Learning to Crave Criticism

By Elaine Creasman
2010 FCWC staff member

“I’ll never show anything to that editor again,” I vowed after reading his critique at one of the first writers’ conferences I attended: “This article is preachy and negative.”

For months I stewed. Then a gentle whisper came: “What that editor said is true.”

I looked objectively at the article and prayed for God’s help. Back at the same conference two years later, I gave the same editor a piece on the same subject–grief. He bought my article on the spot and many more in years to come.

In my 23 years of leading a critique group and over ten years of being on staff and helping with manuscripts at the Florida Christian Writers Conference, I’ve met many writers who become defensive or crushed when someone critiques their work. Here are tips to help you move from hating and resisting criticism to craving and benefitting from it.

SEE CRITICISM AS A GOOD THING.

“I haven’t written in two years,” admitted a friend. “I brought a poem to a writers’ conference, and an editor wrote a two-page critique. I was devastated.”

Having become more mature when it came to criticism, my first thought was, “Wow! That experienced writer and editor wrote a critique that long? It must be a great poem.”

I read the excellent poem and what the editor wrote, then explained why a two-page critique from this editor was a good thing. She returned to writing and has had many pieces published since.

SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR WRITING.

A piece of writing can seem like your baby. None of us likes having our child criticized.

I’ve learned to view what I write as a gift from God, just as Scripture tells me my children are a gift from Him. (See Psalm 127:3 TLB) And just as I’ve released my children to God repeatedly, I’ve learned to release my writing. Lately I’ve thought: what I write doesn’t come from me, but through me.

AVOID SEEING CRITIQUERS AS ENEMIES.

My earlier delusion was that editors delight in rejecting writers and telling them what’s wrong with their writing.” The truth is most find great joy in helping writers succeed. Editors and fellow writers who critique my manuscripts are like personal trainers who assist clients in working on “trouble spots.”

People willing to honestly critique what I write are my allies. A quote by Abraham Lincoln opened my eyes to that: “He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help.”

PRAY FOR A TEACHABLE HEART.

A teachable heart is a key to writing success. Those willing to learn are also eager to improve. And editors–like teachers–enjoy working with eager learners.

Proverbs 19:20 reminds me to maintain a teachable heart and be open to criticism. “Hear counsel, receive instruction, accept correction, that you may be wise...” (AMP)

SEE WRITING AS COLLABORATION.

All writing is a collaborative effort. Many people contribute--the pastor who sparked the idea and authors I quote in my pieces. Then there are members of my critique group, friends who help with final edits, and editors who give excellent suggestions for rewrites. When I see writing as collaboration, I don’t have an “all mine” attitude, and I welcome input from others.

Criticism in the form of honest critiques has helped make me a better writer and to sell what I’ve written. I thank God for those who have the courage and honesty to offer it. Yes, it can sometimes hurt, but if taken the right way, as a friend put it: “It hurts real good.”

Elaine Creasman has written for over 30 Christian publications and local newspapers. She has contributed to numerous gift books and writes greeting card verses. She has led the Suncoast Christian Writers Group since 1986 and lives in Largo, Florida with her husband, daughter, and granddaughter. She also works part-time as a mental health tech. Visit www.elainecreasman.com.

Why You Should Attend a Christian Writers’ Conference

By Jeff Gerke
2010 FCWC faculty member

You should go to a Christian writers’ conference. They're wonderful. Where else can you find hundreds of other weird people like yourself? [grins innocently]

Seriously, writers’ conferences are great places to meet like-minded people who want to write and who love the Lord. You can laugh and weep with these folks because they understand you like perhaps few other people in your life do.

Conferences are places to attend seminars by experts in the field you're trying to break into: acquisitions editors, accomplished writers, influential agents.

Sometimes, depending on the conference, you can even catch VPs of publishing, sought-after speakers, and that holy grail of Christian writing: famous authors. I've had the pleasure of rubbing elbows with the likes of Frank Peretti and Jerry Jenkins at some of these conferences.

It's a tremendous place to network too. Sometimes "who you know" really can help you out. If you meet an agent and you two hit it off, who knows but that a beautiful professional relationship might just be born. If you meet an aspiring author like yourself and you critique each other's work, who knows what might happen if that author gets published and is willing to put in a good word for you with her editor?

Best of all, Christian writers’ conferences are the only place I know of where you can pitch your book idea directly to the acquisitions editors at major publishing houses, even if you don't have an agent. Almost every CBA house is closed now to unagented authors. The Christian writers’ conference is your way to bypass that restriction and get right to the person who can get you in the publishing door.

The classes and seminars and panels you can attend at these are often worth the price of admission unto themselves.

