Pages

Friday, December 5, 2008

Friday Fricassee

So. Another fantastic crit round under our belts. One of my faithful readers (Disorderly) claims that she learns more from reading the comments on submissions other than her own. Why, you ask? Because, she says, "Sometimes it's easier to see your own foibles in other people's work."

Interesting, no?

She calls them "URK" moments (as in, she says "Urk!").

What about the rest of you? Do you have "URK" moments when you read feedback? Do "URK" moments lead to determination, inspiration, improved writing?

As for me, I've learned that I need to put parameters on our F2S sessions. Parameters like "one entry each." And "50 maximum entries." Because....well, 80 was a lot.

It was my fault for being a softie. "Sure! Send in as many as you'd like!" I keep forgetting that my readership keeps growing.

Live and learn. I'm just grateful for the enthusiastic response!

Next week? Our very first FIRST CHAPTER critique! If you haven't joined our RallyStorm group, you have until the end of this weekend to do so if you want your chapter entered in the "drawing." Send an email to authoressmail(at)gmail.com if you're interested.

And have a joyfully Decemberish weekend!


33 comments:

  1. That was a lot of fun doing, Authoress. I honestly didn't mind the 80 entries, once I discovered the 'newer/older' buttons. :]

    I read a lot of good sentences - nice work to everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved seeing all the other comments. I learned what's cliche and what to avoid and that it's difficult to be unique and stand out.

    It was a great experience. Thanks for doing Authoress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know if I'll comment on everything this time around. I'm only up to 33...

    Reading comments on other entries helps me know what to work for or avoid in my own writing. My opening this time was kind of a dud. I hadn't really thought it out. Already revised and much improved thanks to comments.

    Looking forward to the First Chapter Crit!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have to say that it had been a while since I had submitted anything, and the feedback was GREAT (not my work per say, but the feedback itself).

    I did have a bit of a gripe though...comment participation.

    There had to have been quite a few people submit, but it seemed like the numbers of those commenting didn't come near the number submitted. Perhaps there were just that many multiple submissions?

    Thanks again for all the work that you put into these things Authoress, and a BIG thanks to all those out there that took the time to crit everybody's work.

    :) Terri

    ReplyDelete
  5. I definitely learned a lot from reading the feedback on everyone's sentences. This was a lot of fun and very beneficial.

    The sentences I submitted were from an "experimental" novel of mine, i.e. outside of my usual genre, so it was interesting to see the responses.

    Thanks so much Authoress!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Authoress! The F2S was a great experience, my first on MSFV. I think my sentences did pretty well, but I think I can improve them with the discussion on a couple minor points.

    Thanks to everyone who critiqued.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, I thought it lovely. I don't know if I helped anyone else, but I learned a lot. Mostly I thought, I've done that before. There are some very talented people here.

    ReplyDelete
  8. There are a LOT of talented people hanging around this joint. Who knew? ;-)

    Those "URK!" moments are distressing, in the same way a splinter you can't quite remove from your finger is distressing. However, they're also comforting in an odd way. It's good to know that no matter how many weird writerly things I do, someone else does them too. At least I think that's good -- although there's something to be said for being a dangerous radical in the writing world. ;-)

    Thanks for all the opportunities you give us to embarrass ourselves in public, Authoress! :-P

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm only halfway through commenting, but it was a lot of fun, and yes, I learned a lot from reading other entries.

    I can see which ones I like and which ones hook me and try to see why; ditto the ones I didn't like. Some I had to think about for a bit to find out why they didn't work... which is very helpful.

    And I got excellent feedback as well. :D

    So thanks for hosting this again, Authoress. ;) (A cap would be good though for your sanity. :P)

    ~Merc

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was happy to be critiqued by my peers. I know that what I like to write is not everyone's cup of tea. Intersting to see what people thought about where I was taking my story after glimpsing at the first two sentences. Nobody figured it out, but that wasn't my object. It was mainly to get their attention, and I seemed to do that, even if they were turned off. At least they had an opinion, and that was good. I did have some URK moments. I think my own writing will improve as a result of the exercise. Thanks to all!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for hosting this. I found it to be a great learning experiance. Reading everyone else's entries was fun too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I managed to comment on all 80 and it was a lot fun (the reading and commenting...not so much the clicking and typing of security codes :S)

    There were a lot of great first sentences and I guess I've got you to thank, Authoress, that I seem to be getting better and better at my openers. It was generally well recieved.

    I never paid any attention to how much BANG I put into my first sentences or my first 250 until this blog. Always assumed the reader would just keep reading 'til they got to the good parts. Now I think twice before having my MC wake up, or starting with passive descriptions, or starting with no action/context at all.

    *is excited for the first chapter crit*

    ReplyDelete
  13. I only made it through about half of the entries but I really had a lot of fun reading them. I learned a lot about what I like and dislike in a beginning from reading other people's. I'm looking forward to next time we do this.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I found the comments on my two sentences almost unanimous -- and Fennel Giraffe's was the most helpful in terms of fixing it. Which I will do. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. ambien zolpidem ambien high blood pressure - ambien your system drug test

    ReplyDelete
  16. buy zolpidem zolpidem generic pill - zolpidem vs ambien side effects

    ReplyDelete
  17. buy valium online valium milligrams - valium to buy online in uk

    ReplyDelete
  18. order valium buy valium online uk - valium 10mg description

    ReplyDelete
  19. where can i buy xanax online legally xanax withdrawal days - how can you buy xanax online

    ReplyDelete
  20. alprazolam xanax many 1mg xanax get high - is mixing xanax and alcohol bad

    ReplyDelete
  21. discount ativan lorazepam ratiopharm 1mg dosierung - ativan generic watson

    ReplyDelete
  22. buy ativan online ativan high bluelight - generic ativan online

    ReplyDelete
  23. buy xanax valium online florida valium pill 2683 - buy generic valium no prescription

    ReplyDelete
  24. soma 350 mg buy aura soma bottles - watson soma online

    ReplyDelete
  25. buy soma online generic soma carisoprodol - радио soma online

    ReplyDelete
  26. buy valium online valium side effects memory - buy generic valium online no prescription

    ReplyDelete
  27. carisoprodol without prescription valium and soma drug interactions - somanabolic muscle maximizer body type

    ReplyDelete
  28. order soma generic name soma compound - generic soma muscle relaxer

    ReplyDelete
  29. ambien online pharmacy what is ambien dosage - ambien side effects throwing up

    ReplyDelete
  30. order carisoprodol buy soma online cash on delivery - where to buy somatropin

    ReplyDelete
  31. valium no rx can buy valium online uk - regular dosage valium

    ReplyDelete
  32. buy soma online somanabolic muscle maximizer meal plan - buy somatropin human growth hormone

    ReplyDelete
  33. buy valium online without prescription can you buy valium online australia - blue valium pill id

    ReplyDelete