How to Get the Most From Your Conference Critique
You’re attending a conference! Yay! And you’ve sent your manuscript ahead for a critique! Double yay! Lots of people submit manuscripts for critiques, hoping to be “discovered” by an editor or agent. Even if that doesn’t happen, you can get a lot out of a critique by a fellow writer, which may eventually put you on the path to discovery.
Every year, I critique manuscripts for my local SCBWI. Once, I got a manuscript that was so perfect that I referred the writer to my editor and agent, and my editor published her! Here's that book.
I've gotten a few other practically perfect manuscripts, manuscripts where I didn't have much to say. But usually, I've gotten manuscripts that have needed work. But if the work is done, these writers can get published too. I recently ran into a woman at a teachers’ conference, who reminded me that I had once critiqued her at SCBWI. This was her published book, which became publishable sometime after we met.
Also, I was once one of the people getting critiques. An early version of my first novel, Breathing Underwater, was critiqued by Richard Peck at Key West Literary Seminar in 1998. It was that critique that encouraged me to go on - and Richard also encouraged me to put it in a single viewpoint, which I did.
So how do you get the most out of a critique? The first step is to make your manuscript as perfect as possible in the first place. This may seem counterintuitive. After all, you’re paying for a critique. But you really shouldn’t be wasting valuable critique time, correcting punctuation errors. A while back, a relative asked for help with a novel she was writing. I told her, “Fix this, this and this” (the items I’ll outline below), “and I’ll be happy to help you.” I think she got insulted, because she never gave me the manuscript. But really, I meant, "Hey, I think you're smart enough to fix this stuff on your own." I’m not a 9th grade English teacher. I assume she wants help on items like characterization and plot. For that to be the focus of my critique, the following items need to be perfect.
1. Format. If your manuscript is formatted improperly, I will start reading with the assumption that it is going to be bad. Maybe I can overlook a small deviation (font size), but if you don’t have your title on the manuscript, I know you haven’t put in the effort. I am pretty sure this is doubly true of editors and agents.
So -- font size? Twelve point Times New Roman. Double spaced, no extra line between paragraphs. This is important because Word automatically formats every document as a letter (single spaced with a break between paragraphs). You’re not writing a letter. Align left. Number the pages. Plain numbers are okay, but even better, number with your name, a partial name of your manuscript, and the page number. E.g, Flinn/Beheld 1
For the first chapter and each subsequent chapter, space about one-third of the way down the page. Center the title or chapter number. INCLUDE THE TITLE AND YOUR NAME. I realize this will take up valuable space from your ten pages you’re allowed to submit. First off, tough. It’s true. You’re really only getting to send nine and a half pages. Secondly, you’ve just saved a bunch of space by not spacing between the lines.
2. Spell everything correctly. Don’t just use spellcheck. Read your manuscript aloud because this is the best way to notice errors.
3. Make sure everything is in the same tense. I realize you switched from past to present or vice-versa, but make sure you got it. Again, reading your manuscript aloud is the best way to catch this.
4. Punctuate correctly. Commas matter. Here’s a worksheet my daughter’s journalism professor gave out about commas. The serial, or Oxford, comma is arguable. She is a journalist, and journalists typically don’t use them. However, most novelists I know do. You should read the rules, learn them, and decide what you want to do. See what I did there? I just had four sentences in a row with different comma usage rules applied. Commas are power!
5. Read that manuscript aloud one more time, and make sure you got rid of any remnants of abandoned ideas that will be confusing. Character used to be named Anna, but now, she’s Hannah? Take out all the Annas.
6. While you’re at it, make sure that the reader will have some vague idea where the story is going by the end of the ten pages.
7. Finally, bring a good attitude. I know you wanted a critique with an agent, and you got a writer instead. Or the agent doesn’t want to see your full manuscript. Or maybe the suggestions your critiquer is giving sound crazy. Maybe they even ARE. Maybe the critiquer didn’t read your manuscript carefully, and that’s why she isn’t getting what is completely obvious to you. But give it a good listen, and then think about it. Discuss the changes with someone else who has read your manuscript (”Hey, she had this crazy idea, but did you think . . . ?”). You don’t have to do everything your critiquer suggests, but if you have one or two good tips, it’s worth the price.
Hopefully, you are reading this and thinking it sounds really obvious. I think it is. But I’ve had manuscripts that included these “obvious” errors. I have one or two right now. When I meet with these people for their critiques, we’re going to spend a portion of their fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes they paid for, discussing commas, tense, and why they should include their title, stuff they could easily have learned by reading a book. I think it’s kind of a waste of their money. Don’t waste yours.