• Imagine learning plotting from James Scott Bell, Writer's Digest author and Christian novelist.
• Imagine learning how to market yourself from Rebecca Seitz, a professional publicist who works with all the major Christian houses.
• Imagine learning suspense from master storyteller Angela Hunt.

Writers’ conferences afford you opportunities you'll not get anywhere else.

And did I mention the wonderful people you'll meet?

Some of these conferences (like the Florida Christian Writers' Conference) are held at beautiful retreat locations too, giving you the chance to get into the mountains or the forest or the beach when you're not in class.

But you might be having too much fun yukking it up with your new lifelong friends--or pitching to editors--to do much sightseeing.

After you attend one Christian writers’ conference you will be hooked. You'll think, "That's the best thing I've ever done for my writing career." And you'll be back next year.

Attend a Christian writers’ conference. You won't be sorry.

Jeff Gerke has been called the de facto gatekeeper of Christian speculative fiction. After writing his own speculative fiction and spearheading the launch of a fiction imprint dedicated to Christian speculative fiction at a major Christian publishing company, Jeff branched out on his own to launch Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction.

How to Make Your Characters Breathe

By Lee Emory
2010 FCWC faculty member

I will be teaching two workshops at the 2010 FCWC:

Connecting to Your Characters

Learn to make your characters stand up on the page and breathe. Following my suggestions you will learn to create a real person on paper BEFORE you begin writing your story. This will be a character/s with traits you can relate to or it won’t work with your readers and you will not believe in them either.

Using History to Create Stories Today

You can take any era of history and tailor it into a contemporary story. We’ll discuss some examples in class and have fun with it. If there’s still time, I’ll give you a dose of my talk on “Solid Writing versus Chopped Liver.” Warning, this talk may contain common sense. Anybody remember what that is?

What’s sparks your interest? Florida history? Biblical history? Victorian Era history? Western history? Napoleonic history? Medieval history? U.S. history? Roman history? The list is almost endless, as are the stories we can create from that list.

How to prepare for Appointments with Lee

• Bring yourself. (Don’t be a no-show if you’ve signed up.)
• Be yourself.
• Bring copy of your first chapter page hook (one page only).
• Do not ask Lee to take home your proposal or manuscript.
• Learn to state the premise of your story in less than 50 words.**See below for a tip from Robin Perini regarding the story question. This helps you pin down your story premise briefly and concisely.
• Do not ramble and keep to the subject of your manuscript.
• Answer her questions as clearly and concisely as you can.
• Don’t be afraid to ask her questions.
• Stop shaking. Lee is human.

**The Story Question (by Robin Perini):

(Your Protagonist)____________MUST_____________( Critical Plot Goal) BY ______________(Conflict with the Antagonist) ONLY TO REALIZE__________________(What the character learns about life that helps him change his goal during the journey of the book).

Here is the example:

Jacob Marshall must avenge his father's honor by implicating Serena Jones' father, only to realize revenge often hurts the innocent.

About Lee Emory

“I’m definitely a morning person. Call me jack of all trades, master of them all. Uh-huh, sure I am.” Lee likes to write a variety of genres, fiction and non-fiction. Her books and articles have been published in numerous magazines and publishing companies.

In her publishing company established in 2001, she decides within 90 days whether or not to accept a manuscript for publication. She assigns manuscripts to her reading staff and editor, analyzes the reports, creates the physical book layout and design, plus critical last edit/corrections of the book before it goes to print; she designs most of the book covers, fills book orders, sends invoices, packs and ships the books to customers, designs booksigning table posters and magazine ads if the author decides to do them.

Don’t forget she does the royalty statements, writes the checks and envelopes and year end tax prep, while she slowly tears her hair out by the roots. Oh, yes, answers hundreds of e-mails and phone calls. She travels, speaks, and presents workshops across the country from her home in Arizona. There’s even more, but after paying the bills enough is enough.

Visit Treble Heart Books

Squidoo pages:

• http://www.squidoo.com/trebleheartbooks
• http://www.squidoo.com/christianinspirational
• http://www.squidoo.com/mvchristianlife

In Writing Critique Groups, Trust Nobody

By Ken Kuhlken
Fiction Mentoring Track instructor

Everybody who reads your work is liable to respond differently. Even in a group of smart, knowledgeable writers or editors, you might get responses ranging from abject boredom to wild acclaim.

The graduate school I attended is famous, so good writers apply. I went there expecting that most every participant in the workshops would give me wise insights. Most of them didn’t.

But I didn’t need the comments of 15 people. From the critiques of two or three with whom I felt some accord, I learned plenty.

Everybody brings his background to his reading. When a reader appreciates my work, I know it could mean he relates for his own reasons. Or he may dismiss my story in reaction to something personal, such as a hurt he suffered or a bias with which he has armed himself. A person who grew up with alcoholic parents may bond with a story about a boozer or recoil from it.

