Finding the right audience for your draft

There have been many discussions on how important it is to “know your audience” when writing your work. These discussions are typically about the final audience, the reader who will (hopefully) spend money on your book so they might have the finished product in their hands. And that is an important topic to go over, but recently I have been thinking how important it is to also know your audience when you share your draft copies of your work with people, be they critique partners, proofreaders, editors, writers groups or beta readers.

I have said before that finding a critique partner is like dating – trying to find the right person who is at a similar level in their writing and who has an understanding of what you want out of a critique. Same with finding a writers group. The same goes when looking for a proofreader/copy editor or editor for your work.

But it doesn’t stop there. I think that, as in any relationship, it’s a mistake to think that once you’ve found your proofreader/editor/critique partner/beta reader/writers group that they are it for life. That’s right. There is no such thing as monogamy amongst people who share critique. I’m saying it loud and saying it proud – critique sharing is an exercise in polygamy.

First, it takes work. You have to keep up your end of the bargain and do the writing, the revisions, the outlining, the plotting. And don’t think riffing off a first draft a half hour before group will get you good feedback. It will get you plenty of feedback, but you’ll be so new to your WIP that you won’t know where to place the feedback in the hierarchy of importance.

I remember reading an interview by an author (and of course I’ve forgotten who it is now) in Poets & Writers who said she never took a draft to her writers group unless it was at least the seventh or eighth revision. And her reason for this was that it took her that many drafts to understand what she was trying to say. If she took her work-in-progress (WIP) to her group too soon then the editorial voices of her critique partners would get stuck in her head and she’d get jammed in between where she thought she was going and where those voices were pulling her. That doesn’t mean she didn’t listen to the critique, just that by the time she shared her work she had a good idea of what she wanted it say and do. So if she got comments that seemed to steer her in another direction she had enough confidence to say, “that’s another idea to explore, but that is not my story. That is your story. I want to go this way with this story at this time.” Or to give them a little more importance and possibly consider them.

Next step. No assumptions. For example, when people ask for my services as a proofreader we go over several things such as formatting, what this piece is being used for and subject matter. Just because I am a proofreader doesn’t mean I’m the proofreader for your work. I have turned down work because I knew I was not a good match for it, either because I knew that I didn’t have the background and knowledge base to do the work well or because my spidey-senses were tingling and I knew communication would be off between me and the client. Sometimes I’ve taken work anyway because I knew enough that I could research further if I needed to to ensure technical and/or academic terms and phrases were being used correctly. Those clients needed to find the right “audience” in me, to make sure they’d found someone who could properly gauge if, for example, the vocabulary was what it should be.

But, if a client wanted to use my services for an historical romance, say Regency, then I may not be the best person for the job, unless I invested time and/or money in learning the speech patterns, grammar and syntax of speakers during the early 19th century. And even then Sure, we “dumb” things down a little bit for the modern ear, but it would still be my job to make sure what was there was correct and that I and the client could have an intelligent conversation about it if we had.
The same holds true for writing groups and critique partners. You don’t necessarily need to write in the exact same genre as people you share critique with, but you better be sure that they appreciate and/or enjoy the genre you write in and vice versa, and that you, or they, can converse intelligently in that genre. For example, splatter horror does nothing for me. And while I would be willing to read (and have read) such a story for someone I share critique with, there would be a resistance inside the entire time I was reading it. A little voice saying, “But I hate these kinds of stories!” would be influencing my critique. And who knows how much unconscious prejudice my writing partner(s) would have to filter through to get to the gist of what they could use of my comments. And I may even try to fight that prejudice, but it’s still going to be there, which means it’s still going to be an uphill slog for both the reader and the writer.

So, does this mean you need to find other proofreaders/critique partners altogether? No. It just means that you need to be aware of what it is you are sharing and who you are sharing it with. This is polygamy, remember? Not monogamy. Just because someone hires me to write a cover letter or personal essay or bio for them, doesn’t mean I am the correct person to handle their tech-heavy resume, for example. And while I could proofread/copy edit a users manual on say a drill, I would probably not be the best person for the job when it came to say specs for a race car engine.
And when it comes to sharing your drafts, this is even more important. You already know that people are going to critique your “baby” and find something wrong with it. You hope they’ll tell you it’s perfect, but you know that will not be the case. So, there will already be that. Ensuring that the person you’re giving your WIP to read already likes the genre is making sure that you’re not going to be fighting an uphill battle. Don’t give your high fantasy piece to a professor who specializes in contemporary American literature. You don’t need to change what you write just to please your reader, but find the right person to read it. Find someone who enjoys high fantasy. Don’t give your WIP romance novel to someone who thinks romance novels suck and are pure drivel. You’ll already be clutching your gut and you haven’t even gotten the notes back. Find someone who likes romance. Send your work to them.

