Things to Keep in Mind

 

From Holly Lisle's website (www.hollylisle.com)


Giving A Crit

Critique the writing, never the writer.

Never say, "You are..." or "You should..."

Instead say, "The writing is..." or "The story should..."

Find what is right in each piece as well as what is wrong.

Critique the story as it is, not the way you would write it.

Remember that subject matter is personal. You don't have to like a project to give it a fair critique.

Remember what your biases are and critique around them.

Remember that real people wrote this stuff, and real people have real feelings.

Things you may not say while critiquing.

"That's awful."

"That's stupid."

"You couldn't write your way out of a paper bag."

Receiving A Crit

Read your critiques carefully. The person who has written them has taken the time to study your project, and wants to help you find ways to make it better.

Explain only if necessary. Don't rebut.

Be willing to make changes. (It's great practice for working with editors). Conversely, don't change anything you feel must remain in order to make the story yours.

If you are here, I assume and your fellow students assume that you serious about learning to improve your work, whether you want to be published or not. Don't join if you are not interested in participating.

Things you may not say when being critiqued.

"You're wrong."

"You're an idiot."

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."

Note: Okay, maybe that last one. ;) -Lori

 

Edit Demon Format

 

*We will critique two submissions per meeting. These submissions will be sent to CapeCodNaNo@yahoogroups.com as an rtf file attachment, at least five days before the next meeting.

*Submitters will be chosen either at the close of the meeting or online, via the Edit Demon Google+ group.

*Submissions should be around 10 pages or less, but we would prefer an entire chapter to a partial offering due to length requirements.

*During critique time, authors are asked to nod and smile unless asked a question or clarifying something in their submission. This will be a time and sanity saver. Take what you want from the critiques and toss the rest. In the end of the day, it's your story.

*We will take turns critiquing a submission. When someone has the floor, please do not interrupt but rather make a note to share when it's your turn. If your turn has passed, we will allow for final thoughts at the end of the submission. Please come prepared to share quickly and concisely and always include the praise as well as the criticism. Once again, see the key word.

*Every meeting will have a leader. If Lori is not able to be there, she will ask another to lead the meeting. Please be respectful to that leadership. She/he is there to keep people on task and on time. Play nice.

*Have fun! This is a great opportunity for our group of writing friends to help each other as we all grow in our skills. NaNo has brought us together based on our love of writing. This is a natural extension of that love and should be a (wait for it) ENCOURAGEMENT to us all.

Note: I reserve the right to make changes and adjustments as needed, 'cause I'm bossy like that. -Lori

 

Edit Demon Guidelines

*Encouragement is our key word. We must be committed to improvement in the art and craft of writing, while always encouraging the love of writing.

*We ask for a commitment to either check in online or attend the meeting, whether or not your submission is being reviewed. If we become back logged, priority will be given to regular attendees over drop ins (although all are welcome).

*We are all expected to give and receive honest, constructive feedback in a respectful and supportive manner. When in doubt, remember the key word. Or refer to Will Wheaton's Law. That works too.

*We recognize that we are a diverse group and will critique the work rather than the author, style, or genre. We all have our own preferences and biases and should keep those in mind as we critique. As we are all at different experience levels, we will critique based on the experience of the author submitting while remembering the key word.

*Some members may be under 18 or prefer not to read certain genres. If you are submitting something that may not be appropriate for all (erotica, horror, etc.), please identify this clearly. No one will be asked to read or critique something with which they are uncomfortable and we will refrain from commenting on others personal preferences in this matter.

*Non-submitting members are welcome to attend and/or participate but will be expected to abide by these guidelines as well. Remember that key word I keep mentioning? Yeah, that applies to all. ;)

 

Guidelines for Edit Demon Critique Group - DRAFT

 

 

GUIDELINES FOR EDIT DEMON CRITIQUE GROUP

(DRAFT)

• Members must be committed to improvement in the art and craft of writing.
• Not every member may feel ready to submit their own work for critiquing (or have their manuscript completed), but wish to see how it's done.  This is okay.  Non-submitting members shadowing the group are expected to otherwise abide by the Edit Demon Critique Guidelines.
• Members are expected to give and receive honest, constructive feedback in a respectful
  and supportive manner.
• Members make a commitment to each other to either check in online and/or attend whether or not they are being reviewed.
• EditDemon recognizes group differences. Variables include number of members, continuity of group membership, frequency of meetings, type of work being critiqued, and experience level of members. Within the broad guidelines provided by the EditDemon, members will determine the protocols for submitting and reviewing work that are most beneficial to their members.
• Some EditDemon members may be under the age of 18.  If a chapter is up for review that has inappropriate subject matter for tender ears, the submitting author will flag the work and omit sending it to our younger group members.

WHAT IS PASSIVE VOICE AND HOW DO I KILL IT?

WHAT IS PASSIVE VOICE AND HOW DO I KILL IT?

Do you frequently get told your writing contains too much passive voice?  I know mine does (lawyers preface everything with 'maybe' or 'that depends.')  The problem with passive voice is it's ... well ... passive.

"Look ... a pretty, placid pond.  I think maybe I'll swim."

[goes for a swim]

"Ahhh!  Something's got my leg.  Help!"

[editor rejects your manuscript ... writes 'passive voice' on it]

Okay ... so how do you find something so passive lurking beneath the surface of your beautiful manuscript?  Well, you can take lots and lots of grammar classes and then go through your entire 250,000 word fantasy novel with a yellow highlighter marking all the 'passive voice' words such as:

BE
AM
IS
ARE
WAS
WERE
BE
BEING
BEEN

...and then rewrite it....

[Zzzzzzz ... boring!]

It may be boring, but here's a website that teaches you what to look for:

http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/jocelyn/others/active-and-passive-voice/

 Or you can use this handy-dandy FREE web tool to pink-flag all those nasty little uses of the passive voice FOR you.

www.editminion.com

Now not every single use of a passive voice word is bad.  Sometimes you WANT to use the passive voice.  That's why Editminion is so helpful.  It has a Star Trek style color-coded alert system.  Red means 'this sucker is so passive you should use it as a door mat instead of a book.'  Yellow means 'hey buddy, do you think maybe your story is stammering a bit?'  Green means your good ... the overall percentage of passive to active voice is acceptable.  Not only is it helpful for fiction work, but I used it to pare down the worse of the legal-snoozers in my non-fiction book.

Editminion can only handle around 5,000 words (an average chapter) at a time before it cuts off editing.  But that's okay ... it's FREE ... and all you can probably handle de-passifying one stretch at a time before poking out your eyeballs with your pen is one chapter anyways.  Why not give it a try and make YOUR manuscript more active today?