This week, we talked about reader feedback and different tools or techniques you can use to sort through it all.  Now it’s your turn to apply these tools to your own writing.

Weekend Prompt:  Find some way of getting feedback on a portion of your work.  You can ask writer friends (or just smart friends who are good readers) to give you comments.  Or you can try out a community like fluffyseme where you can request feedback both from people you know and from other readers participating in the site.

Currently fluffyseme is available by invitation only, but Marianne Bellotti of F.S. Publishing has extended an awesome opportunity to DIY MFA participants.  We get to try this Beta-Reading tool by going to the fluffyseme website and using the invite code diymfa.  This is a great chance to get involved with a beta-reading community right from the early stages.  And for those looking to build a group of beta-readers or critique partners but don’t know how to do it, this can be a way to get started!

Today we have a guest post from Marianne Bellotti of F.S. Publishing.  She develops software to help writers make the most of the feedback they get from critiques.  I’ve mentioned Beta Readers (Betas) here at DIY MFA in the past, but for those new to the term, Betas are readers who rather than reading your book piecemeal as you write it, will sit down with a completed draft and give you overall comments.  fluffyseme–software developed by Marianne–helps writers sort through these overall comments and get a better sense of what areas in their manuscripts need work.  Read on for Marianne’s explanation of how this software works and don’t forget to check out the video tutorial at the end!

Beta readers are awesome.

For some of us beta readers may be the only detailed reader feedback we really get. There’s nothing quite as electrifying as someone telling you exactly what they think about your work, even better when you can actually use it to improve.

However, the process of recruiting and managing good beta readers is not nearly as pleasant. I have always been fond of publishing online because even on the most basic platforms, critiques are posted directly to specific chapters. I don’t want to have to toggle from file to file to figure out what problems keep popping up. I don’t want to have to sort aimlessly through hundreds of notes, either handwritten or digital, to figuring out what the revisions should be.

They always say that you should build the tools that you yourself want to use. Well I wanted a tool that could help me solicit the most feedback from readers and make sense of it all. I wanted to be able to use technology to figure out how to fine tune my writing and I wanted to do it in a way that wasn’t going to scare my publisher.

fluffyseme was developed as a platform for works in progress that helps writers polish and revise based on insights from both analytical feedback with conventional comments.

As a writer I know I get the most out of my beta readers when I toughen up and try not to overreact to criticism. But that’s harder than it sounds, isn’t it? Despite my best intentions I always find myself staring at critiques and wondering if the reader really hated my story and just didn’t have the balls to tell me. It’s easy to lose perspective and get discouraged by even the most encouraging critiques when it’s something you’ve worked really hard on.

fluffyseme uses data to put comments in context and to give you an instant snapshot of what the general consensus is. At the end of every scene is a ratings bar where the reader has five choices: I liked this part, I hated this part, No reaction, I skipped this part, or I skimmed this part.

It’s simple but powerful. As I go through my betas’ comments I can bring up the ratings for that chapter, even that specific part, and use that information to gauge how seriously I should be concerned. Great beta readers are going to want to post insightful critiques. It’s much easier to appreciate those critiques when I can look at the ratings and know if I’m heading the right direction or if I need to do a complete U-turn and try a different approach.

You can figure out all sorts of other fun things with data too: how long do people spend reading? Are your readers male or female? Do they read mostly ebooks or is print still the preferred format?

With fluffyseme I wanted to do more than give writers a better way to manage and organize comments from betas, I wanted to open up a whole new way of thinking about writing.

Sometimes people assume that fluffyseme is about building computer programs that can tell people how to write, or even worse they assume the goal is to eliminate the need for an editor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Finding the flaws in a piece of fiction is easy, figuring out the solutions takes perspective. Well constructed data is useful in this process because it can be rearranged to demonstrate a variety of different perspectives. My goal is to help authors identify what readers are looking for from their stories, what the story’s strengths and weaknesses are, and then to go a step further and try to help writers figure out the best solution.

