The 24/7s are extremely proud to share that member Diana Ma along with her longtime critique partner, Christina Scheuer, will be teaching the upcoming Highlights Foundation’s Workshop, "Giving and Receiving Feedback on Novels"! The webinar-style program will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, and Thursday, February 2, 2023, from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Eastern. (Register HERE.)
Novelists will learn how to give and receive needed feedback on their work--the kind that deepens revisions and enriches characters, plot, and pacing. Diana and Christina will share their own critique-partnership journey in which reciprocal feedback-cycles have helped them develop their writing skills, build community, and increase their professionalism in the field.
Diana explains why she believe writers need good feedback. "Writing can be an isolating endeavor," she says. "And it’s so important to have supportive feedback partners or workshop groups to sustain the passion to keep writing. I’m fortunate to have excellent critique partners like Christy. And now I'm lucky enough to be a published author working on my manuscripts with my fantastic agents and amazing editors."
Christina agrees, saying, "I also feel really fortunate to have critique partners who encourage me to keep writing! Diana, for example, has been so good about reminding me that I’m a writer and encouraging me to share my work when I’m ready. Having that external validation is so valuable."
What has Diana learned over the years about what makes a good critique group? She explains: "It doesn’t have to be experts 'fixing' my draft. It can simply be a group of people sharing my excitement for my work, and asking me great questions that help me see where a reader might get confused. They help me clarify what I really want to do with my story."
One thing that has helped Diana and Christina's critique partnership to blossom has been embracing the principles behind Felicia Rose Chavez’s Anti-Racist Writing Workshop. It encourages critique partners to learn about and respect the author's vision before offering any feedback. "It’s so much fun to chat with Christy before reading her work," Diana says. "It allows me to focus on asking just a few questions in harmony with her vision. This relieves me of the anxiety I get about needing to give feedback on every single thing."
Diana shares what happened in the past when she didn't express her authorial vision before asking her critique partners for feedback. "I got back suggestions that were thoughtful and grounded in a solid understanding of the craft, but at the same time didn’t fit in with my vision. However, because the advice was good, I shoehorned their recommended changes into my revision. Only afterward did I find that my revision had taken me away from the heart of my story. Of course, it wasn’t the fault of my critique partners. How were they to know what I wanted for my story if we hadn’t talked about it beforehand?"
Indeed, Diana and Christina have learned that good communication in advance is vital for a critique partnership to run smoothly. "Be open, ready to say things like 'I’m not ready for line edits at this stage of my drafting, but it would be great if you could focus on these things,'" says Diana.
Christina has also found this type of critiquing--one based on mutual respect and open communication--to be invaluable to the process. She explains: "My instinct, in the past, was to give lots and lots of feedback. I felt driven to prove that I was an insightful editor. But my response didn’t serve writers well. Now, using the process Diana and I have developed, I'm able to stay on base with the author’s vision. I can also slow down while reading. I can focus on asking the big questions, and listen carefully to the answers. This approach to offering feedback has been freeing. It feels truly collaborative, and is so much more rewarding to me!"
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