21. May 2010 by Gore Wehner.

First off, to all the writing newbies out there who feel lost in a sea of ambivalence, you will probably want to join a critique group at some point. Why? Because there’s only so far you can go on your own. Eventually you’ll want feedback on what you’ve written…if you want to become a published writer, that is. Why? Because you’ve probably at some point lost the reader, been too vague, been too specific, made no sense, forgotten about a character, or messed up in grammar, spelling , or punctuation. And that’s just a small example of what might be wrong in your manuscript.

Friends and family do not count as good critiquers. For one thing, they’ll read your work out of obligation (or not read it and pretend they did), then not be completely honest for fear of hurting your feelings. Or they might be too blunt, thereby leaving you frustrated and too angry to write again. Not to mention, if they aren’t writers, they don’t understand the craft enough to care to help you make your work better. You need other writers–people you’ve never met before. Although acquaintances will do in a pinch.

Finding a critique group isn’t easy. They’re often “underground” ventures. Sometimes they’re offshoots from writers conventions, or a one-time posting at the local library.

Check with local bookstores. Some of them host writing groups. But if you can’t find one it’s  time to take matters into your own hands and start one.

See if your local coffee shop, library, or book store will allow you to use their facility to have a writers group. Most will be thrilled for the extra business, and you can see if they’ll even fork over the money for an ad in the paper specifying where and when your group will meet and what your group is all about. Once or twice a month is good for busy people. Very dedicated writers may want to meet every week on the same night.

At the first meeting, decide with the other members how everyone wants the group to work. It’s best to get feedback at this stage because when other members weigh in, you end up with a tighter group that tends to stay together.  Ask if they want to split off into smaller groups for critiquing based on genre. Or have everyone take turns critiquing all members work each week. (This works better in small groups.) Should people bring copies of the work they want critiqued so everyone can read it on their own? Or would they rather read it aloud to the group? Or should people send their work via email first? How many pages should people critique at a time? 5? 15? (Critiquing by page works better than by chapter because some people write very long chapters while others write short chapters, and it won’t be fair for everyone.)

Then you must lay ground rules:

1) No one is allowed to be cruel-everything must be put in a kind way.

2) If you have a problem with something in the story, you must be able to explain why you feel that way. “I don’t like it,” is not good feedback. “I feel the character isn’t sympathetic enough because she shrugs his problem off,” is good feedback.

3) The recipient of the feedback should remain silent and listen, even if if they don’t agree. Arguing wastes time. If you don’t believe someone is right in their feedback, then don’t make the change. But disagreeing is often counterproductive. The only time a recipient should explain themselves is when they need clarification on a point, or want to see how they can make their point more clear to the reader. Have this be agreed upon by other members, or you’ll find arguing will chew up precious minutes of time.

4) If someone does not care for someone’s choice of writing style or genre, they are allowed to be silent and not participate. Forcing people to share feedback never works.

And most important:

5) Everyone who critiques the work must share what they feel has been done well  in the story. Writers need to know what is working as well as what’s not working.

That’s it in a nutshell. Good luck, and have fun with your group!

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21. May 2010 by Gore Wehner.

One of the oddest stories I’d ever had to critique was about the unexpected death of an elderly woman. The characters walked around the corpse as if it was simply a tacky looking table- something to talk about in passing, but nothing so important that it need distract from their very important problems.

The writing was good. The story idea seemed interesting. But I couldn’t stop wondering how self-absorbed these characters were to allow a person to lie rotting as they pondered about their lives. In fact, not one seemed alarmed, disgusted, sad, or had any natural response at all. Not to mention the corpse didn’t give off any foul odors.

Credibility aside, the author didn’t have a grasp on basic human psychology.  If you’re going to write…going to create believable, interesting characters for your stories…you need to understand what makes people tick, and your characters in specific.

Let me demonstrate another example. Many times in the writing classes I teach, people have a “bad guy.” Someone they consider to be the main antagonist. Often times this “bad guy” does horrible, nasty things to other hapless souls in the story. Maybe he attacks someone with a knife. Or starts saying horrible things to someone while at work. At any rate, he’s a big meanie, and everyone around is horrified.

“Why does he kill her?” I might ask my student.

“Because he’s a bad guy. He doesn’t like blonds.”

“Why doesn’t he like blonds?” I ask.

(Eyes rolling as if I just don’t get it.) “Because he’s a bad guy.”

That’s not enough. Even the nastiest of jerks have a reason for doing what they do. People don’t wake up in the morning, have a great breakfast, kiss their wife or husband good-bye as they leave for work and then say to themselves, “Hm. Today I guess I’ll be cruel and kick small puppies.”

In fact, most “bad guys” don’t think they’re bad at all. Even Hitler felt he was doing good in the world. I doubt if you’d asked him why he committed genocide he’d say, “Because I’m a bad guy.”

Motivation is the key to character. What makes your “bad guy” do what he does? What brought him to this point? Who was he when he was young? What good things happened to him? What terrible things? What is he afraid of? What is he confident about? (I’m using he for simplification purposes, but there are plenty of wonderful “bad” female characters out there as well.)

Likewise, why does your antagonist do what he does? How does he respond when he walks into a room with a dead body? Why does he respond that way? What goes through his mind. And please don’t tell me he sets his drink on the stomach and walks to a mirror to check if there’s spinach between his teeth. Because I won’t buy it. Unless it’s a parody or farce and meant to be ridiculous. And even then I might not find it funny.

When you write about your character, think about his psychology. If he’s the squeamish type who avoids anything unpleasant, he might turn around and leave a room that holds a rotting corpse. If he’s an entomologist, he might check the body for bugs. If the body is a dear old aunt, he’ll probably go into shock and become inconsolable. Who is your character? How do you think he’d behave. Then ask yourself, “Why?”

If you don’t know why, then you don’t know who you’re dealing with, and neither will your reader.

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