There are a couple of different ways a story can be set up on fluffyseme. The first option is to run it publicly and pull in as much data as possible from whoever happens to be reading. Public stories can be useful if you have a complicated story where the plot is moving in too many directions, if you’re not sure of what the market is for a story, or if you plan on self-publishing.

However, many smaller publishers count a first draft available online as publication no matter what revisions are eventually made. So authors who have established relationships with publishers might want to setup a private story instead. Private stories allow you to control who has access, issue invitations to the beta readers you already work with, and recruit from our growing community.

Yes recruitment, because just finding good beta readers can be a struggle in and of itself. So fluffyseme has a reader directory where you can pitch your story to our members and invite them to beta read for you. Readers can set their reading preferences so that they don’t get pitched stories in genres they don’t like, or they can list themselves as unavailable and stay completely hidden.

This project is just beginning and there’s always so much to do to make it just a little bit better. An important part of that is working closely with writers exactly the same way we want to help writers work closely with readers. As such, the system is currently in private beta, but DIY MFA readers can try it out right now by going to the fluffyseme website and using the invite code diymfa. Be sure to pass along any comments/problems/suggestions you might have to mbellotti[at]fspublishing[dot]com

fluffyseme Video Tutorial for DIY MFA

Sooner or later, you’re going to get feedback on your work.  Whether it’s from an editor or agent, or from friends and family, or from trusted writer friends, you might as well get used to the idea.

But what do you do when you get all that feedback?  My temptation is often to cut up the papers and make a pretty decoration like the one at left, but that wouldn’t be productive.  The truth is, sorting through feedback on your work can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.

Here are some tricks I’ve learned that have helped me digest reader feedback in a way that’s helpful to me.

1)  Compile the comments.  This can be very tedious, but can end up also being the most useful thing you do.  I’m a bit old-school so I compile comments by hand, rewriting important margin notes from each critique onto a clean copy so that I can see the comments side-by-side.  I can get really obsessive with this step, color-coding comments according to who said what, using different color highlighters, and so on.

Why compile comments?  Ultimately, you need to get a sense of where there was consensus about your work and where people’s opinions differed.  Compiling comments allows you to put individual critiques into perspective.  Are there places where every reader is suggesting the same thing?  If so, your readers might be onto something and you should probably consider that suggestion.

2)  Focus on big picture issues first.  The temptation is often to tweak and mess with the nitty-gritty aspects of your work like word choice or style.  You can play with details all you like, but if you don’t address big picture problems first, you may end up having to undo or redo all the fine-tuning work you’ve done.

When you implement the feedback you receive, first think about those things that could change the overall shape of your story.  This includes major changes in characters (or adding/subtracting characters), adjustments to the plot and story-arc, or the decision to try a new point of view.  Once you’ve made these big picture changes, then you can comfortably play with the details knowing that you’re not wasting your effort.

3)  Listen to the “tough love.”  Last summer, I got some tough love from various critique partners and mentors regarding the overall brand of DIY MFA.  Following their advice would mean making huge changes to the DIY MFA brand, both in terms of design and also in the overall “attitude” of the project.  Needless to say, I was not exactly thrilled with that feedback initially.

My initial reaction was: “Dagnammit!  I like DIY MFA the way it is.  I’m not changing anything.  So there!”

But then I got to thinking, and I realized that the advice my critique partners and mentors were giving me was all spot-on.  I ended up changing the DIY MFA brand completely, severing it from my personal website and creating its own site and social media presence.  This feedback is what spurred me to reboot DIY MFA in the form you see here today, and overall the project is stronger and more cohesive because of those changes.

Did I like being told I had to redo my brand from scratch?  Of course not.  Am I glad my critique partners and mentors were honest with me and told me to do it?  Absolutely!  It is because I can count on them to be honest even when the honesty is tough to hear that makes these people my most trusted readers and advisers.

4)  Revision is a process, not a one-shot-deal.  I like to think of writing projects as being similar to cooking pasta: you throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and then see what sticks.  Some writers like to hammer out a draft, read it over for typos and grammar, then send it to critique partners expecting to get glowing praise on the project.  These writers are often in for a rude awakening.

