The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

THIS is Why I Belong to a Critique Group

        This is a follow-up to my previous post, where I wrote about why I teach. If it was Pulitzer Prize material, I'd provide a link, but it's not, so if you're burning with desire  mildly curious  interested bored out of your gourd, meander around my blog and check it out. I'll be here when you return...

         Why do I belong to a critique group? Why do I stay out late every other Wednesday? (Our writing critique sessions go from 6:30 to 9:30 or 10:00, and none some of that time is spent on shenanigans and rowdy-ness.) Why do I give up a fun night of grading papers to get my writing criticized? Here's why:

1.  I'm working on my circus act...soon, I'll be ready for Barnum and Bailey. The words that are thrown my way on critique nights are razor-sharp and so cutting, I could fill in for the female assistant in the knife-throwing act...and I'd have no fear. (Okay, their words ARE sharp, but sharp as in witty. I've never felt like I needed to thicken up my skin when it comes to the WWWPs.)

2. I've joined a 12-step program, the EA, and I'm making progress. In fact, the last piece I shared had no ellipsis...None...Nada...Zilch...As an ellipsisholic, I must mutter the serenity prayer on a regular basis: Grant me the serenity to accept a short story without insisting it needs at least 14 sets of ellipsis... Last Wednesday evening I got my "1 story chip" and I'm looking forward to earning even more...

3.  When my critique members are not around, it's as if their spirit is. There are times--not often enough, unfortunately--when I'm revising a piece and it comes to me. I know exactly what I need to do to improve the story, I know what needs to be cut, I know how I can punch up the beginning...because I've heard it often enough from the other WWWPs.

4. Pantyliner producers need my support. The four fierce women in my critique group are HE. LARE. E. US. Only one of them has a trouble-making twinkle in her eyes--the other three look prim and proper and oh-so-serious, but that is just a clever ruse.  All of them have mischief and mayhem bubbling right under the surface. Laughter is good for the soul...damp underwear, not so much.

5.  In this part of the season, when the bugs are having their last flings, every fly-catcher is welcome. There are times when my mouth gapes open in amazement. Lynn has the ability to create an authentic voice of a character...and she keeps it up for the whole novel. Beth can do the same. Both of them are working on novels with a teenager as the centerpiece--and every word the characters say and every thought that goes through their head is spot-on. Linda consistently writes warm and witty and snappy. She can paint a picture and pull you back to a moment in your past with just her written words. And Tammy... Everyone hates to follow Tammy. Tammy can (and did) transform a story about a hamster into a lyrical piece that dances across the page. The images she creates are pristine...and phenomenal. When their stories are shared, my mouth drops open and I have to shove it closed...


        And what about you? Why do you write or dance or paint or shop or cook or bake or zentangle or take photographs? Nosey people (like me) want to know...

23 comments:

  1. This is why I read Sioux's blog:

    1. I love ellipses.
    2. The tiny little print at the end of selected topics slaps me back to reality. I'm old, by cracky!
    3. I love the circus.
    4. Now with more pantyliner references.
    5. I love hearing about the cornucopia that is Tammy's butt.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. However, NO ONE'S replies to comments are as good as yours, Val. That's why we keep coming back to your blog twice a day...

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  2. We do seem to be main ingredients in a special dish, each of us contributing her own flavor that makes our group delicious. Your words of wisdom, sense of humor, quick wit and editing eye...well everything about you, makes you savory.

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  3. Linda--Savory...That makes it sound like I'm a rump roast (quite appropos). If I AM a roast, I'm certainly well-marbled... ;)

    Seriously, I agree. Each of us contributes something unique. And now I'm off to an EA meeting. Apparently I've relapsed...

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  4. I'm also an ellipsisaholic, but I can stop anytime I want...

    How lucky you all are to have each other! Maybe if I had a group such as yours, I'd be crafting better stories (and boosting the local economy in Poise purchases).

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    1. Kim--We ARE lucky. However, since we usually have snacks that we munch on while we critique, my butt has gotten wider in the last year...

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  5. What a fun post to read this morning...although it makes me hunger for a group even more than I do. Someday, sometime, some way in my life I am going to arrange for a trip to visit all those lively critique groups out your way!!!

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    1. Claudia--You travel too much--it sounds like--to commit to a critique group. I hunger for the travel opportunities you have--and take advantage of.

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  6. My name is Lisa, and I, too, am an ellipsisaholic. *sigh* I have a new critique partner who called me out on it on our first round of critiquing just within the last couple of weeks and now I'm paranoid about it. But I love those darn things! They're just so . . . expressive. :)

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    1. Lisa--I agree. Come to St. Louis and leave that ellipsis-hater in Georgia. You'll feel right at home...

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  7. Here-Here! Um... I wonder who has the twinkle in her eye...? I love my WWWPs because they bring fresh ideas, new ways to look at an old (to me) piece of writing, comfort, laughter, friendship, advice... Good Lord, SIoux, your ...'s have rubbed off on me and now I can't stop!

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  8. Wow, I can't add anything to the pot that hasn't already been flavored... but I to am addicted to... the... ellipsis's (do I put just an apostrophe or apostrophe s after that?) where's that grammar ...ch when you need her.

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  9. Oh, and thanks. This is something I needed to hear!

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    1. Lynn--You are right. You need to hear it (the truth) often...;)

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  10. I love a good critique group because they give me a perspective that I had not had. I love to read because words and language can open up a world I had never noticed. Who said "How am I supposed to know what I think until I put it on the page and can see it?" Writing helps me think!!

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    1. Mary--A different perspective...That is a big part of it--I might think a piece is suckola, but my critique friends will see something valuable in it or they will see a different direction it could go in.

      And it does for me as well. Writing helps me sort out things...

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  11. Well, having read pieces written by you and your critique group members, I agree there's a lot of talent simmering in that pot!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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    1. Pat--Thanks. But like every "pot" that is simmering, there is some fat that needs to be skimmed off. And that's what good writing friends do. They help get rid of the unneeded parts...

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  12. I am a dashaholic, but lately your ellipses have been rubbing off. Did you notice when you were ellipsis-free, I ADDED them? That's because I can't get enough of that Sioux-flavor, which is sharp, spicy-sweet, rich and mellow...and always unique and surprising. Not to mention liberally sprinkled in publications EVERYWHERE for good reason. As always, my also well-marbled buttocks and I thank you for your compliments. Only the fiercest of warrior-spirits could be that generous.

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    1. Tammy--A fierce warrior-spirit...I like that.

      (And you should either get a job as a PR person or in a barn shoveling manure. ;)

      Delete
  13. Guess who FINALLY got a battery for her laptop? Wheeee!

    Now, first, that's entirely too much talent in one critique group. And second, you speak of using the ellipsis as if there's something wrong with that...

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    1. Cathy--The other WWWPs charge me a fine for every ellipsis they deem unneeded. Right now my total is $44.75 (a quarter for each one). At this rate, I'll be broke soon...

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Thanks for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by...