If you do all this, you aren't guaranteed of being discovered by an editor, agent, or friendly writer who will introduce you to hers. But you're a lot closer. And, if you don't do this stuff, you definitely WON'T.
Every year, I critique manuscripts for my local SCBWI. Once, I got a manuscript that was so perfect that I referred the writer to my editor and agent, and my editor published her! Here's that book.
I've gotten a few other practically perfect manuscripts, manuscripts where I didn't have much to say. But usually, I've gotten manuscripts that have needed work. But if the work is done, these writers can get published too. I recently ran into a woman at a teachers’ conference, who reminded me that I had once critiqued her at SCBWI. This was her published book, which became publishable sometime after we met.
Also, I was once one of the people getting critiques. An early version of my first novel, Breathing Underwater, was critiqued by Richard Peck at Key West Literary Seminar in 1998. It was that critique that encouraged me to go on - and Richard also encouraged me to put it in a single viewpoint, which I did.
So how do you get the most out of a critique? The first step is to make your manuscript as perfect as possible in the first place. This may seem counterintuitive. After all, you’re paying for a critique. But you really shouldn’t be wasting valuable critique time, correcting punctuation errors. A while back, a relative asked for help with a novel she was writing. I told her, “Fix this, this and this” (the items I’ll outline below), “and I’ll be happy to help you.” I think she got insulted, because she never gave me the manuscript. But really, I meant, "Hey, I think you're smart enough to fix this stuff on your own." I’m not a 9th grade English teacher. I assume she wants help on items like characterization and plot. For that to be the focus of my critique, the following items need to be perfect.
1. Format. If your manuscript is formatted improperly, I will start reading with the assumption that it is going to be bad. Maybe I can overlook a small deviation (font size), but if you don’t have your title on the manuscript, I know you haven’t put in the effort. I am pretty sure this is doubly true of editors and agents.
So -- font size? Twelve point Times New Roman. Double spaced, no extra line between paragraphs. This is important because Word automatically formats every document as a letter (single spaced with a break between paragraphs). You’re not writing a letter. Align left. Number the pages. Plain numbers are okay, but even better, number with your name, a partial name of your manuscript, and the page number. E.g, Flinn/Beheld 1
For the first chapter and each subsequent chapter, space about one-third of the way down the page. Center the title or chapter number. INCLUDE THE TITLE AND YOUR NAME. I realize this will take up valuable space from your ten pages you’re allowed to submit. First off, tough. It’s true. You’re really only getting to send nine and a half pages. Secondly, you’ve just saved a bunch of space by not spacing between the lines.
2. Spell everything correctly. Don’t just use spellcheck. Read your manuscript aloud because this is the best way to notice errors.
3. Make sure everything is in the same tense. I realize you switched from past to present or vice-versa, but make sure you got it. Again, reading your manuscript aloud is the best way to catch this.
4. Punctuate correctly. Commas matter. Here’s a worksheet my daughter’s journalism professor gave out about commas. The serial, or Oxford, comma is arguable. She is a journalist, and journalists typically don’t use them. However, most novelists I know do. You should read the rules, learn them, and decide what you want to do. See what I did there? I just had four sentences in a row with different comma usage rules applied. Commas are power!
5. Read that manuscript aloud one more time, and make sure you got rid of any remnants of abandoned ideas that will be confusing. Character used to be named Anna, but now, she’s Hannah? Take out all the Annas.
6. While you’re at it, make sure that the reader will have some vague idea where the story is going by the end of the ten pages.
7. Finally, bring a good attitude. I know you wanted a critique with an agent, and you got a writer instead. Or the agent doesn’t want to see your full manuscript. Or maybe the suggestions your critiquer is giving sound crazy. Maybe they even ARE. Maybe the critiquer didn’t read your manuscript carefully, and that’s why she isn’t getting what is completely obvious to you. But give it a good listen, and then think about it. Discuss the changes with someone else who has read your manuscript (”Hey, she had this crazy idea, but did you think . . . ?”). You don’t have to do everything your critiquer suggests, but if you have one or two good tips, it’s worth the price.
Hopefully, you are reading this and thinking it sounds really obvious. I think it is. But I’ve had manuscripts that included these “obvious” errors. I have one or two right now. When I meet with these people for their critiques, we’re going to spend a portion of their fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes they paid for, discussing commas, tense, and why they should include their title, stuff they could easily have learned by reading a book. I think it’s kind of a waste of their money. Don’t waste yours.
If you do all this, you aren't guaranteed of being discovered by an editor, agent, or friendly writer who will introduce you to hers. But you're a lot closer. And, if you don't do this stuff, you definitely WON'T.