I see revision as a constant process of reevaluation.

Again, I’ll use DIY MFA as an example.  When I first launched this site in September, I could have agonized about every tiny detail and spent months… even years… perfecting everything.  One of my mentors pushed me to “just do it” and launch the project, and that was some of the best advice I could have gotten.  These last few months have been an amazing learning experience for me… and who have I been learning from?  You, of course!

I’ve been learning from everything, from comments or emails you send with suggestions, to seeing which posts resonated with you all.  Every day I tweak and adjust to make the project better and in the process I have learned so much!

5)  Write forward, but write “as if.”  When I work with students, I always tell them to keep writing forward.  Don’t go back and tweak or edit small stuff because then you’ll never finish a draft.  Instead, keep writing, but write “as if.”  In other words, if you suddenly decide to change your main character from a man into a woman, don’t go back and rewrite the previous chapters.  Just note the change and move forward accordingly with your now-female protagonist.

I have a colleague right now who’s blasting her way through revisions and I’ve been learning a lot by how she’s approached her project.  She wrote a fast draft, just to get the ideas down, and has now been going back and filling in holes.  She’s made adjustments throughout the drafting process, but hasn’t let those changes get her bogged down.  Instead, she just made notes to herself and kept writing forward.  Now in her rounds of revision, she’s implementing those changes.

Finally: Remember that it’s YOUR project and no one else can write it for you.  So don’t let them.  Sometimes I worry that I offer my students and critique partners too many suggestions, but to me it all comes down to the pasta analogy.  I throw lots of ideas options on the table and figure it’s up to the writer to decide whether to listen to any of them.

Critiques are just suggestions and not all suggestions are created equally.  It’s up to you to choose which suggestions are right for your work.

Hello all!  If you attended the webinar this afternoon, I hope you enjoyed it and had fun.  I know I did!  We got a ton of great questions in the Q&A and I realized that many of them addressed topics that I’ve posted about in the past.  So I thought I’d do a follow-up post today to make it super-easy for you all to find the answers.

Build a Writing Habit
As I mentioned on the call, building a good writing habit is really important (because then when you need to shake up your writing, you can do so by breaking out of your writing routine).  This post gives some tips on how to build that habit.

Making the Most of a Critique
This post gives you tips for the before, during and after of getting your work critiqued so you can make the most out of the experience.

Learning from the Masters
In this post, you’ll learn how to improve your writing by reading.  Specifically, this post goes over how to assemble a reading list so you can really focus on the area of writing that you love.

Build your Reading List
Download a reading list worksheet and apply the things you’ve learned from the previous post.  Think of this as you getting to be the professor, choosing what books to study so that you can make the most of your reading.

Creative Practical Reading
This method of reading, which I developed to use in my classes, allows writers to look at literature in layers.  The idea is to focus on the basic elements of the piece first, then dig into deeper analysis.

This is just a small sampling of articles you’ll find at DIY MFA and there’s still plenty more to come.  And of course, if you ever have questions, feel free to reach out.

Email: contact.DIYMFA [at] gmail [dot] com
Twitter: @DIYMFA
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/DIYMFA

Today, I thought I’d share a couple more critique tips that have helped me in the past and then give you all a fun little quiz, just for laughs.

Tip #1: Helping Your Readers Help You

Sometimes it helps to give your critique partners or beta readers something to focus on so they can really help you in the areas where you need it.  When I finished a draft of MFA thesis, I asked a few people in my critique group to be my readers, but it was much longer than a usual critique submission.  In order not to overwhelm the group, and to make sure all the topics I needed help with got covered, I asked different people in the group to focus on different aspects of the story.

In my critique group, I have one CP who is AWESOME at dialogue and another who has nailed the YA and KidLit voice.  A third CP has a great eye for character development and a fourth line-edits as well as a professional editor. Playing to their strengths, I asked them each to focus on the area that they’re best at.  The result?  Not only did I make sure all the important points of the manuscript were covered, it also made the volume of reading less… voluminous.

