Your Book: Does it Feel Like Your Baby?

So many writers talk about this that I couldn't resist putting in a word for the feeling myself.

Yes, my work feels like I have created a baby, birthed it, and am sending my child out into the world. I think that's why it hurts so much when my baby is criticized.

I'm sure you feel the same. But I need to share something with you.

Once your baby leaves the nest, it's the world that's going to look at her, judge her for good or bad, spend time with her or not, and this, in reality, is a part of life.

I remember when I sent my first daughter off to kindergarten. I didn't think I was going to make it. I tried not to cry when she was standing there and I was giving her my - last - hug. Well, it felt like the last hug, and I cried all the way home. I couldn't even work that day, the fear of her well-being weighing so heavily on my mind. But in time, she came home, with grins and giggles about her first day at school and I knew everything was going to be alright.

Sending off your first book is more than a little like that. You wonder, "Will people like it?" The bad news, is that you're always going to wonder if people are going to like your book, whether your book is your first or your seventh, but the good news is, hearing the negative comments gets a little easier.

For my first book, A River of Stones, there were a few reviewers and readers that thought I was trying to convert them to the LDS religion. This wasn't the case. I simply shared a story of a young girl named Samantha and what helped her work through some of the hard times in her life when her parents divorced.

My second book, Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones, has offered readers an opportunity not only to read a story about a woman named Virginia and how God assisted her through the five stones, to overcome her Goliath, but gave readers an opportunity to look at their own life and see the changes for improvement they might make. Some readers didn't like this. They didn't like it that they had to look at their life.

I have had other comments for my mystery books. Some have liked them, others haven't. I have my own writing style, I know that, and I present my stories, mysteries and otherwise, in my way.

What you need to know is that criticism can be good and it can be bad. The most important thing about criticism is that you get to take a second look at your book. You can make a change on how you do things for your next book, or not. Just remember that sometimes the news you get isn't really accurate, rather someones own hang-ups coming out in a review or comment. Don't let these get to you. People aren't perfect, and that makes the reviews you receive less than perfect.

Your baby isn't perfect either. As she grows, you will find that there are things you can help her with, ways you can improve. This doesn't mean you're a bad writer, what it does mean is that there is always something to learn as a writer, just as a child learns as she grows to adulthood.

And that's what living on this earth is all about.

Snow? Sleet? Rain? Consistency in Writing

Do you go back and cut
what doesn't work?

I just looked out my office window. Looks like snow, or at least, snow mixed with rain.

Man.

I was looking forward to working in the yard.

Hey!

It just stopped!

No kidding!

So funny.

I guess it's spring. One moment it's warm, the next the sky is pretending it's going to return to winter. And in the next second, we're back to spring again.

I love spring. But I also like consistency. The sort of consistency I hope to portray in the books I write. I don't want readers to be too clueless; especially at the end of the book where I hope to resolve most, if not all of the issues.

I don't want my readers putting down my book and saying to themselves, "Well it looked like a good one, but the ending was entirely wrong."

Kind of like a cooler than average spring day turned winter.

Think about your own work. Is your ending satisfying to the reader? It may be satisfying to you, but you may not know how others perceive it, or your characters perhaps, or the setting you have chosen, unless you get into the heart and soul of the matter and ask your readers (before your book is published, of course) following suit with those significant changes.

That means research. It means getting into the heads and hearts of your characters. It's about feeling as they would feel and doing as they would do as you write about them. It's making every scene three dimensional, like a movie, like the best play you've ever set your eyes on.

Here's to your best work!

Kathryn

Know What Your Weaknesses Are

I have been thinking lately about weaknesses and how they help us with strength. A weakness can help us see into ourselves faster than any compliment, but the trick is to actually want to take a look.

When it comes to our writing, we hope that our writing is perfect and that everyone will love it, but the opposite is probably true. Even those best sellers don't have everyone on the planet scrambling to get a copy.

And that brings me to something.

My work. Does everyone love it or even like it?

No, and I continually have to come to terms with that.

Are my books always understood or appreciated?

No. Sometimes there's some loathing involved.



With writing comes growth
Photo by: Richard Step

Does that make me want to quit?

Sometimes. But as I've said in previous posts, that's not something I'm going to do. Perhaps a particular reader has no sense at all when it comes to understanding what I write, but maybe they do, and maybe they can help me with the weakness that they see and I can eventually make the weakness a strength.

I tell writers all of the time. "If you're good at dialogue, you probably struggle with setting," and usually this is true.

As a writer, we can't be good at everything at the same time; what we can do is to see our weaknesses and work on perfecting them for our next endeavor. We need to have the courage to see what doesn't work and improve upon it and the sense to know when something is already working, though some readers might not appreciate it.

Expectations in Writing

Sometimes when we feel as if we've written some good, something memorable, we also find out that there are others who don't feel the same way.

We have expectations for our writing, sort of like the expectations we have for certain key individuals in our life. When our writing lets us down, it's sort of like someone we love has let us down.

The cool thing about both of these instances is that it took a human being to create the expectation. And I think that's an important thing to remember.

Not everyone is going to say what we want them to say all of the time, whether what they say is about our writing or about us. (And if it's about our writing it feels as if it's about us).

Phtoto by: spaceamoeba, courtesy of Flickr

When we write, we're putting our heart and soul into our work; when someone has let us down our heart and soul suffers.

In both cases we're feeling a bit sorry for ourselves. We may even wonder how we'll go on.

But we do.

If we're a writer, we continue. No matter the obstacles or words of discouragement. We move forward. We may have to take a good look, but then we move forward.

We have to.

Kathryn

Handling Criticism

I don't know about you but handling criticism, whether it is filled with love or a scathing review is a bit like taking a bite out of that great looking cookie only to discover the chef accidentally used salt instead of sugar.

