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How to Fix a Story



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Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:49 am
Snoink says...



Haha... um.. yeah.

When I critique, I usually don't like going over the whole story. Why? Because the errors are so common throughout the story that I do it the first couple of times and then you're on your own. Mind you, I used to do that all the time, but then my time got slightly limited, and so I can't pay attention to every lovely sentence. Or I can, but I do that with my own story. Sneaky, isn't it? ;)

So yeah.

Writing requires a certain amount of independent thinking, and even if you get a thousand critiques, if you can't critically analyze your story, then it's still going to suck. You should make sure that you get the most out of your critiques. Let's go through the list, shall we? ;)

1. Be able to understand the basic critiques.

If you don't understand what your critiquer says, then it's hopeless. Either ask or have someone else that you trust interpret it. Critiques that you can't understand are worthless, so you should do your best to understand them.

2. Be able to understand BEYOND the critiques.

Sometimes what the critiquer says may only be the surface. I know I got critiques saying, "You should take this out" when I didn't want to take it out at all. Instead, I rearranged the paragraph so that the one thing they wanted to have taken out was put in a position that was less stressed, and it was fine that way.

Other times, some critiquers might say, "This seems awkward." And, if they're good critiquers, they might have some suggestions on how to fix it. But that doesn't mean you have to follow their suggestions completely. The main issue is that you see that there is a mistake and you become aware of it. Critiquers are not God, and any critiquer who claims to be such is an idiot. In the end, you know more about your story then they do. Use this knowledge to smooth out the rough stuff.

3. Look at the mistakes as a whole and not a part.

So, sometimes I point out bad dialogue grammar. Why? Because that annoys me. And sometimes, me being the cruel person I am, just link you to a page of examples of dialogue grammar and expect you to figure out what you did wrong. If it's especially persistant, I might point out an example and correct it.

Your job? You know your weaknesses now -- we critiquers have just point it out. Now you have to correct them. Annoying? YES. But in the end, it's worth it.

4. Don't expect us to hold your hand.

I've had people ask for multiple critiques. That's okay, and most of the time I don't mind. Unless, of course, I find that the person wants me to hold their hand through their story. And then I suddenly find myself minding quite a bit...

I hate repeating myself, saying the same things over again. If I find myself repeating myself, I just quit reading the person's work entirely. Bad? Perhaps. But obviously if you keep on making the same mistake that I keep pointing out, even if you edit it once I point it out again, I have become a crutch for you. You cannot function without me. And that's bad.

Learn independence. We're critiquers... not editors. We won't help you with every single mistake you have. That's what you're supposed to do. True, we'll help you out as much as we can, but if you are unwilling to learn from us, then why should we bother?

5. Learn how to read your own work.

This is very important, but sadly looked over. We're so excited that people actually read our own stuff and we grow lazy. We want comments now, yet we forget to get comments from the most important person -- ourselves.

Learn to read your own work. Read it out loud from your computer, print it up and scan, do whatever works for you. But learn how to read and critically disect your own work. And that way, you'll become a better writer.



Hope this helps!
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

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Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:51 pm
Myth says...



I admit I get bored over my work once I've finished writing them. No one at home wants to read my work so I get lazy and never bother to edit. Now I'm trying to critique my own work the way I critique other peoples. Gry knows how my eagle-eye's pry. I really ought to love my work more.

Thanks for the tips, Snoink.
.: ₪ :.

'...'
  





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Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:16 pm
Emerson says...



That was a great read, snoink! You just pull this stuff out of no where, huh?

I'm glad us Critiquers aren't god, I've gone around telling people one way on how to do things with grammar, only to find out I was wrong. (I hate commas!) I've never had someone I've been a clutch to though...yet...

yet we forget to get comments from the most important person -- ourselves.
:lol: most important person? No, No! Most harsh editor! EVERYTHING MUST GO! hee.
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:35 pm
Cassandra says...



Oy. I hate it when people can't bother to proof read their own stuff before they post. If it's important enough to you to post in front of everyone and get comments, why not make it the best it can be before you do so?

Interesting tips, Snoink. A nice break from the run-of-the-mill "How To Write Dialouge" or "Using 'Said'" tips that pop up here most often. ;)
"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring."
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Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:20 pm
RoxanneR says...



I really hate editing my work, because there's no fun in it! Anyone else feel the same way?

RR*
Want a faithful critique? PM me!

Luv RR*
  





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Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:15 pm
Snoink says...



You have to make it fun, lol. That's a little tricky, but it can be fun and rather like meditation... ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:23 pm
Cassandra says...



RoxanneR wrote:I really hate editing my work, because there's no fun in it! Anyone else feel the same way?

RR*


Really? That's funny, because I usually love to make my stuff better. One of the top ten in my list of my favorite things about writing is being able to read back over my work and find that I like what I see, and that this is the kind of book or story I would read, which is important. Plus it's really awesome to get yourself a nice pen with uniquely colored ink and go through and pick out the spots where you could do better. Purple pens are ideal, plus those red correcting pens teachers use. ;)
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Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:25 am
Fantasy of You says...



When I critique, I usually don't like going over the whole story. Why? Because the errors are so common throughout the story that I do it the first couple of times and then you're on your own. Mind you, I used to do that all the time, but then my time got slightly limited, and so I can't pay attention to every lovely sentence


I'm inclined to disagree here. Most beginning writers focus on prose more than ideas. I guess this is fine, at first. When a person's prose is god awful, help them with it by all means.

But what most people don't seem to see, is that the writing is a small part of a story. There are examples of it everywhere. Eragon and Da VC are god-awfully written, but they have had massive success, even if I hate the books, lol.

The point is, when you see a person is compitent enough to write without errors in every sentence, focus on the plot or ideas of the story - that's where the gold is. That's what usually needs developing.

-Fantasy
'It aint the size, love,' she says. 'It's how you use it. That's the important thing, methinks.'

Of course, she was talking about vocabulary...
  





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Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:09 pm
Snoink says...



Nah. It's the beginning that makes it and when you look over it, you'll find that you're repeating yourself over again. This is why, when publishers look through your work, they look at your first sentence, and if they don't like it, they throw it out. If they do like it, then they look at the first paragraph. And if they like that, they look at the first page. If they find something they don't like about it, they throw it out.

Funness.

Now, you may have the best middle ever, but if you can't tell a story from the beginning, then it's not good enough. And I'm not just talking about grammatical errors... if I see an impossible plot twist, I'm going to tell you to look at your story with amore realistic eye and ask yourself whether that would be appropriate or plausible for real life. And then, from my critique, I expect you to look at your story and find other instances where this implausible stuff happens. I'm not going to babysit you through the entire story when the errors are common. That would take too much work. :P
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:22 pm
Fantasy of You says...



The hook = idea = part of my point.
'It aint the size, love,' she says. 'It's how you use it. That's the important thing, methinks.'

Of course, she was talking about vocabulary...
  





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Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:25 pm
Snoink says...



Has it ever occurred to you that, by errors, I didn't necessarily mean grammatical errors? :P
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:26 pm
Emerson says...



snoink, you're such a skimmer ;-)

I agree though, if you don't start good, how are we to believe the rest of it will be good?
“It's necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live.”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
  








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