To many years to do it, but finished Skull-Fairy Dance. How are short story collections generally critted in writing groups? I have a lot of Fantasy and Science fiction, even though my taste has leaned more toward the bizarre contemporary these days. Like a good mindfuck, for example.
Is it a story at a time, or does one just show a group the whole book?
It's usually story by story. Have you submitted any of the stories for critique on their own yet?
I haven't at the moment. I'll need to pick the best of 32 of them.
I might do oldest to newest. Not sure yet. Just about said olderest. That's a good introduction. Now to continue plotting from "we came all this way, just to buy an apple?" I need a nap.
Do it story by story. Collections are much easier to workshop than novels.
It seems like my wordier stories would need the most editing. Some of the least wordy ones are pretty much going to be one shot comics anyway.:P (Jonah NumeroHex comes to mind specifically.)
Over the last several years my word count shrank from 4,000 words to just under 1,300 words.
Wait, isn't that just math? Wouldn't 4,000 words need 4 times as much editing (if all else was equal) than 1000 words?
Yep four times as much editing.
I do a lot of flash fiction. Which kind of makes me wonder what sort of a story I did when I was doing something like 5,000 words. (I no longer have Vigini Unc in it's complete form.)
Have you ever been in a critique group before? I wouldn't describe it as anything like editing, especially line editing. Sure, some things will be caught, but typically critique groups pay attention to structure, pacing, POV, tense, characterization, story arc, subtext, things like that. They discuss and debate those things in front of you while you listen. A good critique group will give you plenty of things to chew on, not just to fix like a leaky pipe, but as a springboard to consider revisions that will make the story more powerful. Not all crtique groups are of equal ability, either. Some groups simply have more seasoned writers.
Regarding editing, in my experience there are two kinds of editors, and I've never met an editor who is equally proficient at both. There are story editors (qualitatitive) and line editors (nuts and bolts of language construction). My stories went through extensive critique and I still had a story editor that was enormously helpful when I put my collection together.
I hope this is helpful.
I'm in one at the moment, though that's for picture books. (My actual writing passion is chapter books and light novels like Boogieboop Phantom.)
I'll be on the look out. (I'm the last sure about Victoria The Sleeper At The Moment.)
I loved Boogiepop in middle school. I have absolutely nothing else to contribute to this thread, but those books were sweet.
Yea I really wish there were more novels with Manga illistrations. I feel like I write more naturally in the 5,000 to 20,000 word range telling tales of multiple narratives.
