Wow. July. The year’s already halfway gone. In June, school let out, I had to adjust to driving a different car because mine died, and I celebrated 17 years married to my husband. But this is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day, so I should probably talk about writing.
I’ve put a lot of focus into writing lately, and I have to say I’m a mess. I struggled with trying to enjoy my coworker’s story and after telling him the writing had to be much stronger for me to stay engaged, he nodded and agreed people have different tastes, and his writing isn’t for everyone. After that, I joined an online community called Critique Circle (CC) because I was left wondering if I even knew anything about writing or if I was just an arrogant schmuck. My goals were two part:
1. Assess the quality of my writing.
2. See if someone unfamiliar with my world and magic system could jump in and not be totally confused.
CC works on a credit system–you critique other people’s work to earn credits to post your own. They also encourage people to return critiques, tit-for-tat. Writing is broken down into genres and you can read the submission before you agree to critique it, which I found quite appealing.
I got a positive response to my prologue, but it seems my chapter 1 falls on the boring side. *sigh* I’ve got ideas to fix it, but it made me think of my first book and the tension problems I know exist. As a result, I cracked open Thanmir War and winced at what I found. It needs a complete rewrite, addressing subplot problems, as well as the telling and other issues. But I really need to focus on book 2 right now. As I dive into my early chapters with CC, while sprucing up my later chapters for my local critique group, I’ve let actual writing fall by the wayside, thus leaving me a disorganized mess. Not great when I had hoped to finish writing book 2 this year.
IWSG Question of the Month – Where do [your story ideas] predominantly come from?
Long time ago, at the tender age of 13, I was enamored with a show called Sailor Moon (so much so that I sewed my own sailor skirts and wore them to school every day in 8th grade). My favorite characters were the intelligent Ami and the passionate Rei. They wielded water and fire respectively. Plus there was that stud muffin, Darian (at least that was his name in the version I watched), and a talking cat named Luna. That’s where it all began. Eventually, I ended up with elementals instead of Sailor Soldiers, transforming animals that could speak, and my own D-named character of Derek who was supposed to be just as swoon worthy (except really he’s not).
The Cera Chronicles also stem from a TV Show–Sliders, my high school obsession. The idea that the same cast could wind up in a brand new setting, facing the strangest of situations… that’s just plain fun. And since I was already crossing worlds with Derek, it wasn’t a stretch to do it with his daughter.
Oh, another fun fact: Cera’s name comes from Land Before Time… Cera the Triceratops.
Today’s ideas come less from TV shows and more from interacting with others. I misread a friend’s line and it spawned a piece of flash fiction. I tried to convey to someone how to show vs tell and ended up with a short story (with no plot, though). Talking with a critique group member triggered Just a Matter of Time. I never know what might pop a story into my head. 🙂
What tends to trigger your ideas? Have you ever joined Critique Circle? Do you ever get derailed because of critiques?
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
Totally derailed by critique, scare easily, and instead, join my husband for adventures in retro-engineering archaeology . Holding tapes while he does his mental CGI from scattered stones, I
can at least make myself useful. Wind and rain mysteriously essential to this process.
Last week, though, I got back to one apparently daunting woman – discovered she’s trying indie too. Intend to read and review her book.
Sorry you need to rewrite that first book. I wouldn’t even want to read my first published book as I’m sure there are a ton of mistakes in it or just issues I’d want to fix.
Sorry you need to rewrite your first book. I worked on mine for about 10 years, and I’d have to rewrite mine now too. I’m a better writer now, so I could do it. I bet you can too.
I love that you misreading a line led to a flash fiction piece! Story ideas really do come from anywhere and everywhere. 🙂
Re-writing a book is challenging. I’ve had to do it a couple of times, and I’m sure I’ll have to do it again.
I understand your pain all too well, and I wish I knew of a way out of it… for both of us. But as long as the ideas are there, I think you’ll be okay. Busy, tired, stressed… but eventually okay, And a better writer to boot
I watched both Sailor Moon and Sliders. My son loved the moons, and I loved the sliders. Funny that.
I’ve found https://savvyauthors.com/ and they match you up with crit partners. Warning though they keep matching up with young adult when I’m looking for a middle grade crit—so not perfect. Best part is I’ve met several excellent writers. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Hi,
Critique Circle is a good group of people. I’ve used them sometimes myself.
Wishing you the best with revising or rewriting your story.
Shalom shalom
Critique Circle sounds interesting. I like the idea of the credit system. I’m not sure I’ve ever been *derailed* by a critique, but there are definitely times when they’ve made me stop and think deep, deep thoughts while I puzzle out my next steps. Does that count? Is that a derailment?
My fantasy series came out of my childhood love of Robin Hood and King Arthur stories, as well as all the 80’s fantasy movies. I wanted to write my own version. My romance novel came out of me saying, “I wonder if I can write a romance novel.”
I used to belong to something similar to Critique Circle, but it’s been so long, I don’t even remember what it was called.
Land Before Time – yup, yup, yup!
It’s a tough feeling when you know you have to rewrite something. But ultimately the story will be better for it.
Critique Circle sounds interesting. I always feel like I have such a hard time critiquing other people’s work, though.
My critique partner quit writing to focus on her career, so I had to look elsewhere for partners. I ended up started a private FB group. Fingers cross it works.
Sometimes TV sparks ideas for me, but mostly ideas come from thinking up punny titles for my cozy mysteries.
I’m Gwen, co-host for IWSG https://gwengardner.blogspot.com/
Anything can trigger ideas for me, and I’ve had dreams become stories. It’s just a matter of if I’m smart enough to write the idea down before I forget.
Happy Anniversary!
That’s cool that your inspiration for your characters came from a TV show.
Good luck with the new critique group!
I remember Sailor Moon. All those mini-skirts …
I’m wary of critique groups, online or personal. In most cases, people don’t really critique your story. Instead they tell you what they would do if they wrote that story themselves, their own vision, so to speak. Only rare readers manage to give you sound advice, something to improve your story. I’m always careful, on the occasions I ask for a critique, to apply only those suggestions that pertain to my story as I see it. Otherwise, my story could become a tangle of several different visions, none of them mine.
There are those people who comment more on style rather than content, and that’s annoying. But I’ve learned I have a problem where I can’t tell if I have too much exposition or if a character is underreacting. I need someone other than me to clue me in, and that’s where I find critique partners most valuable.
I had not heard of Critique Circle, but it sounds like something I should try out (if I ever get back to writing). Of course you know what you’re talking about. “My writing isn’t for everybody” is just code for “I’m still a beginner and I think I know everything”. It’s probably part of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Editing is part of writing. Good luck with your fixes.
I haven’t been on Critique Circle for years. I found it okay if I wanted a critique on the first few chapters or a short story, but getting feedback on anything beyond that was definitely harder.
Yeah, I figure I won’t get past chapter 4 on there, if I get that far.
I would have given anything for a Sailor Moon outfit when I was young. Alas, I grew up in the Midwest, so there weren’t many anime products in stores. I related to your post today. I had a big ol’ crush on Darien, and I too feel the urge to revisit my first book (while I should be finishing book 3).
OMGoodness! I love where Cera’s name comes from! That is my favorite dinosaur. You have me interested in Critique Circle! I will take a look at it this weekend. Even if it only gets a couple chapter in, that can be really useful.
If you join Critique Circle, look me up. 🙂 I’m Risu (Japanese for Squirrel).
You’ve got more focus than I’ve got. Good for you.
TV shows and movies often influence the way I think and write, but usually don’t inspire my story ideas that much. I’m sure Twilight Zone has been a major influence on my approach to storytelling.
Lee