critique partner Archives | A.S. Akkalon

The value of fresh eyes on your draft

Recently I’ve had a lot of fresh eyes on my first chapter, and I was amazed at what my readers picked up on. Here’s why fresh eyes are so valuable.

This evening I finished the tenth draft of my WIP. It’s been a long time coming and the story still has a way to go, but it’s definite progress.

I have a story that runs from a beginning, stumbles through a middle, and finally reaches an end.* The number of characters who magically appear or vanish without a trace can now be counted on one hand, and I’m pretty sure no one who dies is suddenly walking around later on.

* Okay, this was also true of draft six (or was it seven?), but the plot works better this time.

The avian part of my world is still populated solely by owls, sparrows, and the occasional hawk, though.

What now? I hear you ask.

This is not a blog post

A few days ago I blogged that I was looking for a critique partner. The response from you lovely people was humbling and gratifying. I’m currently talking with several people, any of whom I’d be thrilled to CP with.

The upshot is that I have a first chapter to comment on tonight, so I won’t write a full post.

If you missed my last post and might be interested in being CPs with me, please get in touch. I’m not going to rush into any decisions.

Seeking a critique partner

I’m looking for a fellow writer who loves fantasy and is interested in building a long term critique partner relationship. I promise I can be helpful. If you might be interested, please read on and get in touch.

The title says it all. I’m looking for a critique partner (CP) for my writing. I think.

Okay, I’m 95% sure I’m looking for a CP. If you think that might be you, read on.

Excitement and dealing with feedback

My awesome critique partner gave me a pile of suggestions for how I might shorten my manuscript. Here’s my plan for dealing with them.

If you get my monthly digest, you might know that I recently finished the fifth draft of my work in progress (WIP) and enlisted the help of my wonderful critique partner, Anna Kaling, to figure out how to cut 40k words.

Anna got back to me at 3am this morning, and all I could do before work was read her email in a whirlwind of excitement. (Don’t you hate it when real life gets in the way of writing?)

She had some very encouraging things to say, and she suggested some characters and plot threads that she found less than essential to the story.

I was thrilled by her reaction. Then her suggested excisions sank in.

But everything needs to be there!

Continue reading “Excitement and dealing with feedback”