And another opportunity has arisen for me to THANK YOU for your wonderful participation in this week's crit fest. Here's a question for those of you who submitted work: Did you find the feedback helpful? Any "eureka!" moments? Any mad re-writing planned for this weekend?
For those of you who were inspired by the interview with Olugbemisola -- isn't she a breath of fresh air, though? I'm so excited for her, and was truly honored that she took the time for an interview.
Finally, a bit of fodder for some discussion: Have you all seen THIS? Somebody is a marketing genius, that's for sure. Yes, I'll buy it. But I won't pre-order. I'm not that besotted with Ms. Rowling's work.
Is it overkill? Enough of Harry already? Or does this little gem make your eyes glisten with thankful tears? Curious (nosy?) minds want to know!
Miss Snark's First Victim
As for the crit, as always, thank you for taking the time to give all of us this opportunity!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was just me, but I noticed a pattern. It seemed that many were commenting on who they thought the MC was, and who was SC in the excerpt.
Perhaps it was just my misunderstanding of the critique, as I gave less thought to who was SC and just looked at the work for description, show vs. tell, and the occasional typo/grammatical error.
If you do another 250 word crit, maybe it would be helpful to those of us giving and receiving feedback, if we could identify MC/SC, etc. I know it would lessen confusion and often frustration (i.e. my piece had TWO SC, and didn't include a MC at all, but most comments were guessing which was MC/SC).
Look forward to next time!
Thanks again Authoress (and everybody out there that gives their time), YOU GUYS ROCK!
:) Terri
The SC crits were very helpful-- not so much in who could identify which characters, but if the characters were vivid enough to shine right off the page. So THANK YOU for making this happen.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Potter post...I'm a HUGE fangirl when it comes to this canon, and here's something that made me completely drool:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0956010903/ref=amb_link_7232452_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-sparkle&pf_rd_r=075TTN245RYAM7KR920T&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=422014001&pf_rd_i=beedle
Canon or non-canon, she's a great storyteller (even if some of her technical skills aren't so strong) and I look forward to "borrowing" this from someone once it comes out.
Terri, yes, I did notice that.
ReplyDeleteWe'll clarify next time. Your crit approach is actually more of what I had in mind for this exercise.
Thanks for all your time as well!
I found the critiques I received encouraging. I was both elated and relieved that the reviewers thought the SC I showcased could stand as an MC. Even nicer, the readers not interested in the genre still liked him. :)
ReplyDeleteI do agree that it would have been beneficial for the submitters to state which character in their scene was the SC and which were the MC and minors. There were a few entries where I couldn't tell, which made it more difficult to give a focused review on the actual SC.
As for "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" -- I'm excited enough that I preodered the Collector's Edition. The net proceeds are going to the Children's High Level Group, so it's not J. K. Rowling looking for more cash, but her giving the fans something to treasure and supporting a good cause at the same time.
I unfortunately didn't get around to participate in the "Needle" (am actually working on comments now) but I did end up finding snippets of SCs from some novels to see what I could find. ;) It was fun.
ReplyDeleteIn re: to Rowling... frankly I don't care at all. I only read the first book and it didn't quite interest me enough to finish the series. ;) I have nothing against the Potter books (I did watch the, uh, first 4 movies on DVD) just never excited me enough to pursue them.
Thanks for hosting this, Authoress! :D I was happy to see the number of submissions this round. I hope future ones will be as successful (and I'm sure they will be ;)).
~Merc
I found the exercise helpful, especially in making me think about secondary characters in a more detailed and careful way.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it might have been helpful to know who the SC being showcased was.
I loved the Harry Potter series and have reread them multiple times but I've never really been interested in the spin-off products Rowling has written.
I really enjoyed the interview, Authoress. Thank you so much for all you do on your blog. You are a legend!
I applaud J.K. Rowling's charitable contributions. The Harry Potter books have been an honest-to-goodness cultural phenomenon, crossing age and other borders like wildfire. The stories are original and riveting, and Rowling certainly found her own unique voice.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if I can be just a tad crankier than usual (EEK!) for a moment, may I just say I am SO over all the Potter hype? Unfortunately, Rowling's charitable good works are becoming lost in the larger (and seemingly undead) Potter noise. That's sad.
As for this latest round of crits, Authoress, you have my undying gratitude. I learned from the comments on my submission and from those upon which I commented -- and I had fun, to boot!
A round of cyberapplause for Authoress!
(When's the next round, you glutton for punishment you? ;-) )
I thought the exercise was great - I got excellent suggestions as well as feedback. I also learned a lot from the critiquing process - when I critique elsewhere it's always a learning experience as well, but what I like about these is that it focuses on one particular aspect of writing. I did both the Are You Hooked and this one and it gave me a lot of food for thought.
ReplyDeleteAs for Harry Potter...hmmm. I enjoy the series very much and found that it when I went back to school it was therapeutic for me to read stories about kids going to school :) I don't know about Beedle the Bard. I'll probably pick it up eventually but not pre-order. There's some annoying part of me that gets all resistant when something feels like it's being shoved at me too hard - that's why I didn't pick up the series in the first place for years.
I really do wish she'd killed off Harry... preferrably in book one.
ReplyDeleteThe crits: scary! I've learned that I'm terrible at secondary characters. I like to write from SC's POV and that's caused confusion, especially for this crit session.
I've also learned that I will be hunted down if I don't edit before submitting. (ducks the angry mob of Critters).
Thank you for the hard work, Authoress, and for the feedback from everyone. I think I managed to read about half the submissions this time. Eventually I'll get to all of them.... :o) 'tis a crazy week!
I found dropping the neddle very helpful. Naturally, I liked the complimentary comments, but the ones who didn't get a clear picture of the SC showed me where I need to put work. So, thanks.--Hart
ReplyDeleteNo - thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun diversion again and got me into the mood to do 'real' crits, as well as editing my own work.
And I had fun challenging myself to comment on every single submission - it was a little easier this time.
Please keep these things coming!
Thank you - I learned a lot from this contest. What I thought I'd never do turned out to be the excerpts I liked best. All in all, it's been a great experience.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your next contest, Authoress. Thanks again.
Kizmet
This was the first time I had participated in a critique and really enjoyed it. I was one of the ones who tried distinguishing between the MC and SC, but it was fun doing so. I really appreciate this opportunity. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Needle. It was fun reading all the different characters everyone created.
ReplyDeleteAs for Harry Potter, I've never read it or seen the movies, so I have no idea what the link is about.
HP is nice, but not worth the hype.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned from the Needle is that an author may have an original, distinctive voice (there were some great examples), but he/she also has to create different, distinctive voices for different characters. That's hard, and I haven't mastered that art yet.
Thank, Authoress
Tsk. Luc, I thought your characters both had distinctive voices. Yours was one of my favorites. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sponge. I'm a bit negative about my work right now, so I can use the compliment. By the way. I really smiled at your Sam Neill comment. I love that actor.
ReplyDeleteI think these little side books are fun. She has a nutty sense of humor, and why not?
ReplyDeleteWe will buy it. I think my anticipation for it is for curiousity. I want to see stuff like Babbity Rabbity.