The Writers Roundtable Intensive... Our Morning Panel on Voice and Critique Advice

Lin Oliver started things off by praising all of us Writers Roundtable Intensive attendees for being here, acknowledging how it's “a very brave thing” to put your work forward, and saying “today begins the hard work of writing.”

Sometimes the work you brought is ready… and sometimes it's not, and you need to be open and curious about where your path might take you.

Lin shared the inspiring story of Ruta Sepetys., who three years ago attended this Writers Roundtable Intensive, and received a very disappointing response to her YA.  One of her critiquers suggested that maybe that novel wasn’t really in Ruta’s voice.  Did she have anything else?  Well, she did, and Ruta started working on it. It has since been published, and this year "Between Shades of Gray" is an enormous critical and commercial success.  So for Ruta, the Writers Roundtable Intensive three years ago was a turning point, just not in the way she ever expected going into it.

And with that sage bit of advice and inspiration, Lin introduced the morning panelists on voice: 

Samantha McFerrin, Editor, Harcourt Children’s Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Nancy Conescu, Executive Editor, Dial Books for Young Readers

Michelle Nagler, Editorial Director, Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Lin Oliver (far left, standing) moderates the panel on Voice.  The panelists are Samantha McFerrin (left), Nancy Conescu (center) and Michelle Nager (right)

Each editor read an example of voice from a book they’d edited, and explained what it was about it that grabbed them. 

They discussed authorial voice vs. character voice, and covered a number of things to beware of when crafting your voice, including avoiding adult knowledge inserted in where it doesn’t belong, the issue of pop culture references, and knowing your details and getting them right.

A great tip for “writing in your groove” that came up: 

Read your manuscript out loud

The panelists and Lin shared their advice on participating in the critiques, including:

Don't defend yourself or talk during your critique - listening is so important.  

Take notes - something may resonate for you later

Stay open

Overall it was a fascinating panel and a great introduction to the morning's roundtable critiques.

Panel: Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind

Welcome to SCBWI TEAM BLOG coverage of the 2011 Annual Winter Conference. Check in often throughout the weekends as we offer live coverage of the conference as it happens.

Today offers a Writers' Intensive and an Illustrators' Intensive.

Before the Writers' Intensive critiquing kicks off, an agent and two editors are offering advice about handling a critique situation.

Edward Necarsulmer (McIntosh and Otis): Do your best to listen, but also understand that I'm just one guy. There are plenty of books out there that I've passed on that have become bestsellers. (He's found 3-5 novels through SCBWI events.) He gets that the idea of criticism in general can be hard to hear, but it's about turning off the defensiveness, and understand the critique for what it's worth.

Julie Strauss-Gabel (Dutton Children’s Books): The thing that surprises her most is when she asks, "What is this about." She find writers often don't really know what they're writing about--her assessment is very out of line with what the writer thinks she's putting on the page. Critiques are about being open--it's part of your professional process. There's nothing personal about it. At least stop to think about why you are hearing a particular critique or why certain questions were asked. If you're in a ccritique group, remember that they only work if they include honest discussion.

Liz Szabla (Feiwel and Friends): I find gold here. (She's currently working with two writers who she discovered at the SCBWI Winter Conference.) Remember that editors are thinking about your work in terms of the market. Go into a bookstore and really look at what the market is right now. She finds that a lot of writers are really surprised when she talks about market--but market is important. Critiquing with editors and agents, is a way to get another sort of compass as to where you are with your writing.

Wendy Loggia On Why SCBWINY10 Critique Day is like American Idol

--Posted by Lee Wind

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin: Do writers need to start on the day that's different?

Ari: Starting on the day that's different is OK. Starting on the moment that's different can be tough because readers don't know enough about the story.

Wendy: Every book is different. It should be organic to the story. And it boils down to the writing, (I can help you with the plot, but I can't help you reshape your writing--it all comes down to that.)

Allyn: The problems I see with beginnings when it comes to picture books, is that they are not the beginnings of picture books, they're the beginning of chapter books. What I'm looking for is one sentence that make me interested, that's a clear beginning. Another common problem--manuscripts written in sing-songy rhyme with lots of alliteration and no narrative arc.

--POSTED BY ALICE

Friday Afternoon Panel: You've Had Your Critique, Now What?

Lin Oliver moderates a panel of (left to right) Wenday Loggia, Ari Lewin, and Allyn Johnston.

Here's a taste:

Allyn: the manuscript that you brought might not be the first manuscript you sell.

Ari: Saw 4 things she'd want to see more of. A lot of action starts but needed to be grounded in world and who character is.

Wendy: The points given to you about your manuscript are not a checklist, but for you to consider - it's your story. See what resonates.

Lots of great advice - and all to a packed house!

-- Posted by Lee Wind

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin: What mistakes did you see.

Allyn: First-person narratives in picture books, and rhyme that's off. Picture books that are on themes that have been done so many times that they wouldn't be salable. (Read books, buy books, go to bookstores, she advises.)

Ari: Manuscripts that started in the middle of a scene.

Wendy: Pages that seemed crammed with information in the beginning. A lack of awareness of the marketplace and what's working

--POSTED BY ALICE

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin: What did you see today?

Allyn: I didn't ask to buy anything today. I did ask everyone who sat at my table to send me something, but that thing might not be the thing we talked about today. Everyone should go home and think about that.

