Show Don’t Tell is an oft-quoted rule for writers. But what does “Show Don’t Tell” mean?

There are several different nuances to this rule, but here’s a simple way of looking at it. For example, in your story it’s snowing. You could start your story by saying, “Snow was falling from the sky.” That’s telling, and it’s really pretty boring. To show your reader, to help them picture it, you could write, “Snow poured from the sky in huge flakes, blowing and swirling in a sheet of white so thick I almost couldn’t see the tree in our back yard.”

Now your reader can actually “see” what the snow looks like. Your reader, as if they were the character, is trying to see that tree in the back yard and can just barely make it out through the thick snow. Now you have created a setting for your reader. They are looking out a window staring at a snowstorm. But you didn’t tell them that. You showed them.

One way to “show don’t tell” is to write like your story is a movie unfolding before the reader’s eyes.

Set the stage. If you were putting on a play, and if it was set in a jungle, what would you do to let the audience know it was a jungle setting? You wouldn’t have an actor come onto the stage and say, “This play is set in a jungle. So use your imagination and pretend this is a jungle.” No. You would show the setting with props that look like tropical foliage, trees and bushes, vines and flowers.

It’s the same with your book. You could start your story with, “I was in the middle of the jungle, looking for monkeys.” Or you could start it with, “The strange hooting of a howler monkey filled my ears as I peered through the dense tropical foliage. The humidity caused my shirt to stick to my skin, and as I searched the treetops high overhead for a glimpse of the monkeys I could hear but could not see, I slapped at the strange insect that tried to land on my arm.”

Which version is more interesting?

It’s more interesting to start your story as if the reader is actually in the point of view (POV) of your character, experiencing the story, instead of just listening to someone tell a story. Let you reader experience the story through the character, as if they are in the character’s mind.

For instance, let the characters react to what is happening instead of stating what is happening. Example: I went out into the snow, but it made me cold, so a few minutes later I went back inside. That is telling.

Example: I stepped outside and the flakes landed on my cheeks and nose and eyelashes, over and over again, wetting my exposed skin. The wind blew its icy breath, freezing my face until my cheeks and mouth grew so stiff I couldn’t talk. I ran back inside and my cheeks began to sting in the warmth of my cozy house.

In this example, you are showing the character’s reaction to the snow and the cold. You could actually make it even more showing by having your character try to talk, but their words come out sounding strange, as they try to move their frozen jaws.

Another Show Don’t Tell rule is: Don’t tell the reader what to think.

Example: Pam is mad.

Example: Pam threw the roses in the garbage, then stuck her foot inside the trash can and stomped until the flowers looked more like pureed tomatoes than roses.

In the first example, you’re telling the reader that Pam is mad. In the second example, you are showing that Pam is mad. You don’t have to tell the reader that Pam is mad. They know she is mad! You showed how mad she was by her actions.

Telling = summarizing.

Showing = letting it play out in a scene.

Example of telling: Abigail was forced to ride home in the carriage with Mr. Turtletaub, who had a terrible cold but insisted on confessing his love for her and proposing marriage, even though she tried to stop him.

How would you show this? You would let the characters act it out in a scene. Show Mr. Turtletaub sneezing, his red nose, and then show him falling onto his knees. Use dialogue. Let the man speak his proposal to Abigail. Show Abigail’s reaction. Did she shrink away from him? Did she gasp? What did she say to try to stop him? If this is an interesting and important part of your plot, then you need to make it into a full-fledged scene.

Sometimes telling is okay. If the event is not worthy of its own scene, if it is not important to characterization or the plot, then it is okay to just tell what happened.

For example, you don’t want to make a scene out of two characters drinking tea and discussing the weather, then saying good-bye and going about their daily routine. That’s boring. Instead you can summarize that by saying, “Annie came by for a visit, but Abigail was careful not to mention that Mr. Turtletaub had proposed. Annie apparently hadn’t heard the news.” But all events that are significant to the plot need their own scenes, where you show the characters acting out their parts.

If you are wondering whether you should show a scene or just tell the reader in a short summary, ask yourself a few questions. Is this significant enough to be shown in a scene? Is it important to the plot? Does it move the story forward? Does it show characterization? If not, either leave it out completely, or summarize it in a sentence or two.

So much more could be said about showing and telling. It’s quite a big topic, but I hope this helps you at least get an idea of what it means to Show Don’t Tell.

