Miranda: Show and tell
Some weeks ago, when I mentioned that I dabble in painting as a foil to writing, Bethany (too kind) asked to see some of my work. I’ve posted a few pieces at my Flickr site, just for fun.
It’s easy for me to share my painting, because I am a total amateur and have very little invested in the outcome. It’s much harder for me to share my writing, although over the years I have come to understand that feedback is an essential part of bringing a peice of writing to its fullest potential–at least for me. Sometimes the picture in my head hasn’t made it onto the written page, and it takes a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective to show me where those rough spots are, and/or if the whole thing just falls flat. (And while exposing the creative self feels horribly vulnerable, it gets easier the more that I do it.)
All this makes me wonder: what processes do you all have for soliciting feedback on your work? Do you have a trusted group that you like to share with? Share things only with your spouse? Do you like to send things out for review in the early stages, or wait until a piece is fully polished? Would it ever be of value to have a way to post content for responses on this blog, specifying the type of feedback you’re looking for?
I hope everyone has a good week, though the politicos among us may well be distracted by watching/reading/listening to the primary news!
Studio Mothers: Life & Art 
Miranda, first of all thanks for clearing up the Times New Roman/Courier debate for me. 🙂
In answer to your question, I’ve always been a feedback hound, wanting feedback as much and as often as I can get it. I loved being in school and having teachers who would pore through my writing with a find toothed comb. I loved reading their feedback and hearing their ideas for improvement. When I first came out of academia, it was a real adjustment for me that people wouldn’t necessarily have an opinion about my writing. And then, as fate would have it, I married an engineer who has no literary interests and can only tell me if I’m making sense or not. I realized that I would have to figure out a lot of things by myself for once.
I’ve been very lucky that Greenville has a very active writers’ community with many opportunities to meet with critique groups. But that too was frustrating because one man’s critique group is another man’s all-out-ego-bashing session. I have finally found a novel writers’ critique group that I love that meets twice a month. If I simply must have feedback between meetings, I like http://www.critiquecircle.com. There you must give critiques to get critiques, which isn’t always convenient, but you do have the chance to hear a wide range of anonymous opinions on any given piece of writing.
As I’ve gotten more used to real-world critiques, I prefer sending out more polished writing now. The feedback I get is more helpful that way.
Would it ever be of value to have a way to post content for responses on this blog?
Yes, I think so. Any time you have a group of talented people together their is always value in their collective knowledge and experiences.
I have a loose little group of other crime fiction writers online. I trust them as much as I trust my husband, who gets to read most of my new writing. I do polish it as much as I can before I ask for feedback. Like Brittany said, it’s much more useful that way.
As for whether we should have a group here, my only concern is that maybe we should password protect it – public domain work, however rough, is still a target for the less than scrupulous; and could also lead to problems with publishers.
I am fortunate to have a writers’ group, a password-protected writers’ critique blog, and several writer and editor friends who are willing to read my work, which is great because my husband rarely reads my work until after it is published (and sometimes not even then). I have found through trial and error that, like Brittany and Christa, I prefer to wait until my work is fairly polished before having it reviewed. In the past, I have gotten so caught up in the critique and rewriting process of early chapters that I risked losing my momentum to actually finish the story.
Miranda, thanks for sharing some of your artwork. I envy your painting skills. 🙂
First, I must comment on the paintings! Thanks so much for sharing. How fun. I must say the sunflower is FANTASTIC. And I am not just saying that. It is fun, cheery, and well makes me smile in that serene spring-is-coming sort of way. I love it (and Landscape 2004. Must have something to do with that style for me).
Anyway, critique partners. This is a funny question for me. I write very much in a vacuum. At times I have a sci fi writer friend of mine read some of my work (yes we write completely different genres). And other times a writer friend in a area writers group I am in. But for the most part… I don’t have critique partners. Does my work suffer? Hmm, I don’t think so. I think it just depends on your process (and when I had my agent, yes, she and I went back and forth a bit).
Yes, yes, great pieces, Miranda. They are just beautiful. They are, as Bethany said, serene.
r.e. feedback, I have two needs: (1) from a student, non-science major point of view, do you understand what I’m saying, and is it as interesting as a dry subject can possibly be?, and (2) are the facts and figures absolutely correct and up-to-date. And luckily I have work study students who are handling that for me. I had my mom read over a few chapters, but she made editorial comments about style and grammar, and I think the editor does that for the most part, right? I’ve never been through this process before, so I don’t know.
I really don’t like asking people to take time out of their busy lives to read my stuff, because it’s boring to most people. And I don’t think there’s an online writers group for people writing textbooks. My experience is that many scientists/academics are too pompous and know-it-all (hiding insecurites, are we?) to ask for feedback they GIVE feedback. They ARE the last word. Ick, whatever.
If you decide that will be a part of this page, I’d wholeheartedly take part in doing what I can to give input to people who post, and I”d love to post my stuff as well.