Todd Gilchrist, the author of the piece, asked, "How eager are you then to revisit or deconstruct your performances after you’ve finished them?" And Guy Pearce responded,
Well, the first thing is that when you watch the film, is [you want to know] am
I in the right movie? Did I land tonally where I should have landed? And you
either do or you don’t, and then if you don’t, you’ve got to sort of assess why
that happened – it might just be bad communication between you and the director,
or you may have been pushing for something that isn’t right, your personality
was stronger than the director’s, or the director kind of got it wrong and they
guided you in a direction that wasn’t right...
As writers, we hear how important it is to have outside eyes on our project, how we need objective input on our manuscripts. I agree, but I also think we need to self-assess our work.
For aspiring authors, this might mean analyzing our queries if we aren't getting requests to submit. Is the tone of the query accurately reflecting the genre of the book? Is the query blurb too vague or generic? Or if the book is getting requested, we can save the query as an example of what works.
If after being requested, the book ends up being rejected again and again, we're wise to try to pinpoint areas our book suffers. Pretend you're a reader who has never read a novel in your genre before. Try to see it through new eyes. Write down your impressions and mentally tuck away this information. Any insight we gain will help us.
If you're certain the book couldn't be improved, consider other reasons it might be getting sent back. Maybe the writing shines but the genre isn't selling well, or it's set in a time period no publisher wants. Publishers don't want to gamble. They want books they know they can sell.
For published authors, consider taking a few hours to think about what worked and what didn't in your previously released book. Did any reader comments resonate that you can either incorporate more of or avoid in your new book? For example, the readers consistently raved about your heroine or mentioned how much they loved the setting. Use this to build on the success of your last book.
Do you take the time to analyze what is working and what isn't in your writing? Do the results surprise you?
Have an amazing Wednesday!
Oh yeah, I love comments because they really help me look at the story objectively. Without outside feedback, I have a hard time self-assessing my stuff. I flounder between adoring my story and hating it. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteJessica: I agree. It's amazing how many lightbulbs go off when someone else reads my work! But I also spend time analyzing it on my own!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
I am big into self-assessment as well as getting constructive criticism from others. It is how you grow and the better you are at looking at your work objectively the better off you'll be!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a real sense of this while editing. Too bad when I read over the first chapter of novel five I found it to be a load of horse manure and had to scratch it and rewrite it. It's a blessing and curse developing these skills. ;)
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
For me, I think I will always be revising my first novel in my head. As thorough as I was - and as thorough as my editor was - there are still some things I'd like to go back and adjust. So now, this helps me understand how much distance I need to have from a current WIP so that I can get really objective. I see the greater value in setting something aside completely for a couple of months before returning to it.
ReplyDeleteI think assessing your own work is one of the hardest things to do, especially if you have NO outside feedback. I find even one comment, critique or suggestion is often enough to get me rethinking what I wrote, but without that "spark" my thinking stays locked in the same pattern.
ReplyDeleteSuper hard to analyze what I've done. I usually don't want to look back at it, but know I must in order to grow and improve. :O)
ReplyDeleteHi Jill -
ReplyDeleteI've sometimes received an acceptance for a piece, and then another submission was rejected. I try to evaluate the difference between the two articles and see where I missed it.
Blessings,
Susan :)
Angela C: Yes, and it grows our confidence when we can see things on our own.
ReplyDeleteWendy M: Now I know the whole chapter wasn't a pile of manure! Maybe part of the concept was or one of the characters--but the whole thing? No way!
Karen: It never ends, does it? Giving our brain some space from the book is so helpful. Congrats on your success!
Kelly: Same here. My critique partners are geniuses. I mean it. They are AWESOME.
Diane: It is hard. I cringe when I open a file!
Susan JR: That's a good point too--sometimes it really is just objective. One person loves it; the next? Not so much!
Thank you SO much for stopping by!
I worked as a copy editor back in the Dark Ages, and I'm detail-oriented, so I do a good job of catching the small stuff. Where I need help is on big pictures elements. I'm working hard to do a better job of self-assessing in those areas.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question, Jill.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think I am great at self-assessing. Then a crit partner will catch something terribly obvious, and I groan. Of course, everyone has their pet peeves that they'll pick on every time. It helps to know whether your writing is off center, or you are pushing a pet peeve of a crit partner.
I definitely (periodically) self-assess. When I'm writing a novel, I tend to turn that off a little so I don't cramp my style (LOL), but when I'm done, I critically assess it. I'm always revising query letters and my manuscripts because of self-assessing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, hi there! I found you on Twitter and followed you "home." :)
I do as much self-assessment as I can during the editing process. But until I put it out there and get some feedback, I feel like I'm in a bit of a vacuum. Some of my "favorite" scenes (read: pet scenes) are the ones that end up getting cut after I get objective opinions from the outside. Sometimes my writing is ugly and I can't tell because it's my baby. :)
ReplyDeleteI am a big believer in that you need both the ability to self-assess and the input of outside readers. The more I practice, the better at self-assessment I've become. I can muddle through the first and maybe even second round of revisionw without outside input. However, I reach a point where I need someone else's eyes to see what I can no longer be unbiased about.
ReplyDeleteHi Jill! Great post! You're right on the time period statement. I already know that the time period in which I write can be a slight problem at the moment. I was told that one day when the tide turns, I'll be sailing, but until then I keep writing what I love.