Dialogue is one of those things that you know good stuff when you hear or read it. It’s something even non-writers pick up on. One night my husband and I were flipping channels and got sucked into A Few Good Men. And just as I was thinking, “This movie has great dialogue,” my husband—an engineer—turned to me and said, “There are some great lines in this movie.”

Second, next month Stephanie Morrill, author of The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series ( http://stephaniemorrillbooks.com/books/ ) and creator of Go Teen Writers ( http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/ ) will be here talking about dialogue. If you’re struggling with how to make your characters sound different from each other, how to write conversations between more than two people, and what the balance should be of dialogue and prose, you won’t want to miss our April 2 class! If you have dialogue questions you want answered, send Stephanie an email ( http://stephaniemorrillbooks.com/contact/) in the next couple weeks. Be sure to specify you’re a NextGen writer!

Finally, Ms. Shene would like to announce the winners of the Wake Up Your Muse giveaway. The following gals should email Ms. Shene at starsongs.mag@gmail.com

Rachel

Maggie

Now on to the rest of our March event hosted by Ms. Patti Shene (Thank you Patti for joining us this month!):

STARBRIGHT ANNUAL NOVEL WRITING CONTEST

Starsongs, a publication of Written World Communications, is proud to announce our annual Starbright novel writing contest. Our goal is to assist the budding young novelist whose work shines above the rest to realize the dream of publication.

Eligibility: This contest will be divided into two categories, novel and novella

The novella entrant must be no younger than 9 yrs old and no older than 12 years old by March 15, 2013.

The novel entrant must be no younger than 13 yrs old and no older than 19 yrs old by March 15, 2013.

Each entry will be accompanied by a non-judged summary of the manuscript not to exceed 1,000 words.

Entrant must submit a document of verification (downloadable from web site) that the entry is original work created by the entrant. This document will also grant permission to Written World Communications to assign the manuscript to any member of Written World Communications staff or any person that Written World Communication deems qualified for the purpose of judging.

Entrant must accompany entry with a fee of $20.00.

Entry must be received at starsongs.mag@gmail.com no later than 12:00 midnight MST on March 15, 2013. (Entry will not be considered submitted until entry fee is paid in full).

Manuscript length: novella 20,000 – 50,000 words.                 novel  50,001 – 90,000 words.

Content: This is a fiction contest with entries open to genres such as sci-fi/fantasy, speculative fiction, horror, action/adventure, paranormal, YA, historical, romance, mystery/thriller, and inspirational. Genres that illustrate extreme violence, illicit drug use, graphic violence, torture scenarios or explicit sexual situations such as “slasher” stories or erotica are not acceptable. Children’s books (for example, picture books) are not appropriate for this contest as they would not meet the required word count. Starsongs and Written World Communications welcome entries from both the Christian and secular novelist.

Format: Manuscript should be typed in Times New Roman or Courier New font size 12 with 1 inch margins top, bottom, and sides. Manuscript should be double spaced with 0.5 inch indentation to begin paragraphs. The first page, the title page, shall contain the title of the entry, author’s name, phone number, email address, and projected age of the contestant as of September 15, 2011. The second page will consist of a single-spaced summary of the story. The manuscript will begin on the third page.

Judging: Each entrant will receive a critique from three (3) separate judges. First through fifth place winners will move to a final judging round and will receive a critique from three (3) separate judges.  Entrants who advance to the final round will be afforded the opportunity to revise their entry.

Criteria for judging:

Submissions will be judged based on the following elements:

Plot development

Character development

Conflict

Believability

Originality

Contest participation does not guarantee that the entire manuscript will be read. In order to assure a complete reading of your work, it is your responsibility as the author to edit and polish your manuscript to the best it can be. This includes but is not limited to proper spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and organization of content.

Prizes:

1^st place – Publication of manuscript by Written World Communications

2^nd place – $100.00

3^rd place – $50.00

All winners will be notified via telephone no later than September 15, 2013. Official announcement of winners will be announced in the winter 2013 issue of Starsongs.

Date of publication of the first place manuscript will be subject to negotiation of editorial changes, if needed, between Written World Communications and the author.

Make check or money order payable to Written World Communications P.O. Box 26677 Colorado Springs, CO   80936.  Paypal option available on web site at www.written-world.com.

Now, it’s on to Ms Shene…

Hello NextGen writers! I’m so excited to learn that you are forming critique groups. A crit group provides so many benefits to writers. It allows each member to improve craft, find voice, draw on strengths, improve weaknesses, and fellowship with other writers, just to name a few.