None of us like criticism; it's the next best thing to cleaning out the bathroom toilet. Still, once the criticism is looked at certain decisions about your work can be made for improvement.

1. The critique is right on the money. I'm going to make changes.
2. The critique is a nut job; or at best, just the personal opinion of the critiquer.
3. The critique is a manifestation of the critiquers own insecurities.

Looking at these various responses, they all feel the same to me in the beginning. I may feel somewhat insulted, somehow not understood, and suddenly I am either angry or feeling insecure about my work.

Years ago I entered a contest. The entries had been painstakingly worked on. When I didn't win a single award I looked at the judges comments. Some were helpful. Others were scathing and I wondered how the judge thought I'd ever write again if I based my opinion on my work from their review.

Fortunately, I didn't.

One of the hardest things to take in is unsolicited critiques; those that come to you without you even asking for them. But these, like the others, can be purposeful for your work if you let them.

Photo by: Arry_B, courtesy of Flickr

But you have to let them in.

My new book, Scrambled, is a cozy mystery but it doesn't run typically cozy. It has an amateur sleuth, a murder, even some quirky instances played out by the main character who knows nothing about solving a mystery. But it is more serious than the typical cozy. Susan not only has a back story, she lives in the real world where separation from a long-time marriage is possible. And so my cozy takes on a deeper level than some.

Is this okay, even if some readers think my story is more of a suspense novel?

I think so. Keeping things interesting in your writing, keeps the readership coming. And I can't help but think that a cozy can also create some great suspense--if you let it.

Book Reviews that Teach

Book reviews. I've been getting a few of them lately for my new book, "Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones" and a few things have remained consistent.

• Wanting to read the book--again.
• Taking notes in the margins.
• Wanting to gather their own stones to remember what they have learned.

My second book

• Desiring to use what they have read for their current struggles.

Yes, all writers need a little pat on the back and I'm happy for those I have recently been given. I am also grateful for those reviewers who have struggled with certain aspects of my book and haven't been afraid to share their feelings. These views help me too. For I will be writing and publishing again, you can be sure of that.

I'd like to think that all writers are continually learning, growing and perfecting their craft. Now that winter is over and the spring buds are peeking through the soil, I am thinking again of the growth and learning I have received through the years by writing and by getting reviewed and critiqued.

Sometimes it's hard to hear, but I am grateful for the challenge to improve my next work.

Receiving Writing Critiques

Today I'm thinking about critiques mainly because I'm still getting them.

The interesting thing about critiques is that you continue to get them, even when you believe your writing is, well, fairly established. And you can't let the critiques "get to you." In fact, if you use them as stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks, it's amazing how your writing can improve.

If someone tells you that you need to be more clear here, or shorten your sentences there; or even, "you need to follow the guidelines" you need to listen up and take action; yes, even when it hurts.

Photo By: jorgempf, courtesy of Flickr

I don't know what it is about critiques but they have a way of getting underneath our skin and seeping inside our hearts. Suddenly, we're not quite "good enough" our writing "sucks" or we find ourselves getting a bit miffed that the person reading our stuff somehow missed seeing us.

It's kind of like meeting someone for the first time and then seeing them again for the second time on the same night and they can't remember your name. It's sort of like writing your best stuff, at least, what you believe is your best stuff, and having someone else tell you it isn't your best stuff--you can do better.

And I guess that's the point about the best critiques. You learn how you can improve your writing, or not. If  the critique is specific enough in its explanation, you know where and what needs to be looked at. You have the courage to make changes.

Photo By: n0nick, courtesy of Flickr

If you don't agree with the person who critiqued your  work, that's fine, but if you can see past your own heart and skin, you may find that the "criticizer" was right.

Those writers with the greatest perseverance have the courage to LOOK.

Why Criticism for your Writing is a Good Thing

As a writer, criticism for your writing may be as prevalent as your next paragraph, but the criticism itself doesn't have to be daunting or depressing. I have learned through the years of writing that criticism can be a real winner if you look at it in a positive way. After publishing for almost 30 years I still get criticism when it comes to my work, and this is a good thing. Why?

Photo by Tony Hall, courtesy of Flickr

• Valid criticism helps you see your work with new eyes. Perhaps the reader didn't understand a sentence you used or why the character changed hair color "suddenly" from blond to brown when there wasn't a logical explanation for doing so. Allowing someone else to critique your work gives you an opportunity to revise and improve it. 
• Sometimes the criticism you receive appears more off than beaten track than on it, and in writing, you want the comments that you take in to be "right on" the money. After I read feedback, and before I return to make changes, I let a couple of days go by. When I pick up the manuscript again it's easier to pinpoint the criticism of my work that is valid. If you're having your work read by multiple readers, see if they have problems with the same areas of your work. This is usually a good clue that what you've written isn't working--for multiple readers.



Photo by Chris Radcliff, courtesy of Flickr

• Criticism, wise criticism, helps you to connect with a reader who loves your work. I have friends and family members who read my work before I publish it. I am grateful for their help because I am able to publish a better product. Though I publish my own works through self-publishing, having others read your work will get you beyond the "slush pile"  when it comes to submitting your work to a publisher. 
• One more thing about valid criticism. You will sometimes get a reader's "opinion" when it comes to your work. They might not like it because you've written romance and they prefer westerns. They may prefer nonfiction when what you've written is fiction. They may like more dialogue in the books they read and less setting. Make sure that the changes you make feel good to you. You will never be able to make every reader happy.

In the end, criticism of your writing is merely a critique anyway, and never has to do with you as a person. Keeping your feelings separate from the critique will go a long way in allowing you to improve your work. Put on an reader's hat if you have to when it comes to reading the criticism you receive and leave your creative mind at the door.