My mom showed me a journal-toy, and I couldn't resist playing with it. I promise this BlogThing won't become a bunch of memes. Most of it will be focused on my webcomic development, and this is sort of tangentially related.
I put in the Blackrock Fief text, and got this back, which made me squee with joy. If there is anyone in the world I would like to write like, Neil Gaiman would be him.
I'm still thinking about which of the teasers to develop further. I've 80% settled on one, but I'm not going to mention which one, as I'm still getting some great feedback trickling in from John-Michael on the Saber Forum, and I'd like to hear everything he has to say before I make a final decision.
While I'm thinking about it... I wanted to talk a little bit about the fine art of critique. Years ago, I was in a wonderful writer's group run by my long-lost friend, M. Leigh Martin (Leigh, if you have a google alert set up for your name, write me! I miss you!) She had noticed that many writers' groups are set up to be a sort of cruxifiction of the writer, and came up with a way to avoid that... she had everyone give their comments to the writer in notes, and then let the writer lead the discussion of the story, asking for more information, and more thoughts, from people on the things that interested her about the feedback she received.
I thought it was brilliant. But Leigh also said something that has stuck with me, and become a part of my personal philosophy: The worst possible review is "I like it." It's okay to lead with that, but don't stop there! If you don't give me places that seemed rough, things you'd like to see done differently, how can I grow as a writer?
So I'm really appreciating the in-depth feedback John-Michael is giving me. And I wouldn't mind some from the rest of you, too.
I put in the Blackrock Fief text, and got this back, which made me squee with joy. If there is anyone in the world I would like to write like, Neil Gaiman would be him.
I'm still thinking about which of the teasers to develop further. I've 80% settled on one, but I'm not going to mention which one, as I'm still getting some great feedback trickling in from John-Michael on the Saber Forum, and I'd like to hear everything he has to say before I make a final decision.
While I'm thinking about it... I wanted to talk a little bit about the fine art of critique. Years ago, I was in a wonderful writer's group run by my long-lost friend, M. Leigh Martin (Leigh, if you have a google alert set up for your name, write me! I miss you!) She had noticed that many writers' groups are set up to be a sort of cruxifiction of the writer, and came up with a way to avoid that... she had everyone give their comments to the writer in notes, and then let the writer lead the discussion of the story, asking for more information, and more thoughts, from people on the things that interested her about the feedback she received.
I thought it was brilliant. But Leigh also said something that has stuck with me, and become a part of my personal philosophy: The worst possible review is "I like it." It's okay to lead with that, but don't stop there! If you don't give me places that seemed rough, things you'd like to see done differently, how can I grow as a writer?
So I'm really appreciating the in-depth feedback John-Michael is giving me. And I wouldn't mind some from the rest of you, too.
1 comment:
And I would have put you in his category, as well, so that's good. Although I don't really think of you as writing LIKE someone else, but rather as being uniquely you as a writer. You know I'm a written-word slut. I have a hard time finding negative things, or critical things if I like something. I either like it, or I don't, and there doesn't seem to be much very critical about that. If I do see something, it's far more likely to be proof-reading error than any kind of thing that needs correcting in the content. I'll try, though, just for you.
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