Lately I have found my inbox, twitter feed and Facebook feed choked full of amazing writing information. How to’s and Don’t do’s. And I would love to blog about All of them! But I just can’t. So I retweet, repost and do everything I can to get the information out there to all my followers, in hopes that they too will glean the information they need, to make them better writers.
This week though, I received my monthly copy of RWR, from RWA. This too is choked full of tons of great information. I envision myself, years down the line, looking like an RWR library. Where I have them all on shelves, categorized and marked up, using them like reference books. I love this magazine!
So when my daughter brought me my copy, I was more than a little excited. And one of the things I love Most about it, is that it lists several great articles in the issue, on the front in a simple format that is easy to read. I am excited to say that the first article listed grabbed my attention full force. “Are you crippling your critique partner” I have found myself lately with several new critique partners. And every time I find someone new, I am anxious due to my “cut to it” nature. I don’t ever want to hurt someone’s feeling or crush their dreams with my critiques. I am a writer after all, I do know about ego and feelings.
But at the same time, I feel that if someone asks for my opinion, and that is all it is folks, My opinion, I need to be honest. Not brutally, You SUCK! Honest, well I don’t consider saying that to anyone really honest. I consider that hurtful. Honest would be, “Maybe you should read a few more books on grammar.” Or, “Maybe you might want to look into character a bit more.”
Anyway, I find myself to be honest. If I think there is a problem I will let you know. But I have feared that my honesty might not be for everyone. So when I saw this article I thought it would be an awesome way for me to make sure I am not killing anyone’s dream.
The first piece of advice in the article was my favorite. If you send something to your partner, and they don’t understand it, don’t explain it, try to go back and fix it. You won’t be able to be at the beck and call of your readers to explain it to them.
Don’t abuse your partner by not doing the work you need to. You need to find as many typos and problems as you can. You can’t just say, okay I wrote it at 3:00 a.m. and they will catch all my problems. You owe it to them and the relationship to do as much as you can before hand and then give it to them.
Don’t rely on your partner for too much. You need to respect yourself enough to know when your work is good. You shouldn’t constantly be waiting till they tell you it is good, to know it is.
Don’t let competition sour your relationship. Make sure that you are supportive and not jealous of your partner. If they break in before you do, be happy for them. If you can’t take a step back and talk to someone and figure out why. If you can’t get over it, get a new partner.
I loved this article. The not relying on your partner for too much was a big eye opener to me. The first part was the most helpful for me.
I am so stoked that I joined RWA and got this article and several others that were in this issue that were totally what I needed to hear.