Critiques

Is it egotistical to say I'm a decent writer? After critiquing submittals for the Library Writers Group I'm feeling much better about my efforts. And I have a greater appreciation for the trials and tribulations of book editors.

Background:  the Library Writers Group meets twice a month. We've established a schedule where one meeting is a workshop on some aspect of craft, and the alternate meeting is a critique of participant submittals. Many of us are writing novels. This is a long-term effort pursued in isolation. Authors of long-form narratives go through a cycle of emotions that include excitement with the premise, enthusiasm for the evolving story, despair that the product is tripe, depression that all is for naught. Submitting our draft for others to read and critique is an act of bravery. Writers need all the encouragement and productive advice we can get.

Therefore, I don't want to discourage people who share my writing aspirations. However.... OMG! I can't believe how badly written some of the submittals are! Is this the quality of writing sent to literary agents and publishing editors? No wonder so many rejections are sent out!

I am plowing through a young adult fantasy novel with the working title Noble Estates (yes, I know the title sucks, but it's the working title and I hope a more appropriate one will jump out of the novel when completed). Finally, it seems that all the writing I've done over the years, classes taken, conferences attended, writing books read, and all the workshops I've signed up for have paid off. I've developed characters, built a world, and plotted out the story arc -- and I'm plowing ahead on Noble Estates. I submitted the opening scenes to the Library Writers Group and I was very pleased with the response. The problems were minor (some I anticipated) and easily fixable. In general, everyone thought my work sounded professional. Whew! I was jazzed. I'm on the right track. I'm maintaining my enthusiasm and working on Noble Estates every day.

Then I read submittals from other members of the Library Writers Group and I was stunned. Most of the contributions are the beginnings of good stories that just need help with the execution (craft). But some are abysmal. Not only is the narrative poorly written, but they're lacking the very basics of storytelling. How do you encourage someone who has been brave enough to submit their work that turns out to be horrible? One opening chapter for a novel has no conflict. No conflict! That's the most basic of the basics of storytelling.

Is this what's being self published? When novels this badly conceived are rejected by traditional publishers, are the authors e-publishing and/or self-publishing instead? Yikes! This is what you get when you circumvent the gatekeepers. Not that editors don't blow it at times (writers love to read the list of classic novels that were rejected numerous times before publication). Sometimes the writing really is tripe. And you can get in on Amazon!

I'm beginning to think I'm a real writer.

Gotta go. Noble Estates (yeah, yukky title) awaits.