Suppose several readers point to some problem. Odds are good your story has failed to communicate the way you’d like it to. But that doesn’t mean the readers’ suggestions for fixing the problem are correct. They’re worth considering, but not necessarily the best way to solve the problem.

When critiquing an early draft of a novel by Kevin McIlvoy, I noted that a certain section dragged. I suggested cutting some details to speed it up. Kevin later told me he’d solved the problem by adding to the section, using more details that made it more gripping.

Your task is to listen to critiques with your mind open, then ponder each comment as much as it deserves, all before you decide whether to revise. And if you decide to revise, consider suggestions, but also look for alternative ways. Suggestions can come from other people, but revisions have to come from you.

Ken Kuhlken’s novels have been honored as finalist for the Ernest Hemingway Award for best first novel, won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin’s Press Best First Novel competition, and been chosen as a finalist for the Shamus Best Novel Award.

His Tom Hickey California Century novels are: The Loud Adios (1943), The Venus Deal (1942), The Angel Gang (1949), The Do-Re-Mi (1971), The Vagabond Virgins (1979), and coming in May 2010, The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles (1926).

At the Florida Christian Writers Conference, he leads a group in the fiction mentoring track.

Visit Ken at www.kenkuhlken.net and http://writingandthespirit.blogspot.com

30 Reasons to Attend the Florida Christian Writers' Conference (Video)

Thinking about attending the 2010 FCWC but not sure what to expect?

Watch our brand new video (2:26 minutes) -- you'll get an up-close-and-personal overview of everything from the gorgeous conference facilities to conferees dressed up as tacky tourists to our keynote speakers and faculty.



Hope you enjoyed the video. Please share it on your own social networks.

Here's the YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ngeu0mMq4U

A huge thank-you to the following people for contributing to this video:

• Karen Whiting - producer
• Carmen Leal and friend - music
• Leann Weiss-Rupard - most of the photos
• Jeanne Gowan Dennis - Jerry Jenkins photo
  
• Sarah V. Tinsley - Sunrise photo

The Path to Publishing Success

By Ava Pennington
Guest Columnist

I dreamed of writing for years, but never considered publication a realistic goal. Writing took a back seat while I worked in New York City. When a co-worker published her first novel, it validated her effort to follow her dream, and it gave me hope for my dream, too.

When we moved to Florida, I put pen to paper and fingers to keyboard. My passion is teaching, so I first completed an inspirational non-fiction book. Rejections from several publishers were tempered with comments that although I had a fresh writing style, the content had already been addressed by more well-known names. I was crushed that my first manuscript did not enjoy the same overnight acceptance my friend’s did.

Then I submitted a story to Chicken Soup for the Soul, and eagerly waited. A year later I learned they received over 5,000 submissions. I’m happy to say my story was selected.

This writing business seemed easier than I first thought. My friend was published on her first try. My first anthology submission was published. Surely an agent or editor would soon recognize the quality of my writing and offer me a book contract.

After I finished patting myself on the back, I continued to submit my book to agents and publishers. No takers. I also continued to submit short stories to anthologies. Still no takers.

I finished my second book, a novel, but no one was interested in that one, either. In fact, no one was interested in my work for the next three years. I kept plugging away. I joined a writers’ critique group. I had much to learn about writing and publishing!

Then I attended my first writers’ conference, The Florida Christian Writers Conference, in 2006.

Several speakers suggested the participants think “outside the box.” They encouraged us to develop our skills and our platform by writing articles for periodicals. I showed a chapter of my non-fiction manuscript to one editor of a monthly magazine. Based on that sample, he gave me a freelance assignment for one article.

That article led to several more, and in the past three years they published five articles. A meeting with another editor at the conference also resulted in an article published by his magazine.

I attended the FCWC again in 2007. There I met with additional magazine editors, and subsequently published more articles. In 2008, I met the editor of a monthly devotional, and have now published a month of devotionals through her organization.

Since 2006, I have been published in sixteen anthologies, including twelve different Chicken Soup for the Soul books and three Cup of Comfort books. Additionally, I have published (or am contracted to publish) more than thirty magazine articles with more submissions in the pipeline.

But here’s the best news of all:

In 2009, I attended FCWC and pitched a one-year devotional guide which will be published by Baker-Revell, to be released in 2010!

Another writer and I also pitched a children’s book series at the same conference. The proposal has since passed Committee with another publisher and we are awaiting word on a contract.

I’ve learned that overnight successes in publishing are rare. For me, the path to success consists of a series of small steps: membership in writers’ groups, attendance at writers’ conferences, writing magazine articles and short stories, co-authoring a children’s book, and finally, authoring my own book. In the process, I’m becoming a better writer.

