Critiquing With Confidence

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’m part of an all female writing group, called The Mermaids. But, from what I now know about writing groups this is in fact, a critique group. We submit our work via e mail and then meet up once a month to give critiques. This months meeting is on the 14th and I have a whole folder of stuff I have to read and use the red pen on lol

I read a post a couple of weeks ago over at 4am Writer entitled The Power of a Critique which has prompted this post 🙂

I use to hate critiquing…..all I ever use to write on my fellow writers work was “really liked this well done” lol. Probably because (a) I didn’t want to upset them, put them off writing or come across as, oh, what’s the word? Superior? Especially when (IMO) my writing was probably worse. And (b) because really, I didn’t know how to critique.

That all changed when I started attending classes at The Write Place where Elaine gave us slips of paper to use when we critique. The slips contained a list of questions to apply to the work we were critiquing and now, I use this set of questions all the time. I hope they’re helpful to any of you who struggle (as I did) when asked to critique a fellow writers work 🙂

(1) Did the title grab you?
(2) How about the opening paragraphs?
(3) Characters: Were they believable?
(4) Was there a strong plot?
(5) How about the ending, was it satisfying?
(6) Does it suit the market that the writer is aiming for?

I’d also like to add my own one that’s not on Elaine’s list……
(7) Did the dialogue work?

We use these questions in class to critique short stories, so I’m not sure how they would relate to a novel, or one chapter of a novel.

How do you feel about critiquing? Love it? Hate it? Muddle through? 😉

As a side note…..yesterday I read on Clarbojahn’s Blog about the OREO method of critiquing. Some good advice *nods in agreement* 🙂

Notebooks – Finding What Works For You

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Firstly, thank you so much, everyone, for your suggestions yesterday on how to get myself motivated, I really appreciate it 🙂 One thing I realised (along with many others!) is that I need to be more organised lol…..so I’m hoping this will help 🙂

I usually skim read The Writers Forum magazine when it thuds onto the doormat…..stick it in my pile of TBR magazines and then forget about it for 3 months. But this month, an article by Simon Whaley caught my eye so I just had to read it 🙂

In Notebook Know How, Simon explains how he has different notebooks for different things. Now, I’ve always been the one notebook for everything kinda gal. But reading Simons article made me realise that yep, he’s right, I can never find anything lol. I’m now on my 13th notebook, and though I can mostly remember what was in a previous book, I haven’t got a clue what was in say, book 4 lol

So as from the beginning of May I started working with 7 notebooks, all at the same time. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, 7 is a bit excessive, but, I can’t seem to cut it down to any less than that (Simon himself says that he has 6). Here are the books I’ll be working with:

Ideas Book – Where I’ll put ideas for stories, titles, articles I’m interested in, name ideas for characters, blog ideas and useful web site addys.
Prompts Book – Where I do my daily prompts.
Characters Book – As you know, I do a lot of characters, so a notebook dedicated to them will make it a lot easier when I’m trying to find one.
Goals/To Do List Book – I’ve decided to start each week with a set of goals, so a notebook dedicated to them would make sense.
Novel Notebook – A notebook dedicated to my current WIP novel, anything and everything that relates to it.
Dumping Book – The book that I take to my writing class and take out and about with me for free writing sessions.
Nano 2012- I’ve prepared a notebook for my A-Z characters, so I can add stuff that I come across which might be useful.

Simon says (i lovethat!) he uses his dumping book and then at the end of every day transfers the information into the categorised books. He says the transfer process also gives him an opportunity to develop the ideas further. Yeah, I can see that, extra work yes, but good to go over stuff I think.

How many notebooks do you work with and why?

I’ll let you know whether it was a good idea or a bad one in a couple of months LMAO 🙂

Insecure Writers Day, Or Help, Somebody Kick Me

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Today is Insecure Writers day (see the tab at the top for more info). A day where members spill their guts on their writing fears, concerns, worries, and hopefully receive sympathy from the other members.