Think of your critique group as the filter that will help remove all the “bad” stuff from your manuscript that you don’t want an editor to see. Moving out of the comfort zone of sharing your work with critique partners you will come to know and trust can be difficult. This entails placing your work in the hands of strangers who may err more on the side of criticism than praise.

An intermediary step that can prove helpful to a new writer is contest entry. Prizes can range from a certificate to publication. Cash prizes and college scholarships are sometimes offered. A simple Internet search will bring up a number of different contest opportunities.

A contest judge can tell within a few lines whether more than the author has read a manuscript. You’ve probably heard it a dozen times, but it’s important enough to repeat. The more you read your own work, the easier it is for the human eye to skip over mistakes. Your brain interprets what it expects to see, not what actually appears on the page. A fresh pair of eyes will pick up those misspellings, omitted words like “the” and “a,” and incorrect use of homonyms such as “to” and “too.” Poor spelling, omitted punctuation, and incorrect word usage will get you eliminated before the end of page one.

Analysis of your story begins with the very first line, so make it great! Put enough information into those few words to pique the reader’s interest and compel her to keep turning the pages. Use phrases that will introduce a person, time, or place. Evoke emotion with either dialogue or action.  Here’s an example:

The girl lay across the bed, staring out the window.

What does that tell us? All we have is the gender of the character and little else. She is lying across a bed, but we have no idea if its night time, when she should be in her bed, or even if the bed in question is her bed. Let’s try again.

Kaitlyn threw herself across her bed and gazed out the window at the tree branches swaying violently in the March wind, their movement as unsettling as the fears that swirled around in her mind.

Our character now has a name. The fact that she can see the tree branches swaying indicates it is probably still light outside. Mention of the month tells the reader the season is spring. If she can see the branches out her window, chances are she does not live in a city. The sentence gives the reader insight into Kaitlyn’s emotion. The action of throwing herself across the bed indicates something is bothering her. The fear building inside Kaitlyn parallels the threat of the storm outside.

From that first sentence, blow away the competition with well-constructed scenes that move the story forward to its inevitable end. More than one point of view character is fine, but choose the point of view of just one character per scene. Describe the five senses as your character experiences them to pull your readers into the story and draw them into the whirlpool of action and emotion.

Judges are drawn to believable characters. Give them more than just a pretty face with blue eyes or an athletic build with dark hair. Show the reader your characters’ philosophy of life and how it governs their good and bad choices. Base their current actions on their past experiences. Keep it believable. Don’t allow a character to perform a skill for which they logically have no knowledge.

For example, you create a scene where twelve year-old Breck jumps behind the wheel of a pickup and drives to town to obtain help for his snake bitten grandfather. Nothing previous in the story tells the reader he has ever been behind the wheel of a vehicle. A sentence or two earlier in the story could skillfully reveal that Breck’s grandfather started teaching him how to drive farm equipment, and maybe even the pickup, at the age of eight. This fact about Breck’s familiarity with the operation of a vehicle would provide believability to his action during the emergency scene.

Contest judges love trouble – for your characters that is. The more conflict you bring to your story, the better the chance your entry will earn a high score. The moment things start going well for a main character, jerk her out of her comfort zone and put her in a situation she has to struggle out of to return to a safe place. Make life miserable for him by attacking him where he is weakest and forcing him to use his strengths to fight for the goal he strives to achieve.

The unusual catches the eye of judges, editors, and readers alike. Give your character an uncommon career. Think outside the box beyond medical professional, teacher, lawyer, or businessman. How about professional computer hacker (legal, that is!), food taster, or pet insurance salesman?  Most of us love cats, dogs, and/or horses, but make your character stand out with her pet ferret or his cherished pot-bellied pig.

Your critique partners can file the rough edges off your work and buff your polished manuscript to a high sheen. Why not enter the finished product in a contest where, at the very least, you will receive professional feedback from experienced judges? You may just find that your writing skill shines above the competition.

This month, Starsongs magazine announces its annual STARBRIGHT novel writing contest. I’d love to see some NextGen writers take advantage of this opportunity. Come back here on March 15^th and you’ll find the official contest rules.

Also, I am giving away three copies of Wake Up Your Muse by Jan Christiansen. It contains 1001 story starters! One of them is bound to propel your fingers across the keyboard. All you need to do to be entered in the drawing is leave a comment or question after this post between now and March 14^th at midnight.

