With one week left before the deadline to enter the Colorado Gold Literary Awards, we are receiving more entries every day. I’m not here to discuss procrastination (plenty of other posts have already been written about that) but rather what a writer might be doing in those final days before a deadline, be it for…
Tag: critique
My Experience with a Reedsy Live Editing Session (with Tom Bromley)
First, I’d like to wish, wherever you are Edgar Allen Poe, a happy birthday. January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849. A free one-hour editing advice given by author, Tom Bromley via Reedsy, (Reedsy https://reedsy.com), was worth every cent—and more. Tom–author, editor, ghostwriter, creative writing tutor, Reedsy’s Head of Learning, and creator of the 101-day…
An Unexpected Benefit of Critique Groups
We humans aren’t good at seeing our own flaws, especially in our writing. When we look at something we wrote, we know exactly what we intended to say. So when we read the words back to ourselves—get this—it makes perfect sense to us! Our brain automatically fills in any gaps, ignores the hiccups, even glosses…
5 Guidelines for Writing a Helpful Critique
Last week my writing buddy sent me her new novel and asked for my feedback. This is the one I’ve been hearing about for a year, the novel she’s written that’s closest to her heart, and the one I feel will earn her a deal with a major publisher. And it got me thinking about…
To the Monkey Bars
Remember the grade school track meet where you earned a ribbon for finishing among the top three runners? First place received a red ribbon, second got blue, and third got green. The girls in my class were fast. I attribute their speed to the habit of boys relentlessly pursuing them during recess. Naturally they were…