So how am I feeling about my writing at the moment? Pretty shit to be honest lol. I’m really struggling with motivation and I don’t know why lol. I need a boost 😉

My out there’s have dropped considerably (down to about 10 now) and although I was Long Listed in the Flash500 Competition (my entry was titled “Ashes”) it wasn’t really enough to give me that kick up the arse I seem to need right now. So what will it take?

I need to be more organised, I know that, and I’m fed up writing at my dining room table. The room is so cluttered now, I can’t get to my books, can’t easily access my notebooks and have to keep moving my piles when we have dinner *deep sigh* I know, logically, there’s nothing I can do about it, but I feel pretty sulky and low about the whole situation *pouts*

I’m not suffering from writers block, far from it! I have ideas coming out of my ears, what I don’t have is the motivation to sit down and write….I potter, tidy up, sort the washing, shop for food, cook (occasionally lol), blog, check e mails and FaceBook and then watch a film lol.

I know I am so lucky to have the time to write, that I don’t really have any commitments, and that my husband is very supportive, so what’s my problem right?

Am I in a writing slump? anyone have any suggestions on how to fire me up? 😉

Blog Schedule

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Now that the April A-Z Challenge is finished (which I’m so chuffed at completing by the way lol, but you already knew that didn’t you lol) it’s about time I became a bit more organised lol.

I didn’t realise how much people would enjoy my characters, and although I will kinda miss creating so many, I’ll still get my fix, because I do them in my notebook on a regular basis. So from now on, I’ll share one, once a week 🙂

I’ve been trying to find my feet since I started this blog, so now I’m ready to work to a routine, so I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to include…..

A Characterisation – Along the lines of what I did for the challenge.
WIP – I don’t often talk about my work(s) in progress, but I’m ready to share 😉
A Film Review – From a writers perspective of course lol. You can learn so much from films IMO, and I watch loads.
Silent Day – That’s gunna be hard, as I can chat for England! But I need a day off. Sooooo, as I’m doing a 365 photo project, I’ll post a pic that i think may give you a story idea.
A Book Review – Again, from a writers perspective. There will be a lot of talk about Writing Books, as I’m an addict! 😉
Free Writing Day – I really enjoyed my “Place” experiment last month. So I intend to do a Freewriting session every week from now on.
Ideas & Notes – I’m always coming across ideas, stuff to improve my writing and most of it gets scribbled down in my Note Book….so I’ll share stuff I think we could all do with knowing, or being reminded about 😉 Will probably include links to other blogs that I think are useful.
Weekly Goals List – I spend most of my week procrastinating, and not really achieving much. Perhaps, if I write my goals down each week I’ll have more chance of actually getting something done lol
Prompt Talk – I do a prompt a day, but I don’t go into much detail about them do I lol

Ok, so perhaps a pattern will emerge, a set day for each type of post? I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers do that. so what do you think? I want my blog to have purpose, at the moment (pre A-Z Challenge) it just seems to amble along without any form of direction lol. I need to focus on a single topic with each post, not ramble away like I normally do lol.

So pull up a chair, grab a coffee and I’ll begin…..

The Cast List…..Reviewed

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Well, that’s it, I did it…..I achieved a whole month of characters for the A-Z Challenge! Pleased is an understatement lol 😉

It’s funny, so many people asked me if these characters were real. It didn’t even enter my head to base them on real people, consciously, and anyway, I don’t know 26 people lol. But reading them back, I can see little parts if myself in some of them, and a couple are probably too close for comfort for a couple of friends. I think the one who is most like me is Scarlet so she’s the one I have a soft spot for. She has my personality, and most of my physical attributes. I didn’t mean her to be me it was an accident lol

My favourite? Ooooo, I think it would have to be Queenie and the one I’d most like as a friend is Gloria as I’m sure she would be fun to be around.

