Refining Your Voice

So last week I mentioned that critiques can smother or dull a voice.

Well, the opposite is also true. Good critiques can smooth and refine voice. Just because a voice is strong doesn't mean it's the best it can be.

Writing guidelines are tools, as are critiques. Use them to sharpen and shape your voice, to strengthen it and make it powerful.

What is the best critique you've ever received in any area of your life? How did it change your writing or perspective?

Comments

Wendy Paine Miller said…
Oh my goodness, I've received such phenomenal feedback that I'll always be grateful for. I was thankful a dear friend pointed out some POV issues in one book and encouraged me to undergo a rewrite...so thankful I took that on.
~ Wendy
May 25, 2011 at 8:03 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Good for you, Wendy! Changing pov can be challenging but having the right one really influences how effective the story is.
May 25, 2011 at 8:34 AM
Sarah Forgrave said…
I paid for a professional critique of my full m/s last year and got WAY more than my money's worth. The editor really tugged the best out of me, and I think she helped me take my voice from the first 20 pages and carry it throughout the m/s. Definitely money well spent! :)
May 25, 2011 at 8:51 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Wow, Sarah! That's awesome!
May 25, 2011 at 9:28 AM
Jessica R. Patch said…
I have wonderful CPs that challenge and stretch me, especially when it comes to Deep POV!
May 25, 2011 at 9:44 AM
Anita Grace Howard said…
Eek! What a great question but I don't know if I can whittle it down to just one. Hmm.

I do think that learning to use my lush prose a LITTLE more sparingly then turning it loose on certain sentences or scenes has helped me especially in the YA arena. But I honestly can't remember exactly who told me that, or if it's something I learned after many critiques. Whatever the case, I'm grateful for the learning curve!

Have a lovely day, BQE! :)
May 25, 2011 at 9:48 AM
Stina said…
I've had a number of great crits that made a huge difference in my writing. I could write a post on it (and indirectly I have several times). :D
May 25, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Stephanie Faris said…
I've had good critiques and bad. The worst was when I was in a critique group where this very outspoken negative woman said, "This book is not as shallow as your work normally is." Oh, gee, thanks. That comment upset me so much I eventually left the group, on the advice from other writer friends who said that it was a toxic situation. It showed me that a bad critique group can actually hurt your writing and cast great self-doubt.
May 25, 2011 at 11:40 AM
Erica Vetsch said…
I've received so many good critiques, I don't know that I could pick out just one. I LOVE my crit partners. :)
May 25, 2011 at 11:52 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Awww, Erica! I'm sure they love you too!

Stephanie, sounds good that you got out. I can't believe that writer said such a rude thing. Grrr.

Me too, Stina. It seems I'm always learning.
May 25, 2011 at 12:29 PM
Jessica Nelson said…
Hi Jessica,
Yeah, deep POV is a valuable thing to know. :-)

Anita, you do a great job!
May 25, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Keli Gwyn said…
My critique partners are awesome and give me consistently helpful feedback. My savvy agent offers valuable insights about my writing. I'm blessed to have them on my Dream Team.
May 25, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Jessica Bell said…
The best advice I ever got was 'to dog deeper'. Worked wonders for me!
May 25, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Lisa Jordan said…
My best advice came from Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck, the My Book Therapy dynamic duo. They did a two-hour brainstorming session with me and breathed life into my characters by forcing me to dig deeper. That book--Lakeside Reunion--will release in November from Love Inspired.
May 25, 2011 at 1:24 PM
Jennifer Shirk said…
Hmm...that's tought to answer.
Usually the crits I love the most are the ones that usually say "I'm not feeling that" or "you need to show me this". That's when i know I'm telling and not showing enough.
May 25, 2011 at 2:09 PM
Jill Kemerer said…
Great question. Based on my cps' advice, I learned to flesh out my scenes better with more details, more inner thoughts. They helped me see that writing bare and writing tight are two different things!
May 25, 2011 at 3:17 PM
Susan J. Reinhardt said…
Hi Jess -

The best critiques gave me insight into creating deeper characters and adding more tension. The worst tried to change the entire thrust of the story.

