The blog of author Stacy Kingsley

March 9-March 17

3/8/2019

I will most likely not be posting anything on this blog this coming week. I am participating in a writer's retreat, which means I will be fully immersed in my novels. I plan on spending all of the days, and all of the hours, and every minute I am a awake and not showering or eating, working on editing, and writing, and editing, and proofreading, and writing.... so much writing.

I hope that by the end of the week I have between 50-100 pages written, which I know is a hefty goal, and it is also why I will not be posting anything. Nor will I be on social media, or email, or really anything that is distracting. If I do this, I will likely have a complete first draft of my last zombie novel, I will have a complete second draft of the science fiction book I wrote last year, I will have a complete draft of my stupid things people say after someone dies book, and I will have my conversations with my cat book in the proper format for if I have to self-publish it.

After all of this, I may be on lightly, as I have work and a medical issue that I am currently taking care of. I will know more in in the next two weeks about where my life is going, and what I will be doing int he future.

But, before I go, I'd like everyone out there in internet land to wish me luck, as I've never participated in a writer's retreat, and have no idea what to expect. I have also never taken the time to immerse myself in my writing for a week, uninterrupted, 100% of the time.

So, lovely internet people, adieu, see you on the flip side of the week.

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What's in a Critique Group?

11/28/2018

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I'm not sure, when a critique group says this, that is it creates a creative environment to keep a writer going: The admin team had a discussion about your writing sample and we think that's it's slightly below the standard for the group. This is by no means a conclusive judgement and you may feel that an alternative sample will better display your skills. Or you can resubmit the original sample with changes made according to the critique it received. Another option is to spend some time working with another group member to hammer it into shape.

I don't mind critique, in fact I welcome it. But I don't like being told that something (when it has been stated is a rough, rough draft) gets a comment that the writing is below standards for a group, or that one can stay in the group if the suggested changes are made (that's not how critique works, you can't demand an author make the changes as they are suggestions). I also am not sure I appreciate being given the suggestion that another member can help me hammer it into shape. I do know what I am doing. The sample I submitted was written this month for Nano. I haven't even edited it yet. I submitted a sample thinking it was just to give an idea of what I am working on right now. If I had known I was to be judged acceptable or not for the group, I would have submitted something perfect (nothing is ever perfect though). I also am not sure I feel comfortable with a group of people discussing me without including me.

I have been kicked out of a writers group for being a menace to society (one romance author hated horror and gore and thought society should be protected from it). I've been called disgusting because of my writing. I've been asked very personal questions because of my writing. I've had people think they were better than me (and maybe some were, it isn't a contest) and tell me I should quit. But, too often, I have people tell me that my writing isn't up to their standards, but isn't that why I am in a group? To help me improve? I, like most authors out there, am full of doubt, and anxiety, and devaluing of self because of writing. I get scared anytime someone buys my book that they will write a scathing review. I myself try not to write bad reviews, although I will admit, I have. But more often than not, it isn't the writing that bothers me, it is the characters, or the plot, or the formatting.

I'm a damn good author, but no one has a good first draft, and often no one has a good second draft. I want critique, how can I fix what I don't know is wrong? However, I don't think we, as writers, should be judged good or bad or worth being part of a critique group by someone else's standards. In Huntsville, Alabama, I was in a critique group that I truly miss. We accepted all types of authors and all genres, but we still did what we were supposed to, we critiqued. We told people what we thought was good, and what needed work, and we didn't pussyfoot around feelings, or at least I didn't feel like we did. I don't want people to tell me my stuff is fabulous, I know it isn't. But, I want acceptance, just like everyone else does. I want people to read my work and see the value in what I have so far, while telling me that this is what I can do to make it better. Don't just tell me it "is below standards for the group" and insinuate that other members in the group can help me do a what I do better than I do it by telling me "another member can help hammer it into shape." We've just met. You got 250 words of a rough draft, give it a moment.

I'm not mad, or angry, or upset, but I feel like we are so ready to be critical and put someone down, that we forget everyone is struggling. I mean, I know authors who have some 20 books, and had books made into television mini-series, and they still have to work a day job. Help each other out but offering real help. Don't make assumptions that lead an author to believe that only your opinions matter. Really, the thing about the message that bothered me most was this part, "you can resubmit the original sample with changes made according to the critique it received." I don't even know if I am keeping what I have, and when you critique something it is a suggestion (as previously stated).

As authors, we need to help when we can, because being an author is such solitary work. We need friends who will give us honest critiques, without making us feel like we should give up. It isn't about being better than someone, because some of already know people who are better than us, it's about strengthening a community that has already failed so many.

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Poetry

11/25/2018

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I don't write much poetry, but I thought I'd share this one here. If you like you can tell me what you think, or if it is good or godawful! I've written few poems in my adult life, and when I was a teenager my poems were called disgusting ad gross. I was told to never write again, and that was the first time, but not the last. So I share with a little bit of hesitation, because a lot of my work is not well received. Later, if I can find it, I will share a story that got me kicked out of one writer's group.

Anyway, here is the poem:

Tin Soldiers

Bright and shiny, new in box
Unused soldiers waiting for their day.
Opened plastic, rosy cheeks,
Wide innocent eyes, waiting to be deployed.
A moment later, battle bound,
Shiny faces dimmed down,
Soldiers waiting, cheeks tanned and brown
Standing, watching,
Battle found.
One year later, homeward on,
Sinking soldiers,
Broken down.
Boxes beaten, weathered and faded,
Soldiers begging, brains broken,
Guns in hand.
No one helping, paint fading,
Tiny tin soldiers,
In the graveyard now.

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March 9-March 17

What's in a Critique Group?

Poetry

Stacy Kingsley

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