Don’t forget to stop back by on the 15^th to find out who the winners are and get all the details on the STARBRIGHT contest! See you then!

Looking to join a critique group designed especially for you, a writer under twenty? These groups will be mentored by some of the best YA authors out there! Jill Williamson! Nicole O’Dell! Stephanie Morrill! (okay, and me:), Shellie Neumeier.

Registration is open now and will continue until March 15. You need to register for the critique groups so we can line you up with writers who write like you. And we will do the best we can to set you up with your favorite mentor. (Yup, you get to request a favorite). But you have to register! Click thru now. We’re ready to start…are you?

Critique Group Registration Form

So you’re ready to set up a critique group or find a partner? Cool! Now comes the fun part! We’re going to first talk about how to set up a group, then we’ll talk about how to actually do the critiquing.

There are no real rules for setting up your critquership (like that new word?) Each group or partnership sets their own guidelines based on personality, work style, and need. Some are more specific and say something like: You can submit up to two chapters a week and you have to critique two chapters for every one that you submit. Some allow you to submit more chapters but you all agree to critique everything submitted. It just depends on the time availability of each member and what everyone agrees upon.

I do recommend that you set up a process for suggesting changes to the agreed upon guidelines. You don’t want to find out two years down the road that it wasn’t really working for anyone, but no one wanted to speak up, even though a simple tweak would have made it perfect.

If writers are already successful, will they want to take on a beginner?

Some won’t–but those won’t be the ones who put themselves out there to accept new members to a group. Those folks probably already have a tight group in place and you won’t find them looking for new members.

Plus, everyone is at a different stage in their development. For example, when I joined my first group, I was the only “published” book author in my critique group, but I probably had the most to learn. Some of them were Genesis finalists and had won other awards. Some of them have been writing and studying craft for a decade or more. But I could help them with the publishing aspect–queries, proposals, etc–and they helped me with the technicals of the writing, plotting, etc.

Also, even if your work needs help, it’s far easier to see the flaws in something someone else wrote than in something you’re very close to. And, we all need to hear what average readers AND seasoned professional think–everyone falls between those two categories somewhere. So, as long as your style, personality and availability are a match, a group could be made up of any blend of writers at any stage of their career.

Questions to Ask Potential Partners

1. In what genre’ are you each writing?

2. What stage are you at with your current WIPs?

3. What’s your experience level?

4. How much do you think you’d need critiqued per week? 2 chapters? 1 chapter? Sometimes you won’t have any, of course, but when things are moving, what is your expected rate?

5. How much time can you see being able to give to critiquing other’s work?

6. Are you open to critiquing other things as needed? Proposals, queries, publicity materials? Or do you just want to stick with manuscripts?

7. Do you all have experience with MS Track Changes? If not, are you willing to learn?

It’s really important that everyone be realistic and honest about their own availability and expectations. Everyone doesn’t have to be exactly the same, in fact, diversity can work well if the fit is right. But, problems arise when miscommunication gets a group off to a rocky start.

Track Changes

Okay, so you’ve figured out how to get going. Now what do you do when someone submits work for you to critique?

Here are some videos you can use to learn how to use track changes. It’s a great way to make comments or changes in a document so everyone can easily identify which were your thoughts as opposed to the original author’s words.

MS Word 2010

MS Word 2007

At this point, there’s not a whole lot more to say expect, let’s get to it! We’re going to open up submissions for anyone who would like to connect with other writers for critique. You should submit 250 words–usually one page–and we’d prefer the first page because that first-paragraph hook is so important. Your pages will be critiqued by some of our conference staff, so you get the feel for personal critique.

On February 25^th we’ll announce the March event along with more information on our new critique groups. See you back next week!

Please send your critique submissions to Neumeier(dot)shellie(at)gmail(dot)com.

It’s difficult to take criticism. Even more so when it’s criticism directed at something you created from nothing. Ideas formed into words that you believe will change the world. You write them, press send, then sit back and wait for the critique to come back without a single mark on the page. You just know that your crit partner will say, “This is the single greatest piece of literature every written, and I am not worthy.”

Um…no.

You see where I said the part about waiting for it to come back uncriticized? There’s the problem. Trust me.