Blessings,
Susan :)
May 26, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Hmmm, interesting, Susan.

Wow, Jill! That is a wonderful observation and post-worthy!

LOL Jennifer. Yep, those'll do it.
May 26, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Jessica Nelson said…
Keli, knowing who your critters are (and agent), yeah, you def. have a dream team. :-)

Hey Jessica, you mean "dig" deeper, right? LOL

Lisa!!!! Did I know you had a contract??? If I forgot, well, congrats again!!! That's awesome!!!
May 26, 2011 at 9:33 AM
Jessica Bell said…
haha! Whoops! Yes, definitely 'dig' :o) *blush*
May 26, 2011 at 9:43 AM
Robyn Campbell said…
When I first started writing, I was TOLD that I TOLD the entire first few chapters of my book. That advice was absolutely the BEST advice I ever received. :-)
May 26, 2011 at 11:10 AM
Terri Tiffany said…
I paid for two editors on two different books and wow--I finally learned that I didn't understand GMC and now that I do-- I want to cringe at how I wrote them!
May 26, 2011 at 1:44 PM
Jessica Nelson said…
LOL Jessica, but it made me laugh! I thought at first there was some slang I didn't know about. Heeehee!

Great stuff Robyn! Thanks for sharing. :-)

Terri, no cringing allowed, got it? :-) We all have learning curves and trust me, I had to learn GMC too. Am still learning it!
May 26, 2011 at 8:38 PM
Linda Kage said…
I had a critique that made me bawl all weekend once. But then I turned around and fixed the story. After it sold, every review about them (all two of them) have been five star!
May 27, 2011 at 8:36 AM
Patti said…
I've had several good critiques and they all just seem to teach me a little bit more about writing.
May 27, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Nancy said…
One time on an essay test question I ended my words with, "You've got it M.J." My instructor wrote, "You've got it, too, Nancy."
I will treasure that word through every setback and rejection notice.
May 27, 2011 at 12:47 PM
Karen Lange said…
Hmm, good question. One of the best pieces of advice (not exactly a critique) I got was to 'call myself a writer'. It helped me see the vision God had for my life.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Karen
May 27, 2011 at 8:22 PM
Gina Conroy said…
I can't pinpoint a specific critique, but best advice I received was the permission to write a crummy first draft. I'm OCD about editing while I write and I'm trying to break the habit, but my wise agent put it in perspective when he said "you can't fix what's not there!"
June 8, 2011 at 9:18 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We All Got to Learn to Do It Sometime

*grossness alert* We all have to learn to deal with doo-doo eventually. Consider me a newbie mom, but it never occurred to me that my son should be wiping himself until about a month before kindergarten. And then the flashbulb went on and I scrambled to teach him. One problem. He didn't want to. He's fastidious and doesn't like to make mistakes, so the thought of taking care of this daily chore literally reduced him to screaming and crying on the toilet. Basically, he didn't trust himself. He was afraid. Scared to get his hands dirty. Afraid he'd miss something. This is probably weird, but it made me think of us as writers. There comes a point where we have to "grow up" and trust ourselves. We can't always rely on a crit group, agent, or editor to wipe up our mess. I think this should be a part of maturation for every writer, that we can look at our work and be confident in our ability to clean it up. Not saying we'll make it perfect or that we won...
Read more

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Oh Vanity of vanities.... In preparation for the conference I'm going to put my body through some painful things. Eyebrow pluckings, teeth whitening and mustache removal. Anyone else interested in adding to my confession of vanity? Have you ever gone through a painful experience in order to look good? What's the craziest thing you've ever done to yourself?
Read more

Just Straight-up Say It

When it comes to writing an interesting character, I think the best ones are those who go verbal places we're afraid to. Sometimes they use subtext, sometimes speak the truth, straight-up. Or maybe your characters break some rules you would never dare to even imagine breaking? Maybe they expose themselves, make themselves vulnerable to other characters? Or do they demand things we've learned to only wish for? What's the wildest thing one of your characters has done? Would you do it?
Read more