Tip #2: I’ll Read Yours if You Read Mine

Finding Beta readers can be tough.  After all, you’re asking a lot of these readers.  They’re not just committing to reading one chapter or the first 25 pages.  They have to read the whole book, and unless you’re writing picture books, that’s a lot of reading.  I’ve found the best way to work out the Beta Reader situation is to strike a deal: I’ll Beta read for you if you Beta read for me.  This way it’s fair and you don’t feel bad for loading your friend with too much reading.

A few caveats, though.  Make sure the person you make this arrangement with is reliable.  (Or if you have a hunch they’ll flake on your book, get them to read it before you read theirs.)  If you invest a ton of time reading the person’s work and then he or she doesn’t return the favor, you’ll end up feeling resentful and angry, and that can put a strain on the friendship.  Also, choose someone who’s in the same place as you (i.e. someone who is also in the Beta stage) and someone who gives as detailed critiques as you do.  If you’re a balanced match, this deal can work beautifully.

Tip #3: Be Your Own Best Reader

While having critique groups and Beta readers is great, you need to be your own best reader.  A large part of the revision process has to be done on your own with the door shut, so you need to feel confident in your revision abilities.  If you’re struggling with the revision process, I recommend the book Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell.  It was recommended to me by a writer-friend and it’s a great step-by-step guide to help you through the revision process.  Becoming a good self-editor takes practice, so break out a short story and work through Bell’s method of layered revision before tackling a novel or other long piece.

Here’s a quizzy for you, just for fun.  Answer the following questions, then count up your “Yes” answers and see your score below.

1)  When your critique group says they don’t like your character, is what they’re secretly saying that they don’t like you?

2)  When a colleague points out a flaw in your manuscript, do you immediately reply with an explanation why that flaw isn’t really a flaw after all?

3)  You have 5 people in your writing group and they each have a different opinion about your WIP.  Do you try to rewrite your project so that it fits all 5 suggestions?

4)  When you send your manuscript to your critique partners, do you preface it by saying that the language is “coded” and that you’re going for something “post-modern”? (Meaning, of course, that if they don’t get it, it’s because they’re too dumb to get it and not because you were too dumb to write it like that in the first place.)

5)  A corollary to #4, when you send your manuscript out, do you preface it by saying it’s really, really rough and you wrote it in two minutes on your iPhone while standing in line at the movie theater?

6)  Do you refer to your manuscript as “your baby?”

7)  Do you find it hard to sit through a critique without your favorite comfort food?

8)  Have you ever cried after a critique but lied and told everyone it was because your hamster died?

9)  When your short story gets rejected by an editor, do you take it upon yourself to write back and thoroughly explain why said editor is utterly and completely wrong?

10)  You got critiqued by your writing group last week, got lots of suggestions for change and this week you come back with a manuscript that is… exactly the same.  No changes made.  Do you expect a glowing critique this time?

What’s your score? In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit that I scored a 1 (thanks to question #8).

Count up your “Yes” answers and scroll down to see your score.

0 = You have a level head and you make the most of your critiques because don’t take anything too personally.  You take notes and you know when to incorporate feedback and when to let it go.  Keep it up and you’ll go far.

1 = OK, so you’ve got your critique quirks but that’s normal, but you’re still pretty good about not letting critiques get to you.  Sure, you might need to reward yourself for a tough critique session with some ice cream or even a good cry, but that’s fine.  Just make sure you get home and close the shades before you do.

2-3 = Don’t take this the wrong way but you’re probably driving your critique team crazy.  The thing that makes it so hard for your critique partners to deal with you is that you seem completely oblivious to this fact.  Wake up!  Stop writing like a lunatic and expecting glowing comments on your work.  And start listening to what your critique partners tell you; they might actually be right.

4-5 = You are in need of a massive reality check.  Here it is.  Your book is not you.  Your book is not your child.  Your book is not a living being.  Get over it.  Now that we’ve made that clear, stop griping about how much everyone criticizes your work and focus on making it better.

6+ = Seriously?  You seriously answered “yes” to six or more of the above?  Wow.  I don’t know what else to say, but… Wow.  May I shake your hand?

