Month: January 2016

How Do I Know Who to Listen To?

/ kellyfbarr / 2 Comments

Have you ever shared the same piece of your writing with more than one critique group?  If so, what happened?

I shared the first chapter of my last manuscript with three different critique groups, and this was after sharing with a one-on-one consult with a writer/marketing person.  I changed the first chapter three times.

I also became frustrated because I didn’t know if making all those changes was really necessary.  Who were the right people or voices to listen to?  That’s what I asked the head of the local writers’ group that I am a part of, and this is what she told me.  “If the advice sounds like an opinion, ignore it.  This happens when the person reading the piece isn’t a fan of your particular genre or writing style.

If the advice is specific and the advice or changes make sense, and more than one person is offering that same advice, take it into consideration.  Those are probably the people who are really interested in what you are writing and want to help you improve it.”

This has been helpful, valuable advice, and has taken the frustration out of critique groups for me.

Maybe you haven’t shared the same piece of writing with multiple critique groups, but I like to get a lot of input and feedback on my writing because I want a lot of readers to want to read it when it is completed.

What do you think?  How much input and feedback do you seek for your writing?

The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

I received a free eBook copy of this book to write a review for BookLook Blogger.

This is the first story I have ever read by Melanie Dickerson.  I have never been familiar with the story of Rapunzel, so I do not know if Ms. Dickerson’s story is too much like the original or not.  What I do know is that Ms. Dickerson captured my attention and held it throughout the book.  She created rich, deep characters.  Good characters that I fell in love with and cheered for, and bad characters that I wanted to see get their comeuppance.

Ms. Dickerson’s descriptions were brief but clear.  I could easily picture both characters and places in my head.  The story takes place in Medieval times complete with knights and castles.  I’ve always enjoyed romance stories from Medieval times, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story by Melanie Dickerson.

The fact that the story is a spin off of a fairy tale was intriguing to me.  I have only read one other such story by a different author.  I really liked that though Ms. Dickerson’s story ended happily, it was not presented as “happily ever after”.  That’s the one thing about fairy tales and Disney that I find quite frustrating, because when you grow up with those stories, you expect to find and experience that kind of romance and love, which is not true to life.  True to life love/marriage requires a lot of work and give and take, communication and understanding on the part of both people involved.  Therefore, I loved that Ms. Dickerson hinted that not every day would be “happily ever after” because of the personality differences of the characters and their past hurts.  Thank you, Ms. Dickerson for that.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a fairy tale type story that’s a  bit more realistic, and to anyone who loves historical fiction novels, Medieval times, knights and castles, and romance stories, or anyone who just wants to read a good book.

A New Story

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

Some of you may be disappointed to learn that I will not be looking for Beta readers for my completed manuscript nor will I be posting teasers here about it.  Why, you may ask?

Honestly, there are several reasons:

  1.  When I began writing this story, I wasn’t sure it was what I really wanted to write.  I wrote it because I had the idea and I liked my main characters.
  2. I was never really excited about writing this story.
  3. When I was almost finished with the story, I rushed to the end because I thought I wanted to submit it to a contest, but then I missed the deadline.  Then the holidays came and I was too busy to write or worry about that manuscript that I had completed, but wasn’t happy about completing.
  4. After letting the manuscript rest for a month, I went back and did a read through.  I found my timeline was a mess, there were holes and the ending was rushed and I didn’t like it because it wasn’t the ending I had originally planned because I had rushed it.
  5. I had given it to my closest writing friends for them to read and give me feedback.  I have only received feedback from one so far, and she pointed out that I misinterpreted a key piece of information to my story.

So, what am I going to do with this sad manuscript whose characters I still love?  I will finish going through my one friend’s edits and will also go over the feedback I may still receive from a few other friends, but for now I am content to chalk this manuscript up to what it is — my first completed manuscript since I was a teenager, a manuscript that will one day require a lot more hard work and time to make it something I will be happy with.

Why won’t I do that now?  Because while I was writing that story, I had a story inside me bursting to come out with characters who wouldn’t leave me alone, constantly wanting to know when I would begin working on their story.  This is a story I am excited about!  I already have other stories that can become a series from this story!  It is a different genre than the one I completed at the end of November, a genre that I think I will enjoy much more.

I have learned much by writing a complete manuscript, letting it rest and going back for a read through, as well as having someone edit it.  I have learned what NOT to do with this next manuscript, as well as some things to do that I didn’t do with the first one.

I began writing this new story last night after completing quite a bit of research.  I still have a bit of planning to do for my characters, but that won’t take too long.  I also have a pretty good plot outline to work from, and I am excited and I LOVE these characters and this story already!

What about you?  Have you ever finished a story and then decided you didn’t really like it enough to improve it and try to get it published?  Have you completed a story you like better and want to get in the hands of your fans?

The Controversy Regarding Book Reviews

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

I thought it would be appropriate to follow my post about editors with a post about Book Reviews because I recently found out that a friend of mine, who writes, claims to only read for “entertainment”, and so doesn’t say anything about the writing of a book in a review.  This caused me to challenge the honesty of this friend’s reviews, and reviews are called into question in regard to their honesty over and over again.

After all, Amazon recently adopted new rules in regard to writing book reviews for them, some of which seem out of line like the one I recently read about and signed a petition against that says that if you are friends with a writer/author on Facebook or Twitter, they will not post your reviews of those writer/authors’ books.

Why do I think this rule is out of line?  Because as a writer, I have been taught the importance of networking as well as the fact that many successful writers are willing to give advice to up-and-coming and wannabe writers, so these newbies seek to connect with them.  I am connected to many people on Facebook, Twitter and even here on this blog that are writers/authors, that I have never met face-to-face and do not know personally.  Therefore, to say that I cannot post a book review of their work is ridiculous.

Why is Amazon putting such ridiculous rules regarding Book Reviews in place?  Because of the many dishonest people who write raving 5-star Book Reviews for family members, close friends, or even, (and yes, sadly, this does happen), a writer/author who will pay them or give them some kind of reward for writing a positive Book Review.  I understand why Amazon would want to stop these types of reviews.  However, to assume that everyone falls into one of these categories just because they are connected to the writer/author through social media is wrong.

When my friend told me about her Book Reviews, I asked her why she doesn’t give an honest review mentioning the writing (because she said she doesn’t write anything about the writing in the review.  She simply focuses on the story line)?  Her response was she doesn’t want to seem harsh or hurt the writer’s feelings, to which I responded that it is quite possible to write an honest review without being harsh.  I told her I do it all the time.

Yes, as you know, if you visit here often, I write quite a few Book Reviews and not everything I say is in praise of the book.  If I think the writer needs to work on something, I say so.  If I don’t really like the story, I say so.  However, I always do it in the kindest words I can think of, and even if I struggle to find something positive to say, (which is rare, but did happen when I reviewed A Fine Piece of Chocolate), I find something to say to encourage the writer because as a writer myself, I hope that when I finally have something out there for review, that the reviewers will be kind and encouraging, but completely honest.  After all, I have been told by many writers who already reached a level of success, that to be a writer, you need to develop a “thick” skin, not only because of the many rejection slips you may receive, but also because of the many negative Book Reviews some people may write.

What do you think?  Do you write any Book Reviews?  Are your Book Reviews honest and do you review both the story line and the writing?