Thursday, January 18, 2018

2018 Resolutions #3: Critique More

I love New Year's resolutions. They're a great excuse to evaluate the past year, decide where I want to be at the end of this year, and figure out a game plan to get there!

I have four writing-related resolutions this year, and I'll share one every week in January. This week, I resolve to CRITIQUE MORE.

In 2017, I read and critiqued 6 or 7 full manuscripts (a few more than once!). I love critiquing, and I think I have my system down to a science (first, I read the manuscript on my Kindle for story, then I go back and re-read it on my laptop and make in-line notes/comments on plot, character, narrative, etc., and finally send it back to the author with a longish email explaining my thoughts). Critiquing this way is a lot of work, but I think (I hope!) it's valuable for my critique partners.

For 2018, I resolve to take on 10 full manuscripts for critique. I've got one in the queue already, so I'll be looking for 9 more after that! It's so exciting to see what my critique partners are working on, and to find and develop relationships with new critique partners.

Are you planning to beta read or critique manuscripts in 2018? What's your process for doing so?

1 comment:

Michael Lunsford said...

As it happens, I'm looking for a critique partner for my #MG project. (THE ADDAMS FAMILY meets GHOSTBUSTERS when 12yo Derek confronts headless ghosts at the Hyde Funeral Home & Body Parts Shop.) If you're interested, please connect via twitter. My handle is @lunsfordmichael.