Feb ‘07 – My website/SCBWI

It’s Feb 27th. Very late. To be honest, it’s the 28th. I’m putting some finishing touches on my website. I’ve contacted some authors and editors about interviews. I hope to conduct some email interviews and have them published here soon. Making a site isn’t so easy.

I went to my local SCBWI meeting last Saturday. It was great. Was told the pb I read should be a chapter in an easy reader. I’ve never done an easy reader, but I’ll do some research. Was encouraged by the critique group to also consider sending it to a magazine. That piqued my interest in writing for mags. I’ve never really tried before. I’m way behind on my critiques for this week. I need to do them tonight. I guess I’ll do them tomorrow before our men’s breakfast at church. My eyes are closing so it’s off to bed.

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A busy November

Went to my first local SCBWI meeting in two years. Had some great critiuqes of the story Steven Malk wants to see. He actually requested two of my pbs. I was only able to get one critiqued at the meeting. I had never been part of an in-person critique group before. It was fun.

I spent this entire month trying to re-write and re-write both requested pbs. Nothing new written. I began praying hard for Steven Malk to like these manuscripts.  

Lesson learned: Personal critique groups are fun and very helpful. Re-writing can be terribly agonizing at times.

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Critique group casualty

One of our critique group members had to leave. I will certainly miss Debbie. Cheers.

Lesson learned: You can make friends in critique groups, and you miss them when they leave. You can also stay friends afterward.

January 2005

Began the year by joining a critique group. It’s called Dreamwriters. One other member in the beginning, then another, and finally another. Looks like the group will always be four. First critiques were outstanding. Great editors in this group. That helps make a critique group outstanding.

Lesson learned: I’ve been needing this for a while.

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First Critque Group

All I want for Christmas is a critique group. I got one. A couple days before Christmas 2002, I joined a few others in an online Yahoo Group to critique our writings. After a couple months, a couple of the writers became pregnant and couldn’t continue with our schedule. A couple others had other types of writing or illustration projects that took priority over pb writing. One other writer went to fight in Iraq. I just kept writing by my lonesome until another Critique group opportunity came along about two years later. I shouldn’t have joined the first group. I wasn’t good enough. My writing had improved a lot by the time I joined my second group.

Lessons Learned: Not every critique group experience works out well for everyone. Not every writer in the group is on the same level. In my first group, I was on one of the lower rungs of the ladder. In my current group, we are all growing at pretty much the same pace. I have a better fit now. – Feb. 2007.

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