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AUGUST 2009
26 August, 2009
Voice and Originality
I had intended to carry on answering the questions about critiquing but at conference someone asked me what I'd meant when I'd said that voice, not idea, is the key to originality. So I'll explain that first.
How many times have we read a book or seen a movie where the basic plotline was the Cinderella story? Quite a few. And there's no problem with that. The Cinderella story is great.
12 August, 2009
Critiquing Questions...continued
Question Number Two.
"I'm afraid to share my work in a group. Can I just share it with one person, and make sure they don't share it with anyone else?"
Yes, you can. But it's not going to help you in the long term. You're only going to get one person's ideas on how to strengthen your work. And what if they're wrong?
Limiting the number of people commenting on or critiquing your work is fair enough, but limiting it to just one person isn't wise.
A good question to ask yourself is "Why don't I want to share it?
If you're embarrassed, or afraid your writing is awful then welcome to the human race. We all feel like that about our work sometimes.
If you're worried that someone is going to steal your idea, then don't be. Most of us have more ideas than time to write them down. And, even if that were not the case, the story another person might write using your premise would be utterly different to one you'd write using the same thing.
Voice, not idea, is the key to originality.
05 August, 2009
Critiquing Questions
Many thanks to those of you who have sent questions about critiquing. I'll do my best to answer.
However, please remember that these are just my opinions. Other people have thoughts and ideas equally valid.
OK. Question Number One.
"What should I ask for when I'm presenting my work for a critique?"
Well, it depends what you want. The more specific you are the better.
For example. If you just want someone to look at the dialogue between your hero and your heroine, then ask for it. In words of one syllable. "I want you to tell me if the way Jim and Kate talk sounds real to you."
Often we know that aspects of the plot or setting description are clunky, but we're working on them and we're not ready for an analysis yet.
Say what you want up front. Then you get helpful comments to do with dialogue, and avoid the annoying ones referencing the seventeen incorrect allusions to Impressionist art in the section you've already decided to cut.
Having said that, I also believe that what you think you want is sometimes not what you actually need. So here's my general take.
I see little point in critiquing anything before a clean second draft. However, if you've completed a second draft then the critiquing focus is most useful when directed on the guts and flow, the overview, the general feel of the story as expressed through:
**character growth (the hero's/heroine's internal journey)
**the plot (their external journey together and separately)
**the romance (their emotional journey)
**the conflict (as expressed in various ways through all journeys)
If you've completed a third--or whatever number you get up to with a final--draft, then you may want a line-by-line dissection.
At this stage such a request is realistic because you're looking at a cut-and-polish. To expect this kind of depth and detail on a first draft would be a monumental waste of time and energy
However, the key to making an old plot riveting is found in how the story is told. And that how depends on the story-teller and her voice.
So, what is voice?
The best definition I've ever heard for voice is that it is the writer's personality on paper. In other words, it's you on the page.
Your voice is the result of everything you are; every experience you've had, every joy you've danced through, every dream you've left behind. It is what makes you choose to write thoughtful, tender romances, or leads you--stepping over the bodies--down the midnight paths of despair.
I've tried writing gentle romance. I've even done it a couple of times.
But let me be honest here. If I was told to write a romance using the basic Cinderella plotline it would be dark. Sure, there'd be tenderness and humour, but it would be edgy. There would be bodies and angst.
Why? Because I can't help it. I've tried writing outside my voice and it made me miserable.
So my heroine would probably allow her stepmother and step-sisters to think they're ruling the roost and her life...while she moonlights as Cinderwoman, righting the wrongs of the city and annoying the authorities.
Yes, the Fairy Godmother would still feature in some form or other. But the gentle, biddable teenager who drops her glass slipper and sings with the bluebirds?
Not. A. Chance.
Cinderella in my world is a cool-eyed thirty-mumble who's seen too much, expects too little, and has become resigned to reality; the only "Prince" who won't betray her has four legs and a tail.
That's my thought. My voice. What about you? What does your Cinderella plot look like?