Ari: I got a lot out of being in a critique group and hearing the comments of the writers who brought up things I didn't think of. It just goes to show that every editor is going to thing a little differently about your work.

Lin: What advice would you offer writers on using the comments they got today?

Wendy: Go home and think about the comments you got today and decide what resonates with you. If you're consistently getting the same feedback, those may be the things you should concentrate on.

Ari: There's always a lot of negotiating between and editor and a writer. Think about the comments you got and if you don't think they'll work for your story, think of another way to solve them.

--POSTED BY ALICE

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin Oliver is moderating the post-intensives panel on what to do post-critique.

Panelists include:

• Allyn Johnston, Beach Lane Books
• Wendy Loggia, Random House
• Ari Lewin, Hyperion

Stay tuned...

--POSTED BY ALICE

The Writers' Intesive...

... just got intense!



--POSTED BY ALICE POPE

Writer's Intensive

Bring on the editors and agents!

The room is packed and tables of anxious writers are waiting for their editor or agent to take their seat.

Here's mine!

We'll be meeting with Arianne Lewin, Senior Editor, Disney Hyperion.

Posted by Jolie Stekly

Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind (continued)

Aaron: Recounting advice from Little, Brown editor Jennifer Hunt. An editor is like that really good friend who things you have a beautiful smile, but you have a little spinach in your teeth.

Nancy: We do want to help make that smile beautiful. Our feedback is always about making your work better. It's helpful to point out things like did the dialog sound authentic, is there a character that grabbed you, etc.

Courtney: Today everybody in the room's job is to see the spinach in your teeth. Use the time to talk about the spinach and figure out how to fix it.

Michelle: Sometimes editors are hardest on the things that we feel have the most potential. Those may be the ones we really pick apart because we want them to be great.

Courtney: Sometimes editors might come to you at an event like and say they see potential in your manuscript but it still needs work. If I see something in your writing and offer to work with you to get it in shape for acquisitions, take advantage of that. At that point, all I can promise you is my time, but I'm not going to take time to work with a writer on something that I don't think has that potential.

--POSTED BY ALICE

Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind (continued)

Nancy: We're looking at manuscripts a puzzles and trying to figure out the best way to make everything come together, so we focus on the parts that aren't working so the parts that are can be even better.

Aaron: When you come to something that needs to addressed, what's the best way to go about looking for solutions?

Michelle: That's a take-home. One don't solve things in 12 minutes. Part of my job I love is when I give a note to an author, and they run with it. You have to take notes and figure out how to make it work for you.

Courtney: This might be the first time you're getting professional feedback. Every agent or editor is different and will offer different feedback, but we're all going to point out the problem and things that feel off to us. You're the writer--it's your job to fix it. For us, what we're seeing is a first draft to us.


--POSTED BY ALICE

Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind

SCBWI's own Aaron Hartzler (who looks dashing is his bow-tie) is moderating the kick-off panel of the Annual Winter Conference Writers' Intensive on taking feedback on your work. The editor panelists include:

• Courtney Bangiolatti, Simon & Schuster
• Nancy Conescu, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  
• Michelle Nagler, Bloomsbury

Aaron: What works and what doesn't?

Courtney: Have a pen in your hand, write down comments, and really consider what both editors and agents have to say as well as your writer peers. Remember, we do this for a living. We want to make your manuscript better.

Aaron: What are you looking for as you start reading and giving feedback?

Nancy: You're looking for those sentences that grab you and good character. Be receptive to the feedback whether you agree with it or not. Really things about what editors and peers are saying. Focus on listening.

Michelle: Write down comments. Try really hard not to be dismissive. Put yourself in your critiquers shoes. We read and evaluate manuscripts constantly, considering not just whether your writing is good, but whether it's salable, has an audience.

--POSTED BY ALICE

Holly Black: How to Be Good Critiquers and Critique Partners

A few of Holly’s critique group tips:

• Achieve a balance between work and social—have fun but get the job done (says one attendee). Just don’t let the social take over.
• A critique group shouldn’t be scary or intimidating.
• In critiquing you have to be generous and willing to give away good ideas, but also work to find the right idea that works for your critique partners. You will inevitably influence each other, consciously or not.
• Everyone comes to groups with different strengths and it’s great to cultivate those strengths and use different critique partners for different things.
• You may be in groups where member have varying degrees of success. It can be hard as relationships have to adjust to this.
• Your job as a critique partner is helping make your partner write the story they want to tell.

Holly Black: How to Be Good Critiquers and Critique Partners

Fantasy author Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles) wanted to do a session on critiquing because she feels she wouldn’t be an author today if it wasn’t for her critique partners.

By show of hands, about half of room is in critique groups. Holly is talking about the difference between critique groups and critique partners. Her critique group meets to go over a finished draft of a novel. (The meet 3 or 4 times a year.) She relies on her critique partners on a more day-to-day basis with work-in-progress issues.

Your critique group doesn’t have to necessarily write exactly what you like, but they should have the same taste in book—otherwise they won’t get you, Holly says. You really have to love each other’s writing or you won’t work as critique partners.

Holly often feels like she’s writing for her critique partners—they’re the audience she knows.

She ways there’s no one “in charge” of her critique group. “Our group is chaotic. We meet and we have no pattern to what we do.” (Note: Holly mentioned that sometimes the problem with critique groups is that you start out with everyone being equal, but when problems arise, there’s no “one charge” to deal with it, then people leave or groups splinter off.)