I was a secret agent

cj Sez:  Ispent the last few weeks pretending to be a secret literary agent, tasked with critiquing an author’s submission into a slush pile. The goal of a critique isto be truthful and objective yet encouraging. It’s a painfully difficult job.The angst my comments have most likely caused that writerly soul makes mefeel bad. It also put me in mind of how I react when my work is critiqued.

  Critiques are a must for serious writers. Despiteour best intentions, we can’t judge/proofread/edit our own words, at least notthoroughly or objectively. We’re way too close to our manuscripts. We read pastthings because we “thought” them, because obviously the reader will know whatwe mean, even if the words actually aren’t on the page or are wrong. Objective critiquepartners find missing words, poorly constructed sentences, punctuation errors,missing story threads, plot holes, and all those other etceteras that thesubjective writer misses.
  A big plus of critique groups is that members  generally have different strengths and areas of expertise. One might be a whizat line editing. Another might offer insights into story structure. Stillanother may be great at recognizing plot holes. Or character flaws. Or thedreaded middle-of-the-book sag.
  There is yet another type of critiquer who can beincredibly helpful. That’s the one who isn’t so technical but points out thethings that elicit their visceral reactions. What they laughed at, what theygot scared of for the character, where they cried, got lost, what they did ordidn’t “get” or where they were tempted to skim over paragraphs or pages. That kindof emotional information is invaluable. These are the comments that point thewriter to where s/he’s succeeding or where s/he’s failing to communicate thedesired story. These comments can represent the similar reaction of thewriter’s intended audience—thereader who will pick up the book off the library shelf or (and I can only hope)the reader who will buy the book.
  This is a piece of advice I use often. Caveat: I believe writers should consider all thecomments as if they were values on a bell curve. The comments that are similar(and bunch up like a hump in the middle) need another look. The outlierson either end of the curve (the one or two strange or subjective comments) canprobably be disregarded, after due consideration, of course.
  The bell curve works for me, even the negativecomments—thoughthey sometimes get my goat before I discard them. I've learned that writershave to keep an open mind and be thick-skinned in order to keep writing.
  What kind of critiquer am I? I want to be fair andhonest and make sure I intersperse negatives with positives. I’d love to hear how you dealwith the personalities and critiques you’ve encountered.
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God Bless the U.S.A. on its 247th birthday.
  Wishing you and yours a happy and safe July 4 Independence Day celebration. 
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  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cj

  My booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.

Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
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