Don’t send a story about zombies to someone who doesn’t appreciate zombies. It’s that simple.

They may not be your regular critique partner or part of your regular writers group (or editor or publication you normally work with, etc.), but that’s okay. This also means that you may not have anything to share with your regular critique partners sometimes either, if what you’re writing doesn’t match up with what they’re reading. But again, that’s okay. It’s not your job to change what you’re writing to suit your critique partner or writers group or even your proofreader. It’s your job to write the story or the dissertation or business brochure or whatever. The people you share that work with are simply giving you notes on ways they see things can be done better. Some of it you will agree with and some of it you won’t. And this process works better if they already like the type of work you are writing.

It’s either that or just always be disappointed. Always thinking you’re doing it wrong when actually, it’s just that what you wrote and what that person reads do not mesh. It’s like that quote by Einstein: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Trust yourself. Be the fish. Find the pond. Leave the tree climbing to the monkeys.

Recently I found a note from a friend of mine who passed away. She had written it after reading The Holly and the Ivan. She had read my poetry, Rae’s Bar & Bistro, and had liked it and wanted to support me. The note about The Holly and the Ivan read, “Well, Darling, it certainly isn’t my cup of tea – good writing tho a few redundancies – it’s surely meant for the Twilight crowd or under – But, bravo…” She wanted to like it, but she couldn’t it. It wasn’t her thing. The poetry was her thing.

It reminded me of the saying by Lin Chi: “When you meet a master swordsman, show him your sword. When you meet a man who is not a poet, do not show him your poem.”


Know your audience.

Are You Searching for Love (Writers Critique Groups) in All the Wrong Places?

Crossposted from Blogetary:

First off, I do not promise to be the end all/be all authority on writers critique and/or support groups. But I’ve been to a few and I was a vice president of a small neighborhood group for a few years. I’ve been on the look out for critique partners as well as writers support groups and workshop groups and been involved with ones that worked and ones that didn’t work for me. Recently, I’ve either read about the search and/or necessity for writers groups (or not) and as well as spoken with people who have been vastly disappointed about the experiences they had with turning to fellow writers for help and critique.

So, I’m going to say what I read somewhere else years ago that has put me in good stead in seeking (and finding) good writers critique/support partners/groups. Just relax and enjoy the search because it’s a lot like dating. Just like dating, you’ll run into egotistical and insufferable jerks, and just like dating, you’ll run into those nice people that you want things to work out with, but it just doesn’t ever quite work out for you. And then sometimes, just like dating, you actually run into someone, or maybe a few someones, who work out for you. Sometimes it works out just for the short term and other times in the long term, either way, the critique and help you get from these people is to be treasured. I wish I could remember what writer’s blog I found my help on, but these are some of the tips I remember from it and have found useful in looking for (and being in) a writers group or a critique partner.

Of course the first rule, above all else (and I do remember where this came from): Be kind, be kind, be kind. I remember reading that first rule at least 20 years ago in Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Being kind doesn’t mean being “soft” or not pointing out what needs to be worked on. It does mean making sure that you point out the positive as well as the negative aspects of a piece of work. And that when you do point out the negative aspects, it is in an objective and constructive manner. It is not a time to rip things to shreds, make anything personal or be mean. You’re trying to help this other writer become a better writer, not tear them down so bad they end up rocking back and forth in the bathtub for a week.

Critique Partners
1) Compare types of writing. Do you and your prospective critique partners write in similar genres and work in similar areas? You don’t have to, but it can help. Are you a romance writer and the person you’re going to trade manuscripts with a horror writer? It might work. If there are aspects of a specific manuscript that you think the horror writer can address, then at least for that one manuscript, it could be a good match. Or if you like reading horror and they like reading romance, then you’ll probably be fine. But if you don’t like horror and they don’t like romance, it probably won’t work. If you’re going to work with someone else over the rocky road to a hopefully publishable manuscript then you have to at least enjoy the type of writing they do. On the other hand, you don’t want to both be working on types of stories that are so similar that it fosters a competitive spirit that might get in the way of being an object reader of someone else’s manuscript. And it also helps if you’re both going to be working on the same types of writing (novels, short stories, scripts, screenplays, poetry, etc.)

