November 2002 Meeting

Editing, Critique Groups, Research

The Panel of Speakers: Dick Gibbons, Ray Rhamey, Bruce Taylor

Ray, a teacher, editor and our Publicity chairperson. On Editing:

Use your word processor to find redundant words, such as "that", words ending in "-ing", and adverbs (-ly).
Stick with declarative sentences rather than passive voice.
Stay true to a single point of view within chapters.
Recommends: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Brown & King.

Dick, our Vice President on Critique Groups:

Peer critique groups can be very helpful because they have nothing to "sell" you on. They also represent the average reader. Paid editors may be useful too, but beware of what you buy.
Editors in publishing houses do not help writers as in the old days. Don't expect them to polish your prose for you.
You learn a lot by reading others' works, and they benefit from your insights.
There are different critique group formats; some read each others' works aloud, other groups read silently then comment. Find one that works for you. [SWA has guidelines available - see Critique Groups.]
It is okay to mix different types of writing in a critique group: Sci Fi with Romance, for example.

Bruce, author, teacher and our President on Research:

Be with people who respect your creativity.
Be aware of situations around you; story ideas are everywhere.
Research is more that just "looking things up" - you can find inspiration too.
Your well-researched charactes can many times carry the day even if the underlying story premise is not very good.
Writers cannot write in a vacuum; you need feed-back.
Good fiction derives from tidbits of reality, extrapolations, "what ifs."
A critique group can help you with the picky details of your story.
Read a lot of different authors.