blogs on subjects that interest you. I warn you, though, you can just plan to check out this week’s edition of your favorite blog carnival … and before you know it, you’ve clicked from blog to blog and read post after post!