When it comes to receiving critique, I’ve found that the more you put into the process, the more you get out of it.  Here are some tips to help you make the most of the critique process before, during and after.

Before You Submit:

• Proofread and eliminate typos.  If your submission is as tight and clean as possible, then you will allow your critique team to focus on more important issues like character development or plot arc.  On the other hand, if the copy you submit is littered with typos and grammatical errors, you run the risk of getting a critique that just covers those things which you could just as easily correct yourself.
• Follow the ground rules.  What’s fair game for critique?  It depends on the critique group and the way it operates.  My critique team will read just about anything, in any genre, including: short stories, chapters of novels & memoirs, poems, flash fiction, book proposals, how-to articles outlines, book synopses, query letters, and pitches for conferences.  But not all critique groups will read such a wide variety so it’s important to figure out the ground rules for the group when you first join.
• Follow format.  Follow the guidelines determined by the workshop teacher or the critique group.  If there are no guidelines, use standard formatting (12pt font, Times New Roman and double-space).  Also, don’t forget page numbers.  Tip: It’s a good idea to include your name and title of your piece in the header for each page.
• Submit on time.  When you submit your work late, you’re not hurting your critique partners, you’re just hurting yourself.  Give your critique team the time they need to devote to your piece and you’ll get a much more thorough and useful critique.

During the Critique:

• Don’t preface your work with excuses and don’t apologize for it.  If you’re submitting a rough draft, that’s fine.  No need to make excuses or apologies.  It is what it is.  And, for the love of all that is literary, don’t tell your critique team that you wrote it at the last minute (even if it’s true).  Not only does last-minute writing not justify the rough state of your work, it will also  make your critique team feel like you’re wasting their time and not taking the critique process seriously.
• Keep your mouth shut.  While your critique team is discussing your work, don’t try to defend or justify it.  Don’t say anything.  Just listen.  Remember: every minute you spend talking is a minute that your team isn’t giving you critique.  Don’t waste valuable critique time getting defensive or trying to explain your work.
• Take notes.  Keep your brain busy by keeping your hand moving across the page.  I often bring an extra copy of my own work for myself, just so I can take margin notes while the critique team discusses it.  Tip: If you have a small recorder, bring it and record the discussion (always ask the group if it’s OK with them first, of course).  This way if you miss something in your notes, you can go back and listen to the comments.
• Ask questions at the end.  When the discussion starts winding down, take a few moments to ask questions about any comments of critique points you did not understand.  This is also a good time to ask for suggestions on aspects of the piece that have you struggling.  DO NOT, under any circumstances, use your question time sneak in excuses about your work or argue about a critique point.  That’s cheating.

After the Critique:

• Collect the written comments from your team.  If anyone wrote comments or notes on your piece, make sure you collect them at the end so you have their notes when you revise.
• Resist the urge to read through the comments as soon as you get home.  Getting feedback on your work will always be challenging, whether the feedback is positive or negative.  Give yourself at least a few days to step away from the piece and gain some perspective.  Note: Longer pieces or pieces that received an especially brutal critique may require more time to ease the sting.
• Compile the critique notes.  Every writer has a unique revision system but it always comes down to this: once you’ve read through the notes, you need to find a way to compile that information so it’s not cumbersome when you revise.  My system: if the piece in question is short, I’ll copy all the margin notes onto one clean copy, color-coding the comments so I know which members of my critique team said what.  This way, I can see all the comments side-by-side and see where the team agreed or disagreed on various critique points.  Of course, this only works for short stories, essays, flash fiction and such.  This process is much too laborious for longer pieces.  You need to find a system that works for you.
• Revise.  This is especially important if you plan to resubmit that piece to your critique team.  Nothing smacks more of writerly arrogance than submitting the same piece over and over, not bothering to consider or apply the comments received.  Of course, you may not agree with certain critique points and decide not to use them.  That is fine; in fact, it’s your right as the author.  But if you find yourself refusing to apply any suggestions you receive on the piece, don’t disrespect your critique team’s time by resubmitting it without revision.

What do you think?  Are there any tips or tricks you’ve learned from receiving critique?

