Pitch Critique - Amy Trueblood

Amy Trueblood is with us today - yay!

For those of you don't, you should go follow her on Twitter: @atrueblood5. She was the "Sun" half of the "Sun vs Snow" contest last month - a terrific contest that resulted in many requests!! She's also part of Operation Awesome. She's a great writer, and equally as important she believes in staying positive - supporting and uplifting our writing community.

So - get your pitches in! First 10 get critiqued.
After Amy is finished with her round, feel free to comment as well. The more the merrier!

Here's how this works:

1) Post your pitch in the comments section.  Tell us your genre: YA, MG, or NA. And for reference, tell us your ms title.
2) The first 10 to post will get a critique from Amy. As I said, after she leaves feedback, I hope others will leave feedback as well - the more the merrier.
3) Use the "reply" button to do this rather than making a new comment - I am hoping that will help us keep the feedback organized and easy to follow. Just to be sure, reference the ms title you're critiquing to minimize potential for mix up!
3) As always, please keep your feedback constructive, not mean.

For those of you polishing pitches for #PitchMadness Clue Edition hosted by Brenda Drake, Sharon Johnston, Summer Heacock, and Rebecca Weston, the contest rules and info are HERE .

Pitch Critique - SC Author

I'm so psyched - today we've got SC Author in the house!

For those of you don't, you should go follow him on Twitter: @SC Author. He's part of the team that runs the Query Kombat contest, and he just ran the very helpful Become An Agent contest and its following workshop.

I know he's a great CP because he looked at my query for me and had excellent advice.

So - get your pitches in! First 10 get critiqued.
After SC Author is finished with his round, feel free to comment as well. The more the merrier!

Here's how this works:

1) Post your pitch in the comments section.  Tell us your genre: YA, MG, or NA. And for reference, tell us your ms title.
2) The first 10 to post will get a critique from SC Author. As I said, after he leaves feedback, I hope others will leave feedback as well - the more the merrier.
3) Use the "reply" button to do this rather than making a new comment - I am hoping that will help us keep the feedback organized and easy to follow. Just to be sure, reference the ms title you're critiquing to minimize potential for mix up!
3) As always, please keep your feedback constructive, not mean.

For those of you polishing pitches for #PitchMadness Clue Edition hosted by Brenda Drake, Sharon Johnston, Summer Heacock, and Rebecca Weston, the contest rules and info are HERE .

Guest Critiquers Announcement

Getting ready for #PitchMadness?
Planning to be part of the next Twitter pitch party?
Think you might sign up for an agent pitch session at the next conference you attend?

Don't wait until the last minute to get your pitch in order. There's always a good reason to have a good pitch for each ms you're querying.  I even think it's a good idea to have a working pitch for WiPs -- keeps you focused.

I'm excited to tell you that for 3 days this week, we'll have the benefit of some amazing guest critiquers looking at our pitches.
Each guest will critique 10 Pitches - the first 10 to post on his or her day.



Wednesday: @SC Author
Thursday: Amy Trueblood (@atrueblood5)
Saturday: Michelle Hauck (@Michelle4Laughs)

Here's how this works:

1) Post your pitch in the comments section.  Tell us your genre: YA, MG, or NA. And for reference, tell us your ms title.
2) The first 10 to post will get a critique from the guest critiquer of the day. After our guest leaves feedback, I hope others will leave feedback as well - the more the merrier.
3) Use the "reply" button to do this rather than making a new comment - I am hoping that will help us keep the feedback organized and easy to follow. Just to be sure, reference the ms title you're critiquing to minimize potential for mixup!
3) As always, please keep your feedback constructive, not mean.

Wednesday Critiques begin at 11am EST. Not before.


For those of you specifically prepping for the upcoming #PitchMadness Clue Edition hosted by Brenda Drake, Sharon Johnston, Summer Heacock, and Rebecca Weston, the contest rules and info are HERE .

See you soon!

Pitch Workshop

Time for some pitch work!

It's always a good idea to have a good pitch for whatever you're querying. I even think it's a good idea to have a pitch for WiPs -- keeps you focused.

ANYWAY - this workshop was inspired by the upcoming #PitchMadness Clue Edition, the hosted by Brenda Drake, Sharon Johnston, Summer Heacock, and Rebecca Weston.

In case you're not familiar with the contest or need to remind yourself of the rules, I'll give you a second to go HERE to refresh yourselves.

Ok - so now you know you'll need a 35 word (max.) pitch. NEVER easy but totally doable.

Here's how this works:

1) Post your pitch in the comments section.  Tell us your genre: YA, MG, or NA. And for reference, tell us your ms title.
2) While you're here, share the love -- provide feedback on other pitches already posted. Use the "reply" button to do this rather than making a new comment - I am hoping that will help us keep the feedback organized and easy to follow. Just to be sure, reference the ms title you're critiquing to minimize potential for mixup!
3) As always, please keep your feedback constructive, not mean.
 4) I'll keep this running until March 10, when #PitchMadness opens.

Looking forward to some great feedback!
 

#PitchMadness Workshop Opportunity

Workshop Opportunity!