2) Compare your WIPs (Works in Progress). I don’t mean in one of those “So, what have you got there?” ways. I mean take a good, honest objective look at your writing. And then when you look at their writing, take an equally, honest and objective look. If it feels like you are fairly equal when it comes to where you are in your writing level/ability/talent (I’m afraid whatever I say here will spark someone on a discussion on what all that means and I’m trying to bypass that), then proceed. Sometimes that’s hard to judge or we feel unfair when we make the judgment, but if you feel like things are not equal when it comes to where you are in your writing – then if you feel like they are leaps and bounds ahead of you ask for help. Ask them to look at your WIP and see what they say and then move on and find a more equitable partner. If it’s the other way around just remember the above and be kind, be kind, be kind. Offer constructive criticism. Look for the good. And move on to look for a more equitable partner.

3) What is it you want to get out this partnership? Do you want someone who will catch every single mistake you’ve made? Or are you looking for someone who will read and give you general feedback? Or something in between? Are you both going to the same place with your writing? Is it a hobby for one or both of you or serious business? Do you want to meet weekly? Biweekly? Monthly? Every couple of months? Everyone has a different schedule and a different goal, so it’s important with critique partners, just as in dating, that they understand where and what the other person wants and if it’s similar to what the other wants.

Writers Support Groups
1) What do you want out of going to a writers group? Sit down and figure it out. Do you want light support and camaraderie so you don’t feel so alone out there in the world while you’re trying to write? Do you want substantive critique? What is it you’re looking for? Write it down and keep a look out for groups that sound like what you are looking for. Are you looking for a free group, are you willing to pay dues or are you looking more for a “class” group, a workshop where you might end up paying more money?

2) What is the focus of the group? You’ve found a group. Great! Now, is the focus of the group in line with where you are with your writing? Sometimes a group is there just for support, to talk about the ups and downs of writing, share the victories and sorrows of attacking a book, and maybe share some of what each person has written. Sometimes most of the people in the group are hobbyists, they just pen the occasional verse or essay. Sometimes the focus of the group is pure workshop critique, down to business. Sometimes it’s in between. Nothing is right or wrong, but you have to decide what works for you and what you are looking for in a group (see above) and look for that. If you’re just getting into writing or back into writing after a long time away, maybe what you need is a pure support group to hear about other people’s journeys in the writing world. Maybe you want more of a workshop group. The point is, don’t complain about a group that doesn’t work for you. Look at what you gain from it. If what you gain outweighs what you don’t like about the group, then stick with it and get as much as can out of it until you find a group that is a better fit. (And remember this group is supposed to help you in your writing journey, so don’t use it as a reason to procrastinate.) If you are not gaining anything, then move on. The group doesn’t need you if you are going to pull them down with dissatisfaction and it’s not going to help you either to stick with a group that you don’t like being a part of anyway.

3) If you can’t find a group then put one together yourself. Yep, that’s right. Wrangle together your writer friends (you know who they are) and start your own group. Figure out what you want it to do and want it to accomplish, how often you’d like to meet, and start it up. Appoint a leader or two, but use consensus when making group decisions. I would suggest once a month at first, maybe on a Saturday or Sunday at a coffee shop or a home. Make it always the third Saturday or second Wednesday at a certain time. It might take a while for it get off the ground, but if enough people are like minded, then you’ll limp along long enough until you realize one day that your little group has been helping each other with their writing endeavors for a number of years and that you have probably accomplished more than you thought with your own writing along the way.
If you are a writer, then you know that this is something you are involved with for the long haul. You understand that writing is not just a way of gaining “passive income” through some fantabulous book deal. Those fantabulous book deals or self-published e-books that take off like wild fire are few and far between. So, if you know you are in this for the long haul, don’t try to do it all alone. There are other writers out there and it’s good that we find each other and help each other out. In the end, it will help us become better writers.

Last note - on the Blogetary blog a friend pointed out another thing to watch out for is that sometimes critique groups can become like high school cliques. And then all sorts of things can happen like picking on someone's work rather than being objective or trashing someone's work rather than being constructive.