You see, when I first hooked up with a critique group, I was clueless. Clueless. I’d never heard of POV. I had no idea what voice was. And I didn’t know why I wrote the way I did. It just sounded okay to my ear. I was clueless. But the problem was I had two book under contract and they were DUE in three weeks. I thought they were finished. Thought being the operative word.

In this first critique group, one person, Valerie Comer, who later became my crit partner, took a chance on me. She asked me if I was okay with her giving my work a real critique, or if I’d prefer to make nice and be best friends first.

Um…?

I asked for the critique, and then I prayed for my attitude. It was good I prayed. Honestly, reading that first real critique about blew me over. I had to read it. . .walk away. Read it. . .walk away. A couple of times. Then I saw what I needed to see. I saw that I needed help. It was in that moment of complete acceptance to the process of bettering myself as a writer, that my writing career developed staying power.

Take a look at one of my earliest critiques:

Can you see how it went? I put in something I could visualize in my head–theater-style seating where the seats pop up when you stand up. You know? Well, it didn’t come across on the page. You can see my crit partner’s comment.

Here’s another one:

That’s just to give you an idea of how the flow goes. This being my first critique experience, you can see that I needed a lot of help. lol

Do you think you could submit your work to that kind of fine-toothed comb?

Remember that in order to sculpt a work of art, the artist must nick away at it with a chisel. In order to create a beautiful piece of pottery, it must go through several phases, one of which involves fire. The same is true for your writing.

The level to which you subject your work to refinement is completely related to how great it becomes.

If I were speaking publicly, I’d repeat that for emphasis. As it is, though, I can only rely on italics. Which my critique partner would remove because the writing should stand on its own.

There are ten things you should remember about the “Take” of the critique process.

1. Crave it.

You need to arrive at the place where you crave the refinement because your goal of a great piece of writing far exceeds your need for a hearty handshake and a pat on the back. Your desire to give your readers a good experience must supersede, in every way, the warm fuzzies you might feel with a nice, easy critique from your mom.

2. Listen.

When a critique partner doesn’t like a certain paragraph, or feels it doesn’t convey what you’d intended, listen to the reasoning. Sometimes you’ll find that it didn’t work for a reason you can overlook, but sometimes, when you really listen, you can uncover and underlying problem that needs to be addressed.

3. Remember the goal.

After all, what’s the point, here? Why are you having someone critique your work? It’s not so that one person will like it. Your goal is to make it better for the end-user, your reader, right? So, then take the comments and suggestions in with that goal in mind.

4. Consider the alternative.

The alternative to submitting to critique is that you’re on your own. No one helps you grow. You flounder with sub-par work that never gets polished to high sheen, because you’re the only one sharpening it.

5. Don’t let a critique define you.

Not as a writer or a person. Your partner is talking about a sentence, or a paragraph, not your ability as a writer, or you as a person.

6. Weed through the suggestions.

You don’t have to take them all. They are one writer’s, or one group’s, opinions. You’re free to disagree. In fact, by defending your reasoning, and tweaking your writing to support that choice, you’ve only made it stronger. Which is good because you might probably will have to defend that same thing to an editor one day.

7. Let go.

They are only words. When your favorite paragraph or zippy metaphor finds itself on your critique partner’s chopping block. Let go of your attachment and listen to the reasons why. Which goes back to number two.

8. Show gratitude.

Say thank you. Remember your critique partner is putting himself or herself out on the line to pick apart your work. It’s not always easy from that side, either. Be grateful for whatever you learn.

9. Do the work.

Now you have to go back through the work you finished and actually apply the changes and suggestions. This can be tedious and sometimes downright annoying! But it’s a necessary part of that refining we’ve been talking about. Humble yourself, and just do it.

10. Write something else.

Get back on that bicycle and write something else right away. Don’t let your first (or any) critique experience sidetrack you from your goal. Take what you learned and apply it to the next project. You’ll see that it gets easier, and even enjoyable over time. Trust me.

The next post will be a How-To about track changes and some details about setting up your groups.

Now for the important part. Pretty soon–like in a matter of days–we’ll be looking to set up some groups here. So, as you really stop and think about it, do you think it will be difficult or easy for you to “take” critique? Why or why not?

• Our guests for the next couple weeks is the O’Dell crew, Author/Mom, Nicole O’Dell and her oldest two daughters, Emily and Natalie.
• We’re talking how to critique with an emphasis on caring for the author you’re critiquing (So Key!!)
• Following this month’s event we’ll be forming our own critique groups here at NextGen, so you can become the best writers God intended you to become
• (plus it’s fun…painful sometimes, but fun).