I've been looking for some new eyes on my pitch for the upcoming #PitchMadness Clue Edition (yay Brenda Drake! Such a fun idea.) So I thought, I'm probably not the only one.
Hence, this opportunity to workshop your pitch - give and get valuable critiques.

Here's how it will work (it's easy!):

- I'll open for comments at 12pm EST tomorrow (Saturday, February 22, 2014)
- Post your pitch-in-progress in the comments section.
- Everyone who posts should also leave comments for others -- share the love and the wisdom.
- When you post your pitch, include your ms title and genre to help us critique.
- To leave a critique, use the "reply" button, to try keep each pitch critique grouped within one comment. Hoping this will work in a reasonably organized fashion!


Here's to having shiny-perfect pitches to WOW the agents, and more success stories to share!

A Different Kind of Style Book

It's called Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares, by Jenny Baranick,  and it's HILARIOUS.

Keep in mind, I'm a complete nerd, so when I say a grammar book is hilarious, it's because I actually enjoy reading those things. I think Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is fun reading.

If you're one of my readers who isn't a grammar book nerd, you may stop reading now and I won't hold it against you.

For those of you still reading, - here's what I love.

First of all, just the subtitle: How to Avoid Unplanned and Unwanted Writing Errors.

Second, the brilliant lesson in writing a compelling opening. Here's how she launches her first chapter - on the importance of spelling:

Spelling can be as elusive as the female orgasm. We spell a word, and we think, "Ooooh, I think that's it. Wait.... no. Let me just. Oh there, maybe that's it. No. Oh, I don't know...I'm exhausted."

Admit it. You laughed. How could you not? You're hooked, right?

In this same chapter, Ms. Baranick, a college professor, goes on to illustrate the bugaboo SpellCheck. I love how she points out that it merely checks the accuracy of the word you THINK you want to use, blithely allowing you to make an ass of yourself with the WRONG WORD. Think affect instead of effect, and other grand mistakes we make. All. The. Time.

Each chapter is full of All The Mistakes that somehow crept into written English over the years. Like the words "irregardless" and "anyways" - when did that happen? They've never been words. NEVER. I love that she addresses this.

In the chapter on Grammar Myth Busting, Baranick takes aim at the old chestnut we all grew up with: that you cannot end a sentence with a preposition.

You can. Really, I promise. I've been trying to demystify that rule in my business writing classes for years and have had students very earnestly tell me that I am wrong, the rule is right, and they know because their English teacher taught them this when they were in 7th grade.

Sigh. So did mine. She was wrong too. Bless their hearts.

The preposition thing comes from LATIN, people. We speak ENGLISH. The rules aren't the same. PLEASE END YOUR SENTENCES IN PREPS WHEN YOU NEED TO.

Anyone heard the old Winston Churchill joke?  The one where he was poking fun at one of his speechwriters who was dutifully and nonsensically burying prepositions. He said, "This is the kind of pedantic nonsense up with which I will not put".

Nuff said.

Finally, the book is a great teaching aide for anyone (like me) who needs fresh new exercises to help keep students interested.

Anyone else seen it already? What was your favorite part?

What other grammar/style aides do you turn to for help?

The Phone Test

I've spent the last 3 weeks or so in critique land. Very little writing, just getting and giving feedback on queries and first 250s.

I've noticed a main theme develop in my comments: Fix the worst writing glitches by following this rule:

Read It Out Loud!

Flow problems? Authentic dialogue? Overwritten?

 When you HEAR your own words, the problems fix themselves. At least 90% of the time. Sometimes they don't, but that's another post.

The thing is, when you use your outside voice, not your internal I-love-these-words voice, you process differently - it's just that simple. Your mouth stumbles over awkward phrasing, overly formal or purply prose.  You know what you would say in "real life". That's what you should actually be writing.

Some of you know I teach writing - business writing. My students work for various US agencies and departments. My job exists because SO many government employees overwrite and crowd their documents with long, fussy, circuitous language. And, for the most part, they know better. But the culture of government writing supports, nay, ENCOURAGES that, so that's what they do.

The truth is, high level leadership wants plainer, simpler language - and certainly taxpayers do too. But the disconnect is huge.  If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard this: "We've always written this way; it sounds more official".

Uh, nope.


So anyway (*forcibly removes herself from her soapbox*), when I help people unlearn bad habits, we chant the Golden Rule. You know it now, say it with me:

READ IT OUT LOUD.

Keep it simple, and they will get it. 

Keep it real, and they will connect.

But, oddly enough, I never thought to apply that to my own creative writing until I read this post from the amazing Authoress, whom many of us depend on for wisdom, truth, and great contests.

She is Dauntless and posts about her own learning curve, so I am going to take a page from her blog and do the same.  Here is what I wrote in one of the early versions of my current query letter:

 It’s also a speculative take on the controversial world of stem cell research.

Say what?

Read it out loud, and you find your tongue stumbling across the consonants. You wonder, now just what does she mean?

But I didn't hear the problems because I didn't SPEAK it, and so, I actually sent it out that way.

