Feedback

I'm at a writing camp, for those of you who don't know and in the workshop this afternoon we discussed critiquing other people's work. There's a method we used, that I really like.

First you go through and make a note of all the words that catch your eye in the piece. This is called pointing. (e.g. 'laughing, sparkling self.')

Then you ask questions. This is for whatever you didn't understand about the poem, story, etc. (e.g. 'Why did Angel think the house was haunted? What clues did she have, because I'm not seeing any.')

And last of all, you do 'Say-back'. This is writing a little note explaining how you interpreted the whole story/poem/script. (e.g. 'This is a really sweet farewell scene between two people who obviously love each other. Very detailed descriptions made me feel like I was there.')

Make sense? I found it to be really nice and I got some great feedback this way.

Disclaimer: i cannot, unfortunately, claim the honor of having come up with this technique, only the example lines. And don't you dare steal those.

Tales of a Lady Pirate



Tales of a Lady Pirate


So, I just finished editing Tales of a  Lady Pirate, one of the first major stories I wrote. And now, of course, I'm thinking I may just have to rewrite it entirly. It's an awsome story, and I love it, but there's so much more that could be added.

The story is of a 17 year-old, high society girl living in 1840's London. Her name is Nora Weatherby, and she's got a younger sister named Faith who bugs her a lot. :) Their father is a merchant sailor, and rarely home, and mom is overbearing and abusive. In an attempt to gain herself a bit of freedom, Nora starts to sneak out at night and play her violin in a tavern. There, she meets up with a pirate named Terry (whom she blackmails into giving her a share in his prizes) and an Irish printer's son named Liam who partners up with her for the shows.

Then, Mrs. Weatherby finds out about Liam and the show, and disowns Nora. She stays the night with Liam's family, then the two of them are forced to leave town with Terry after the police find out that Terry's a pirate. Eventually, through a serious of strange events, Nora ends up becoming the captain of Terry's ship, having Faith join up, and getting married to Liam. It's really a wonderful story, and I'm hoping I can turn it into something better than it is now.

So now I need to start editing 'Lady of the Moon'. The one that took me a year and a half to write.