Conversations In the Margins -- with Kris Kennedy

posted by hackey hudjson

Today I'm pleased to welcome my good buddy and Lair favorite Kris Kennedy back to the blog to celebrate the release of her latest book Defiant. Yay, another great medieval romance with a HAWT cover! (Aunty wipes drool from her chin.)

Instead of our usual question and answer interview, Kris wanted to blog with us about those funny little conversations we sometimes have with friends and co-workers. Conversations that nobody else ever hears... Take it away, Kris!

I’m not sure about other authors, but I would never be published if I didn’t have great critique partners.

And by ‘great’ I mean the ones willing to be brutally honest, to say what needs to be said, to read as a reader (meaning they read for Story, and look for your unique story to unfold), but they also know craft enough to explain why it’s a problem, and suggest repairs.

The ones willing to go the extra mile, to read an entire manuscript in a hurry to meet a deadline, to re-read those same damned knotted pages over and over and over again.

Great critique partners add immeasurable value to stories. I’m especially fond of the conversations we have in the margins of manuscripts. The little notes we exchange, whether in pencil or Track Changes, the comments that clue you into the fact that that scene—you know the one, the scene you love more than any other scene, ever written?--yeah, that scene, is actually not a piece of fine art. It’s a piece of something else. The margin conversations where they rip you a new one, and you realize with shocking, blinding clarity that you would never be published without this person.

Great cp’s do things like:


• Write edifying comments in the margins like, “Huh?”
• Catch typos Word cruelly—or mockingly--ignored: “Um, do you really want to say ‘shitory’ here? Perhaps you mean ’history?’” Oh, umm, perhaps.
• Suggest subtle ways to increase dramatic tension: “Cut the last 50 pages and do something different. Maybe try something interesting.”
• Force you out of your comfort zone of descriptions: “You are not allowed to have eyebrows do anything ever again. Never. Again. No ‘arching’ and especially no ‘cocking.’”
• Point out staging issues that have become invisible to the beleaguered writer by her fifth draft: “This room has a lot of windows. She’s passed 5. Really? 5 windows in this little room?”
• Hone in those small, minute, barely-detectable flaws in characterization: “Wow, she’s a real bitch.”
• And deliver the ever-simple and devastatingly effective: “This sounds stupid and doesn’t make any sense.”
  

I, though, have my own marginal replies to these critique partners who would ride rough-shod over my beautiful words. I’m not a puppet, for Heaven’s sake. I stand my ground, speak up. Some of my favorite replies run something like:


• My ending hook was where? Three pages ago . . . ? Wow. That’s a long way back, huh?
• So sue me, I like adverbs. No, it’s not really a law, you can’t sue me. You’re just scared.
  
• Did I really? Again with the eyes? And the brows?
  
• Point-of-View, Schmoint-Of-View. All I care about is “Does it flow?” Oh. It doesn’t? Oh.
• Thanks. I’ll fix that. And that. And that. I was drinking wine at the time.
• And the top apology I give to my cps: It made sense in the other version

What about you? Writer or not, what are some of the silly, wonderful conversation you have with those friends or colleagues that no one else in the world would probably understand?

One commenter wins a copy of Kris’s latest release, a starred Publisher Weekly review, Defiant!

Kris Kennedy writes sexy, adventure-filled medieval romances for Pocket Books. Visit her website ( http://www.kriskennedy.net/) and sign-up for the newsletter, read exclusive excerpts, or just drop Kris a line saying Hi!

Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/Critiquing
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Lost Keys, CPs & Getting A Clue

posted by Aunty Cindy aka Loucinda McGary

Everyone who has spent more than five minutes in the Lair knows that yer olde Aunty is NOT a morning person. Anything that happens before 10 a.m. West Coast Time is not something Aunty needs to know (unless, of course, it is a flight to a vacation destination)! You can imagine Aunty's chagrin when last Thursday, she was awakened from dreamland at 8:30 by someone pounding on the front door.

NOBODY pounds on my door.

First, they must brave Aunty's stalwart protectors the Pug-wa-wa and the Yorkie Unholy Terrier (aka Scylla and Charybdis). Should they happen to arrive when said obstacles are not in attendance, they will receive Aunty's Nasty Lecture Number 23B which references the "No Solicitors" sign in plain view on the front gate, IF Aunty deigns to answer at all.

But last Thursday at the ungodly hour of 8:30 a.m. someone dared Scylla and Charybdis (who were barking like the hounds of Hades) to knock... LOUDLY! Figuring it must be something dire, I crawled out of bed, stumbled to the door, and peered through the security peep hole. I recognized the young man standing there in baggy shorts and flip-flops as my new neighbor who had introduced himself to the DH and me just last weekend. Scylla and Charybdis nipped at his bare ankles.

I opened the door just a crack and he reintroduced himself and said, "My wife locked me out. Can I use your phone?"

I let him in. I figured if the poor guy was desperate enough to brave my dogs and to see me in my jammies with no make-up and bed-head, he deserved one phone call!

Later that afternoon, I met my wonderfully talented critique partner, Jo-Mama for brainstorming and going over chapters of our works-in-progress.

I've just started a new Irish tale that doesn't even have a title yet. Beginnings are always difficult for me. I never quite know where to jump into the story, and I don't know my characters as well as I will a few chapters in. Plus, I've been having separation anxiety ever since The Wild Sight hit bookstores. (Will people LURVE my baby? Will readers "get" me and my story? Will I sell more than a dozen copies?)

I truly was wandering around feeling like the new story had locked me out! Keyless and clueless.

THANK GOODNESS for talented and insightful CPs! I swear, many times they have more knowledge of my WIP than I do. In the course of our discussion last Thursday afternoon, it quickly became apparent to me that Jo-Mama had done it again. She obviously had a far better handle on my new characters than I did! Then she made a comment, just ONE LITTLE DESCRIPTION of my heroine that made the proverbial light bulb go off inside my head!

BOOM! The lock opened and I had a lot more insight into my character. (Have I mentioned lately how much I LURVE my CP? That she is worth her weight in GOLD? And no, I will NOT share her!) I went home and made some well-placed revisions on my chapter that I know made it and my heroine so much stronger!

Sometimes the smallest thing can make such a big difference. Ask my poor neighbor, who stopped me yesterday to thank me again and tell me, "You really saved my life the other day." I just said, "You're welcome."

No need to tell him that he provided the inspiration for my blog post, is there?

What about you? Ever been keyless or clueless? When was the last time something small made a BIG difference to you?Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/Critiquing
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