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By: Lee Wind,
on 8/5/2011
Herman Agency literary agent Jill Corcoran shares what not to do - and what you should do - during your manuscript consultation!
By: SCBWI,
on 1/28/2011
Welcome to SCBWI TEAM BLOG coverage of the 2011 Annual Winter Conference. Check in often throughout the weekends as we offer live coverage of the conference as it happens.
Today offers a Writers' Intensive and an Illustrators' Intensive.
Before the Writers' Intensive critiquing kicks off, an agent and two editors are offering advice about handling a critique situation.
Edward Necarsulmer (McIntosh and Otis): Do your best to listen, but also understand that I'm just one guy. There are plenty of books out there that I've passed on that have become bestsellers. (He's found 3-5 novels through SCBWI events.) He gets that the idea of criticism in general can be hard to hear, but it's about turning off the defensiveness, and understand the critique for what it's worth.
Julie Strauss-Gabel (Dutton Children’s Books): The thing that surprises her most is when she asks, "What is this about." She find writers often don't really know what they're writing about--her assessment is very out of line with what the writer thinks she's putting on the page. Critiques are about being open--it's part of your professional process. There's nothing personal about it. At least stop to think about why you are hearing a particular critique or why certain questions were asked. If you're in a ccritique group, remember that they only work if they include honest discussion.
Liz Szabla (Feiwel and Friends): I find gold here. (She's currently working with two writers who she discovered at the SCBWI Winter Conference.) Remember that editors are thinking about your work in terms of the market. Go into a bookstore and really look at what the market is right now. She finds that a lot of writers are really surprised when she talks about market--but market is important. Critiquing with editors and agents, is a way to get another sort of compass as to where you are with your writing.
By: Suzanne Young,
on 7/31/2010
There are so many great opportunities when you attend a SCBWI conference. One of the most helpful of those being the professional one-on-one critiques. Every year countless stories float around the floor of an author being "discovered" during a critique. Have one coming up? Author Cynthea Liu has a great post on how to make the most of your conference critique HERE.
Suz
By: SCBWI,
on 1/29/2010
Lin: What mistakes did you see.
Allyn: First-person narratives in picture books, and rhyme that's off. Picture books that are on themes that have been done so many times that they wouldn't be salable. (Read books, buy books, go to bookstores, she advises.)
Ari: Manuscripts that started in the middle of a scene.
Wendy: Pages that seemed crammed with information in the beginning. A lack of awareness of the marketplace and what's working
--POSTED BY ALICE
By: SCBWI,
on 1/29/2010
Lin: What did you see today?
Allyn: I didn't ask to buy anything today. I did ask everyone who sat at my table to send me something, but that thing might not be the thing we talked about today. Everyone should go home and think about that.
Ari: I got a lot out of being in a critique group and hearing the comments of the writers who brought up things I didn't think of. It just goes to show that every editor is going to thing a little differently about your work.
Lin: What advice would you offer writers on using the comments they got today?
Wendy: Go home and think about the comments you got today and decide what resonates with you. If you're consistently getting the same feedback, those may be the things you should concentrate on.
Ari: There's always a lot of negotiating between and editor and a writer. Think about the comments you got and if you don't think they'll work for your story, think of another way to solve them.
--POSTED BY ALICE
By: SCBWI,
on 1/29/2010
Lin Oliver is moderating the post-intensives panel on what to do post-critique.
Panelists include:
By: SCBWI,
on 1/29/2010
Great piece of advice from this morning's writers intensive panel:
Read Your 500 words.
Listen to the feedback.
Take notes.
It's like the Etta James song, "Hush now, don't explain..."
- Posted by Lee Wind
It's always useful to be reminded of how to respond to criticism. My main instruction to my writing students is "Don't argue" -- just listen and ask questions solely to make sure you understand exactly what the reader is saying. Never easy, but it's the only useful way for a writer to react to a critique.
Yet, my sympathies go to all the writers there today, exposing their darlings to the critical eyes of strangers! I did it last year, and sweated before, during, and after. I got some incredibly useful tips, from the responses to the other pieces as well as to my own, but it was a painful lesson!
Great advice. I can't wait to see what's going on in the Illustrator Intensives!