So, try it. You'll surprise yourself.

One last note: when in doubt, try what I call the "phone test". When you can't figure out how to word something, pretend you're telling it to someone on the phone. Actually speak out loud. 90% of the time, what you say on the "phone"  is drastically different from what you say when you're staring at the screen.

Be Brilliant!

Critique Partners

I participated in SC Author's #Becomeanagent contest this week. Excellent contest, excellent host. Once more, big thanks to SC.

And - Wow. Just, wow. The query I told you about a few weeks ago? The one I was cautiously optimistic about? TANKED!

Really just nosedived - NO ONE liked it.  OUCH.

So, it's back to the drawing board, but once again, because of smart thinking from people who can see everything in my query that I'm too close to see, I have renewed hopes that it can be good one day. Not just I-think-it's-good, but actually, truly good.

And all this has led to today's musings on the importance of a good CP.

We all know what a key piece the puzzle a good critique partner is -- but you know, I'll just say it: It's scary to open your work to someone you've never - and may never - meet in person. Or at least, it is for me.

If you're like me, you send your work to a CP and then you don't really sleep until the critique comes back. You WANT to know what doesn't work, you WANT to know where you're falling short. But it's still nerve wracking. It just is. After all, this is your baby, right? One of them, at least.

Brenda Drake, who many of us know because of her blog and the great contests she generously runs (#Pitmad, anyone?) agreed to share her thoughts on finding and working with critique partners. 

Heather: What are some good questions to ask when considering working with a new CP?

It can be so scary, but it is well worth it. Critiques make our work better and help find holes and things that just aren't working in our manuscripts. 

I think the best questions to ask when deciding if a writer might be your critique partner match would be: What do you write? What do you like to read? How much time do you have for critiquing? How do you like to critique? Do you do line edits or just general notes? How much time do you normally need to do a critique?

Heather: What would be good reasons not to work with someone - meaning, even if someone is accomplished and a good writer, should you pay attention to the differences between you (like personality)? 
I like diversity, so if someone writes something different from me, or their personality isn't like mine, I think that's wonderful. The only time I would not want to work with someone is if he or she is negative. You can tell a lot about a person through a Twitter feed. If the feed is always negative, I'd caution starting a CP relationship. 

Heather: How do you find a CP? 
I haven't looked for a CP in such a long time. I have a small group of friends who are my critique partners. I found them doing NaNoWriMo and participating in contests. I think if you put yourself out there and participate on the hashtags for writer events, you get to know fellow writers. Then all you have to do is ask them. If they tweet about their current work in process and you like the premise, tweet them and tell them you'd love to critique it. It's reaching out that gets you a critique partner. Also, we have www.CPSeek.com where you can post what you're looking for in a critique partner. Others will read it, and if they feel you're a match, they can contact you.

Heather: How many CPs should you work with? And how many people should you agree to be a CP for? 
Each person works differently and needs a different amount of CPs. Some just need one, others need a dozen. It depends on your time and what you can give back to your CPs. I have just a few, and each one offers a special eye to certain elements in a story.

Heather: Sadly, sometimes these professional relationships just don't work out for one reason or another. How do you "break up" without burning bridges? 
I'm a pretty easy going person. I've never had to "break up" with a CP. I think honesty is always best. Just tell them you don't feel like you're connecting enough to their work to give them the critique they deserve. Reading, as we all know, is subjective. Just be kind and direct the problem to yourself than them. Some people can get hurt easily; it's always best to go with the "it's not you, it's me" approach.

Heather: How much work/time should you reasonably expect to ask of a CP? How much work/time should you be expected to make available to CP other people? 
It depends on how much time you have after your day job and family time. I suggest starting out with one to three critique partners and see how it goes. Always be upfront with your critique partners on how much time you have. We all have deadlines, vacations, or just things that happen beyond our control. Keep them informed. I say that you should give your critique partner a few weeks to give you the best critique possible. And you should tell them what to expect from you. If you think you can have it back in two weeks, tell them. Or if something is happening in your life and you need more time, then let them know it might take you longer this time. It's all about communication.

Brenda Drake, the youngest of three children, grew up an Air Force brat and the continual new kid at school. Brenda’s fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write young adult and middle grade novels with a bend toward the fantastical. When Brenda’s not writing or doing the social media thing, she’s haunting libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops or reading someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment). Brenda is represented by Peter Knapp with Park Literary. Look for her young adult novel, LIBRARY JUMPERS, coming soon.

She runs contests and twitter pitches, and you can find out more on her website: www.brenda-drake.com

And while we're on the subject of critique, here are a few more opportunities for critique workshops:

1) This Friday (2-7), SC Author will post revisions to queries/first 250 for those of you who participated in #Becomeanagent. Anyone can looksee, and all the help is good.

2) Also on Friday, Michelle Hauck will be doing a Critique Workshop on her blog. She's posting the submissions from her two alternates for #TeamSnow. If you entered #sunvvssnow and if you take time to leave feedback on the alternate's submissions, she'll do her best to post your entry for workshopping.
 

Be Brilliant, everyone!!