If I was single (and if he was real of course), I would definitely go on a date with Harry as in my head I think he looks like a younger Hugh Grant *swoon* lol.

So now what? What to do with all these people crying out for my attention? Begging me to write their stories 🙂

I have a plan……I had already decided what I was going to do for Nano 2012, but now, I’m thinking that can wait until 2013, this project will be my novel this year 🙂 I am excited, but apprehensive, as I know how much work will be involved.

I’m going to try to connect all the characters stories into one story, a daisy chain so to speak 🙂 So in theory, 26 short stories of about 4,000 words each, which means I’ll have to do one a day *gulp* I’ve done 65,000 words in a month, so I know what a struggle this will be. I guess I’ll have to start thinking about my ending (remember Adele Parks? Lol) and how they can all be pulled together 😉

So thank you readers, for taking an interest, your comments have been brilliant, and definitely stirred up some ideas I can use….if it ever gets published you will all get a thank you in the back of the book, I promise 🙂

I can see some natural connections already….. Like Queenie & Fred or perhaps Harry & Scarlet (ah, see, I will get Hugh Grant! Lol)…..is Gloria the single mum who lives next door to Ella? And I think Ivy definitely gets her hair cut by Benjamin. Could they all be linked together via Zac in some way, or is that too naff? Or how about they all live in the same street? Turn it into a soap opera? Lol

So my question today dear reader, is, should I actually bother? lol 🙂

And if my husbands reading this, I’ll apologise in advance…..November 2012 will be a stressful month, I hope you have lots of chess matches booked *snigger* 🙂

Two More Awards

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Sorry, 2 posts today…… I dont like doing it, but sometimes, needs must en all that lol

My sincere apologies for not dealing with these awards sooner, but what with the A-Z Challenge, I’ve been up to my eyeballs lol

Sooooo, thank you thank you thank you 🙂

Virginia over at poetaofficium nominated me for the Creative Chaos Award 🙂 For this one, you have to answer a set of questions:

NAME 3 STRANGE THINGS YOU DO:
I only have one e mail address.
I have to have 4 sugars in my first cup of tea of the day.
I often sleep wearing gloves 😉

YOU MUST TELL WHY YOU LOOK AT THE GLASS HALF FULL AND ASK, ‘WHAT? NO COFFEE?’
Ok, I don’t really understand the question lol. I’m a Pepsi addict, but I do like a Costa Latte. Other than that I have 1 Nescafé Cappuccino a day. I’m a tea girl at all other times 🙂

YOUR CAR BREAKS DOWN IN A DESOLATE PLACE. NO PHONE SERVICE, NO NEARBY SHOPS AND THE NEAREST TOWN IS 150 MILES AWAY. YOU ONLY HAVE A CHOCOLATE BAR FOR FOOD. WHAT DO YOU DO?
Ha ha ha…..ok, well if it’s dark, I’d stay put, lock the doors and try to sleep, have the chocolate bar for breakfast. If I was daylight, I’d take the chocolate bar and start walking 😉

I nominate the following brilliant blogs for the Creative Chaos Award:

Chris @ The Kelworth Files
Daniel @ wordsfromwindows
Rebecca @ rebeccaatdickinson
Kathryn @ 4am Writer
Janet @ Postcard Fiction

And Brigitte at brigittebanter nominated me for The Sunshine Award

I’m going to have to bend the rules a bit here, so will only pass these awards on to 5 other bloggers for each one, and I’ll give you 3 facts about me 🙂

I’m a member of a gym.

This is my favourite pen.

I once had my hair dyed red and black stripes (about 5 years ago) lol.

I nominate the following brilliant blogs for The Sunshine Award:

Joanne @ joannegphillips
Elliott @ Brainsplats
Stuart @ Tale Spinning
Bridget @ bridgetstraub
Kirsten @ Write A Book With Me

Please do check out these excellent blogs, go on, you know you want to 😉

I still can’t understand why my blog award pics come out squiggly lol

Z is for…..

