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!
Miss Snark's First Victim
That was a lot of fun doing, Authoress. I honestly didn't mind the 80 entries, once I discovered the 'newer/older' buttons. :]
ReplyDeleteI read a lot of good sentences - nice work to everyone!
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.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great experience. Thanks for doing Authoress.
I don't know if I'll comment on everything this time around. I'm only up to 33...
ReplyDeleteReading 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!
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).
ReplyDeleteI 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
I definitely learned a lot from reading the feedback on everyone's sentences. This was a lot of fun and very beneficial.
ReplyDeleteThe 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!
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.
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone who critiqued.
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.
ReplyDeleteThere are a LOT of talented people hanging around this joint. Who knew? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThose "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
I'm only halfway through commenting, but it was a lot of fun, and yes, I learned a lot from reading other entries.
ReplyDeleteI 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
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!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this. I found it to be a great learning experiance. Reading everyone else's entries was fun too.
ReplyDeleteI 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)
ReplyDeleteThere 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*
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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. :-)
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