Monthly Archives: March 2009

I’ve got my manuscript in front of eyes I trust.  While the responses won’t be universal, the common areas will be my main focus during the next rewrite.  Where opinions meet over story points, pacing, word selection, or missed opportunities beg for a thorough review.  After that, it’s a smorgasbord.  As writers, we interject our own into a story.  From the New York Times Bestseller to something etched in the paint of a bathroom stall, we’re here to tweak.  Word changes, sentence restructuring, character development, we see it all.  Ask three writers their opinion and you get . . . …

My manuscript is complete and with three-sixths of the people I have asked to read it.  I want them to be ruthless, but a side of me wants to hear only ringing praise.  All right, I need them to be ruthless. My wonderful husband is officially my first-reader.  Neither one of us presumed this role, but it naturally came to be.   The first piece of writing I let him read left him confused.  (Well, what did he know?)  When I showed it to my critique group later that night, I heard my husband’s opinion echoed.  So even though he may …