So without further fuss, here are the O’Dells…

 Have a Sandwich!

Who are Nicole, Natalie & Emily?

We’re a Mother-Daughter-Daughter team who just released a book called Girl Talk together. Check it out here: YouTube

Other than Girl Talk, I’m a mom of six, including toddler triplets, and I’m author of a bunch of YA books including the popular Scenarios for Girls, interactive fiction series (you know, the ones with the alternate endings) and the Diamond Estates series. My recommendations? Swept Away and The Wishing Pearl! They’re my faves!

I also host Teen Talk Radio on Thursday nights and on iTunes. You can find out all about me and all my work at www.nicoleodell.com.

(Shellie here. Catch Nicole, Emily, and Natalie live tonight–2/2/12–on TTR, 10pm est. They’ll be talking about their new book and what it’s like working together. You won’t want to miss it! Back to Nicole:D.)

Emily is a straight-A fifth grader at Eastlawn School in Paxton, IL. She lives with her mom, stepdad, three sisters, and two broth- ers. Never found without her iPod, Emily loves to dance and sing. She’s a busy girl who enjoys swimming, skateboarding, and hanging out with friends. She’s active in her community and local church, and plans to be a teacher when she grows up.

Natalie is an honor student in the eighth grade at PBL Middle School in Paxton, IL. The oldest daughter of six kids, Natalie is a very loving and hands-on big sister. She’s passionate about her walk with Christ, and almost as passionate about the game of volleyball. She holds first- chair clarinet in the school band and looks forward to high school marching band. At this point, Natalie aspires to a career in the culinary arts, but is open to other possibilities.

How do you critique each other?

Well, unlike you guys who are here reading this as one step to help you become published, Nat and Em aren’t really making that a goal for themselves at this point. They’re more focused on the relationship/ministry aspect of what we do on the Girl Talk column on my blog, and in the book. Because of that, our critique parternship had its challenges–some of which will show in later posts.

That being said, I’m fully passionate about critique groups and partners. I think they’re a vital part of an author’s journey. In fact, I don’t believe I’d be where I am today without my first critique group which spun off into a single critique partner–Valerie Comer (www.valeriecomer.com). She taught me sooooo much.

And it only worked because she was willing to “give” and I was ready to “take”. So I tried to pass that on to my girls as we worked on our book.

The “Give”

Obviously, your job as critiquer will require some effort and take some work. You have to be aware of what you’re looking for. Whether in a group, an individual partnership, online, or in person, the writing must contain some basics, and part of your job will be to point of when it does or doesn’t.

Here are some basics to watch for as you approach a document to critique it:

Plot

• Has the author set up the story with enough conflict and tension that you can’t put it down? You have to want to need to turn the page.
•  Is each scene vibrant, with conflict and tension that propels the plot forward?
•  Is each scene connected logically, but distinct?
•  Are there plot points, connections, characters, or anything else that doesn’t have a good foundation laid for its arrival in the story?

Characters

•  Are they alive?
•  Do you have a distinct sense for each of them, developed by more than one trait? Appearance isn’t enough–in fact, it’s barely anything.
•  Is the dialogue natural and believable for the character?
•  Do you care about the character? You don’t have to like him/her…but you have to care.
•  Is there an established pattern of growth with human believability?
  

The Writing

Grammar, spelling, sentence structure. . .stuff like that can be tweaked really well in a group. Sometimes one person may love to do this kind of editing, while others prefer the more global approach to plot. It’s okay to make those distinctions if it works for your group.

Very important in the “give” part of critiquing is the delivery.

A popular method is The Sandwich Method. Basically, your two pieces of bread are compliments and the meat is a constructive criticism. It asks you as the critiquer to be aware that it’s another person you’re talking to, and to present your helpful critique in a way that fosters growth in that person as a writer, but doesn’t hurt him/her as a person.

Here’s a screen shot of a page of my recent book if it were to be critiqued using the Sandwich Method. But keep in mind, it’s usually far more helpful to critique a work before it’s actually published because I think the suggestion I make in this example is a good one, but it’s too late! 

Do you see the sandwich method at work in those examples? Can you see how it would help the process? Is that critique example beneficial, yet uplifting?