When it comes to getting a tune-up on your writing, you have lots of different options. In fact, sometimes the sheer number of choices can be overwhelming and it’s hard to recognize what kind of help or feedback you really need. In this post, you’ll get to know some of the choices so you can determine the right type of feedback for your given situation.

Critique Partner: This is a writer with whom you exchange your work as you progress through a project. The Critique Partner (CP) will probably read several different versions of a story or novel and give you feedback as you go along so that you can make adjustments. In many cases, the CP can get to know a piece almost as well as the writer knows it. On the other hand, since this CP is reading your work piecemeal, he or she will have a harder time giving you global feedback that extends from the beginning to the end of your novel.

Critique Group: Just like a critique partner but there are more people involved. In my experience, critique groups work best when there are between five and seven members. I have been in a critique group for four years and I love it. We did go through some growing pains with the group some years back, but the group is now stronger for it.

Beta Reader: The Beta reader (AKA Beta) is often someone who reads the genre where your work fits and is familiar with the literature. The Beta will read your whole novel in a short span of time. This means this person will be able to give you feedback about big picture aspects of your work (character development, plot arc, etc.) The Beta reader rarely focuses on the nitty-gritty details so don’t rely on him or her for line-edits like grammar or punctuation. I find two Betas to be the ideal number for any given book: you get the benefit of a second opinion, without opening the critique floodgates and getting bombarded with too many suggestions

Line Editor: This can be someone from one of the above categories, or just another friend you know who has a strong grasp on grammar and copy-editing. You can even do this type of fine-tuning yourself, if it happens to be one of your strong points.  Warning: Do not try this yourself unless you’re actually really good with grammar and line-editing. I mean, would you ask an amateur to detail your car?

Professional Editor or Book Doctor: The professional editor is usually someone who’s had experience in publishing or teaching and offers one-on-one consulting with writers. They often read the whole book and give you detailed comments. These services can be pricey, but if you find a good editor it can be a valuable experience.

Workshop: The writing workshop can be a great way to learn the basics, but it can be hit or miss in terms of the quality of feedback you receive. First off, you have little control over who else is in the workshop with you so the vibe of the group can range from fantastic to dysfunctional. At the same time, the teacher can make-or-break the workshop experience. I had one teacher whose workshop style traumatized me so badly I unable to write fiction for… count ‘em… seven years. It was only when I took a chance on another workshop (this time with an kind and supportive teacher) that I was able to start writing fiction again. Hint: If you’re looking to create a critique group, a workshop is a great place to get to know other writers you would want to work with without committing long-term.

Friends and Family: I learned this lesson the hard way and now I share it with you. Don’t let “civilians” (i.e. non-writers) read your work while it’s still in progress–reserve that privilege for a trusted few writer colleagues. Unless your family or circle of friends happen to include an exceptional writer or two, keep a lid on your projects until they’re out in the world. Here’s why:

1. There’s a good chance your friends and family won’t understand the concept of “still in progress.” Chances are, they’ll love the book no matter how rough it is (and what parents don’t love their kids’ work?) While the glowing praise can be fun in the moment, keep in mind that they’ll keep pestering you about why you haven’t published the book yet. They don’t understand the process of revision and navigating the publishing world so they won’t get it when you say “it’s just not ready yet.”
2. If you’re lucky enough to have friends and family who do offer useful critiques, it will be much more difficult for you to hear the criticism This is because they’re so close to you; it becomes that much harder to take tough feedback from them.

When your work is published, that’s when you spread the news wide and far. Think of friends and family as your most loyal fans who will cheer you on.  But would you really want your fans to read your work when it’s still not ready? Didn’t think so.

Take-home Message: In the end, it’s about finding the right source of critique that serves your work where you are right now. If you’re just starting out, a workshop or class can be a great way to test the waters. On the other hand, if you’re moving toward the query process but you think your book still needs work, a professional editor or even a beta reader or two could help tremendously. Choose wisely and look for a critique situation that will best serve your current project.

Do you share your work and get feedback regularly? What type of critique has worked best for you?