Ava Pennington
www.avawrites.com

Publisher Considering Novel from Writer of the Year

The first twenty pages of Johnnie Alexander Donley's novel, tentatively titled Twirl, won two awards at the 2009 Florida Christian Writers Conference: Novel of the Year (tie) and Writer of the Year. Winning the awards gave her the courage to include the first two pages with her thank you note to an editor who wasn't that impressed with a different fiction project that he had critiqued.

"I didn't expect a reply so when an email from him popped up in my inbox, I momentarily forgot how to breathe," says Johnnie.

He requested a proposal and additional chapters. A few weeks later, he asked for the completed manuscript.

"I spent the summer writing, rewriting, and revising to meet the September 30th deadline. Now the novel is in his hands and I'm trying not to think about it too much. This opportunity only came about because of the Florida Christian Writers Conference and I'm so grateful for it."

Through the writing process, Johnnie learned significant lessons about creativity, expressing her chosen theme, trusting her characters, and resolving what she calls sticky-wicket plot knots. She shares her Novice Novelist Novel Notes at www.johnniedonley.com.

Johnnie will be attending her fourth FCWC in 2010. She says that the conference isn't just a great opportunity to meet editors and agents, it's a chance to network with other writers.

Johnnie is a Kindred Heart Writer, one of five women who met at the 2007 FCWC and joined together to form an online writing group. The FCWC is their reunion time. They post about writing and their experiences at www.kindredheartwriters.com.

Blogs from Our Conferees

Here are links to blog posts written by conferees... enjoy!

Conference Plans, by Shirley Corder

Follow along as Shirley prepares for the Florida Christian Writers' Conference 2010. Read articles on how to prepare for the conference of a lifetime, plus the story of a trans-Atlantic trip to get there. From Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Leesburg, USA. Nine articles and counting...

Imagine, by Beth Willis Miller

Terrific strategies for learning to think creatively by using our imagination, including examples applicable to both children and adults.

Kindred Heart Writers

This on-line writing group met and organized at the Florida Christian Writers' conference. Every Monday and Thursday, they post articles about writing. As the conference draws near, they will write more posts about preparing for it. They even have a Conference Countdown Clock on their blog!

No Whiners, Please

Kathy Helgemo expected whining. But after attending the Women of Faith Conference in Tampa, Florida, she shares the pleasant surprise of finding inspired music and spiritual food in the midst of thousands of women.

Do you blog about writing? Do you plan to attend the 2010 conference? We'd love to feature links to some of your best articles. Please check out Calling All Bloggers for instructions on how to submit your link.

Calling All Bloggers!

Do you blog about writing? Will you be attending the 2010 conference?

If so, we'd love to feature links to some of your best articles geared to help your fellow writers.

Just e-mail me (Laura Christianson, blog manager) the following:

• title of your post
• link URL to the published post
• your byline and blog name
• 1-sentence description of your article's topic

Here are two samples from my blog, so you can see the format:

The Three Best, All-Time Tips for Increasing Your Blog’s Readership
http://www.bloggingbistro.com/the-three-best-all-time-tips-for-increasing-your-blog-readership/

• Want more traffic to your blog? You have to do only three things -- and do them well -- to pump up your blog’s readership (by Laura Christianson, Blogging Bistro).

7 Pros and Cons of Group Blogging
http://www.bloggingbistro.com/7-pros-and-cons-of-group-blogging/

• If you're considering starting or joining a multi-author blog, consider these 7 plusses and minuses first (by Laura Christianson, Blogging Bistro).

Visit Our New FCWC Facebook Page

Last week we joined Twitter, the micro-blogging service that's taking cyberspace by storm.

This week, we launched our Florida Christian Writers Conference Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/FloridaChristianWritersConference

You could say we've gone bonkers over social media.

Why?

Because we want you get pumped up for the 2010 FCWC via the social media channel that appeals to you most.

If Facebook is your social hub, you can engage in conversation with conferees and faculty, browse the blogs of many Christian writers, ask questions about the conference, and do all the other stuff people normally do on Facebook.

We've also joined Facebook's NetworkedBlogs; if you prefer to read our blog from your Facebook account, here's what to do:

1. In this blog's righthand sidebar, scroll down until you see the "NetworkedBlogs" box.
2. Click "Follow This Blog"

If Twitter is more your style, you'll find links to our blog posts, quick conference updates, and other entertaining tidbits from the writing world.

If you'd rather stick to reading our blog posts, you can get the latest posts delivered to your Inbox, or read them from your favorite RSS feed reader (see the top of the righthand sidebar to get set up). Or just come right here to the site.

Feel free to reprint this post, or links to the FCWC Twitter, Facebook, and blog on your own social media sites.

Florida Christian Writers Conference on Facebook