Critiques and critique groups - part III

Getting a critique by and editor or agent at a conference is a great opportunity to meet people with experience in the world of publishing. The critiques can be HELPFUL even (but not always).

My first professional critique happened at an SCBWI conference in Honolulu. The editor, Michael Stearn, was with Harcourt at the time.  He told me to get into my main character's head more, and explained about the POV third-person close. After that, I read other books with POV in mind and learned a lot.

Sadly, sometimes writers leave their conference critiques near tears, and have to take refuge in a bathroom stall. (This has only happened to me two times, three at the most.)

So before your critique, enjoy the fantasy of the editor handing you a book contract, But lower your expectations at tad for the actual event. After all...

Editors are real people, and like other real people, their tastes vary considerably.

Editors at conferences critique MANY writers in a single day.

Editors have only the first few pages of your mss, and for many writers, those are the HARDEST pages to write.

At a conference not so long ago, an editor told me that I had NO VOICE. I was devastated. Luckily Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down. This was her opinion about My Invented Life. Yes, the very same YA novel that will soon be published. The same novel my agent said she found so funny, she slowed herself down to savor every word.

Uh oh.  Did I just toot my own horn? Pretend you didn't read the last part.

And the point is...trust that someone will recognize the quality of your writing. Keep putting it out there.