You may recall that last week, I mentioned that I wanted a critique partner or two in my blog posts. It looked a little like this:
(Oh, and I got a haircut, so I get to change my cartoon-self’s hair!)
I actually got more offers than I thought I could handle! I’ve now started to try to work with two of them, and possibly a third. One is my friend Stephen. He and I have been in the same steps of our processes for over a year now, and we’ve been encouraging each other along the way. When we emailed our manuscripts to one another, we both admitted to being a little scared about the whole process.
I could have easily written this cartoon about him. But frankly, it’s easier to draw people I know face-to-face.
The second person who has agreed to this insanity is a coworker of mine. I see her at the office almost every workday.
She and I have to be careful not to talk about our respective science fiction novels when we have meetings, because we always miss the meetings. Also, we’re at about the same place in the process. Like Stephen, I respect her opinion, and I trust her to be honest and kind.
Again, I was terrified when I sent her the manuscript.
We have all laughed about the absurdity of writing something for other people to read, and then being terrified that someone will read it. I admitted that I’m fine with strangers reading my book. It’s the “these are writers I respect” part that gives me the shivering willies.
She was kind enough to give me her initial response before we left work for the weekend, so I wasn’t curled up in a ball of vulnerability the whole time. (Oh, and she liked it!)
Related articles
- Insert Insight, Please [Cartoon, and bonus photo] (authorakanderson.wordpress.com)
- Critique groups and Book-dating (authorakanderson.wordpress.com)
- I’m Looking for Writing Critique Partners (lizbethsgarden.wordpress.com)
- On Critiques (authormagazineonline.wordpress.com)
Alicia K. Anderson 