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Zac, who has been removed because I want to use him for my Nano 2012 novel.

Sorry you missed it 😦

A-Z Challenge

Well, that’s Zac, and yep, he’s a dog 🙂 I never said all my characters would be people did I 😉 The obvious thing that springs to mind is that Zac gets lost, or stolen, but don’t worry, he will be reunited with his family, I’m sure of it 🙂

So that’s it, 26 days of characters! Wow, it’s been hard work, but I’ve enjoyed it 🙂 the question is, did you? 🙂

Y is for…..

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Yasmin, who has been removed because I want to use her for my Nano 2012 novel.

Sorry you missed it 😦

A-Z Challenge

Ok, so that’s Yasmin……I’m thinking that something could definitely happen with the boyfriend, or, she gets so addicted to the money she’s making at the club that she decides to give up on uni? Choices choices lol

Yesterday’s prompt, about daddy’s pride didn’t really inspire anything so I’ll have a go at it tomorrow, when I do saying goodbye 🙂

X is for…..

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Xavier, who has been removed because I want to use him for my Nano 2012 novel.

Sorry you missed it 😦

A-Z Challenge

So that’s Xav 😉 I like him (not too sure about the political views, so we’ll gloss over that aspect), he seems like a fairly nice bloke. So how can we introduce a bit of conflict? perhaps he finds himself arrested, because one of the girls he turns down decides to get revenge and tells the police he assaulted her? Or is that too cruel? Lol….. Or perhaps his perfect little family world is about to come crashing down round his ear ‘oles because his wife leaves him?

Yesterday’s prompt was “the idea inside the morning” which I found quite difficult 😦 I ended up writing about a guy who’s eyebrows had all be shaved off…..don’t ask lol. Today’s prompt is your daddy’s pride which should be pretty easy 😉

I Am A Writer

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been following Jeff Goins excellent blog for a few months now. So when I received an e mail update asking for people to review his new book I jumped at the chance 🙂

I received the eBook a few days ago, and I read the whole thing that same day! WOW! I guess being a fan of Jeffs blog means that it was inevitable that I would love the book. So am I biased? Probably lol 😉 No, seriously, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, with some great advice to us “aspiring” writers. Lots of info on Platform Building, connecting with other writers and what to do before you even get published.

But it was the first part of the book that hit me straight in the face, because it talks about the one thing that plagues me….. The whole idea of calling myself a writer. I’ve talked before on my blog about not being able to bring myself to say that. I feel a fraud, like, if I say, “Hi, my names Vikki and I’m a writer.” someone will jump up and say “No you’re not, you haven’t had anything published.” I even had a brief discussion about it recently with Chris on Write To Perfect (see the comments for an excellent article Chris recommends).

Jeff’s book wagged its finger at me lol….. He asked Steven Pressfield what he meant by “turning pro in your head before you can do it on paper.” (from Pressfield’s book The War of Art). He asked Mr Pressfield “When do you really become a writer? Is it when you get an agent? When you sign your first book contract? When you sell 10,000 copies?”

The response from Mr Pressfield was…… “When you say you are.”

So Jeff started making public declarations of his identity as a writer, and actually started believing it. And because he believed it, he started acting like one. Jeff learnt that before others will believe you’re a writer, you have to believe it yourself 🙂

So is it time for me to submit, surrender to something I’ve been resisting as Jeff says? Ok, I’m going to give this a go…..ready……

Oh, that felt good, uncomfortable, but good lol 🙂

Jeff suggests that I write I Am A Writer everyday….”affirming something deep inside of you that you’ve been resisting.” And hell, have I been resisting!!!!!!

There’s a web site You Are A Writer to accompany the book so I hope you check it out.

So thanks Jeff, for the opportunity to read your book, and the pep talk 😉 I’m going to give it a go….I’ll start with my FaceBook profile *gulp* 🙂

Do you struggle telling people you’re a “writer”?