Here’s the published page, just so you can see how the book turned out:

That’s the “give” of critiquing, in other words, what YOU do for your PARTNERS. The next post will talk about the “take”. Both what to expect and how to receive it. The third one will cover the steps to actually do critiques for each other…and we will! A final post, recapping the course, will share some of your thoughts and findings, as well as set you up with tools for establishing your own groups or partnerships.

So, what is critique to you? What excites you about it, and what scares you about it?

Nicole O’Dell and her daughters, Emily and Natalie, will be talking about critiquing and the work they did together on their joint effort, Girl Talk: 180 Q & A. Nicole’s event will start us off on NextGen’s adventure into Critique groups. We’ll use the information Nicole and her girls share to practice and then work on our own writing. The groups will be moderated by some super-great authors, too. More information on the groups themselves will be added as the time nears, but if you’re looking for critique partners who will sharpen your craft and help you shine, don’t miss February’s event!

Now…the winners:

All of these are invited to submit a proposal for their books at their convenience (doesn’t have to be right now if they need to work on it for a bit). Proposals should be sent to Roseanna at roseanna(at)roseannawhite(dot)com.

1st – Heather M.
2nd – Rachel (barrelrider96)
3rd – Abigail H.
Honorable Mentions – Cortney M., Carilyn E.

Congratulations! And thank you Roseanna!

Roseanna Sez…

Aristotle, in his treatises on theater, opines that when it comes to plot vs. character, plot is the master—that you can put any person into a situation, but it’s the situation that makes a story.

I never much cared for Aristotle.

In my opinion, it’s the man or woman that makes a story—their reactions to said situations that determine what tone and outcome the story will have. It’s whether they’re a hero or an anti-hero. Whether they are optimist or pessimist, full of hope or full of fear. Whether they act or wait to be acted upon.

There are stories that are best described as plot-driven—the ones that are all action, all about those situations and circumstances. Others are character-driven—where the action itself could be at a standstill, but we’re still biting our nails over the internal conflict. I readily admit that both forms have their place, and neither is better.

But here’s the thing—even in a plot-driven story, your characters need to shine. They need to grab hold of the reader and make them invested. Make them want to come out on top, make them feel like they their share problems. Because no matter how interesting the action, if I can’t stand the protagonist, you can bet your buttons I’m setting the book aside. In life we have to deal with plenty of people we don’t like—most of us aren’t willing to do the same in fiction.

Now, that’s not to say your characters can’t be flawed, or that they all have to be lovable the whole time. In my latest release, Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, my hero starts out, quite simply, as a self-centered jerk. But his changes through the story, alongside my heroine’s, are what move the plot forward—and since readers love Lark, they’re willing to keep reading to see what happens with Emerson.

Another great example is from a WhiteFire book, Dance of the Dandelion by Dina Sleiman. The heroine, Dandelion, makes some wrong choices. She’s selfish in many ways and blind in others—much like us. But Dandelion has a heart that yearns for things we yearn for, is driven by fear that we can understand, and just wants to help her village see that change can be good—though no one will listen. All admirable qualities that make us cheer for her rather than just growl at her in those moments when she’s being blind or selfish.

And as important as those admirable, relatable qualities are, you also have to make sure your characters have flaws. A perfect character isn’t just annoying, she’s usually dull. If she never makes mistakes, she can’t get into—and out of—trouble. If she never loses her temper or neglects something important or indulges in a snarky comment that she really shouldn’t say, then she’ll come off as two-dimensional. Flat. Booooooorrrrrrring.

The process of developing characters is going to be different for each writer. Some think of the story itself first, then flesh out their characters as they go. Others get a germ of an idea that relies almost entirely upon the people within it, then have to figure out the plot. Either way you work (or perhaps you combine the two!) the important thing is to make sure that you end up with a character who makes the reader react.

Make me mad, make me laugh, make me cheer—make me care.

Now it’s your turn. Show me that you’ve got character, baby. Give me a 50 word summary of your book that focuses on your main character, and show me why they make it worth my time. Don’t just sell me on the action of your book—sell me on the person who’ll be going through it.

You have a week to submit your blurbs to me—and you’ll want to, because the top 3 will be getting an invitation to submit a proposal to WhiteFire Publishing! (www.WhiteFire-Publishing.com)  Which of course means you should know what we’re looking for in a proposal, or else submit your blurb with the specification that it’s not in the hopes of a proposal-request, just for feedback—which everyone will get!

In the meantime, let’s talk characters. What are your struggles with characterization—or on the flipside, what do you love most about it? Is it your strong suit or your stumbling block?