ReplyDeleteI am re-assessing my query letters. I think it's important to always take a look now and then.
Self-Analysis can be a methodical thing, sure outside eyes can help but you will always know your story better than anyone. You know what you want to convey. So when you analyze, see if what you're trying for is actually accomplished. The best trick I can think of for self-analysis is to put the story in a format you can't readily edit and just sit and read it. You'll find out more than if you just keep plucking at it in word. Great analysis Jill.
ReplyDeleteKeli: Ha! The dark ages--not even! I often can't see my current project realistically, but I can see old projects with new eyes.
ReplyDeleteJen: Same here. As for the pet peeve issue, I think you have to be true to your STYLE. We all have our way of wording things, and that shouldn't change!
Carol: Welcome! I'm nodding--that's me you just described!
Lindsay: I know what you're saying. When I get work back from my critique partners, I want to smack my forehead and run around my house singing praises. They help me SO much!
Ralene: Yeah, I get that. I do as much as I can and then need outside eyes. I don't know how anyone survives without critique partners!
Loree: Sometimes the story we're writing needs to come out even if it isn't a marketable time period. And you're right, the tide turns eventually, and when it does, you'll be first in line!
P.W.: Love that suggestion! I recently printed my book out in a different, smaller font and single-spaced it. I caught so many things I wouldn't have!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
This was a great post. For me, TIME is the best way to see my work with new eyes. Whenever I finish a rough draft, I must put it away completely and not even look at it for a month. That way I feel a little more removed from it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that using reader feedback also helps us develop new eyes. I learned so much from my first book, and I think the critiques I've received have helped me in my current WIP.
Been pondering your post some more, Jill, and I think that the more we share our work and learn to take critiques, the better at self-assessing we become. I wrote a pivotal scene the other say and the whole time I was writing it, I was saying to myself "Hmm, I think this is only a skeleton... I need to flesh this out more later." As soon as I sent it to my sister and BIL (always my first test-audience), she commented back to me, "I liked what you had, but there needs to be more there." I was hearing HER voice in my head as I wrote! I couldn't hear that voice a couple of years ago and always found her comments surprising (lol), so I think her critiques over the years have helped me to know intuitively when something needs work before she’s even had a chance to tell me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post, Jill! What you said, and also the comments, are giving me much to think about. To have the courage to share my work is going to take time, and a better body of work than I have now. In that respect, it reminded me that unless I get busy, this story will never get told, let alone shared with anyone.
ReplyDeleteOther sets of eyes on my manuscript is crucial. I try to be honest with myself when I'm revising, but I can't always see things for what they are. Just this morning my critique partner pointed out something to me that I had doubted all along. If I had listened to my gut, I would have deleted that whole thread.
ReplyDeleteHow very apt! Very insightful, too. Thanks for sharing this, Jill!
ReplyDeleteI am my harshest critic. I am yet to write something that I'm 100% proud to have penned and I never think my work is done, ever. I think I need to be even harder on myself because after some time passes from my WIP I'm embarrassed by it.
ReplyDeleteMaggie: I'm the same. I need distance to see it rationally!
ReplyDeleteLindsay: Definitely. And the more I review my own work, the better I get at it too. But I think I'll always have weak areas less obvious to me.
Sheila: Same here. Only with time can I read objectively!
Patti M: It took me a long time before I was ready for someone to critique my work. Don't rush it. If someone even gently points out areas to improve, it can be crushing when you aren't used to getting feedback. The thing to remember is that critiques aren't solely to validate, they're more to help our writing grow.
Julie: That happens to me too. I'm no lone island and won't ever be! Sometimes we just need that second opinion on our iffy areas to convince us to drop or keep a section.
Janna: Thanks!
Tana: I'm awful on my work, too. You should see the comments I leave to myself in revisions. They're so mean, they're funny! But I think if you were to read your older material now, you'd quickly see there is nothing to be embarrassed about.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I've started as a short story writer so have not landed on the query pad yet and I rely on self-assessment and a CP in the final stages. Assessing is a learning process that never ends! I read that reading good work gets into your subconcious, helping you to assess your own work. I am putting that to the test! Great advise again, Jill.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jill, for the great advice for writers at all levels of the writing and submission process!
ReplyDeleteListening to what others think often triggers insights for me. I kept getting comments about having too much food in my book and I couldn't quite pinpoint why that was a problem. Turns out the problem wasn't food, it was nostalgia! I was waxing poetic over food memories from childhood. Outside readers didn't know the context, so couldn't quite put their finger on the problem. Recognizing my penchant for nostalgia not only axed many of the food descriptions, but other descriptions that were in there for sentimental reasons alone. External input + self assessment!
ReplyDeleteSO true! We can have others critique all we want, but if we can't have an objective eye of our own, and be willing to do the real work, it won't matter. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteLynn: Definitely. I love to read, and quite often find my brain tags something off in my own writing then reminds me of what does work. Great tip!
ReplyDeleteLauren: Yes, we always have to self-assess. I don't think there's ever a time when an author can sit back and write book after book without continually learning.
Sarah T: Oh, that's too funny! It's cool you were able to figure out what they meant. Not easy!
Lisa G: Yeah, I don't want to repeat the same mistake. I'd rather spend time analyzying to prevent it!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I self-assess way too much! (I think. There I go again, assessing) :)
ReplyDeleteI try to self-evaluate, but I have scales over my eyes, I'm afraid. Every once in a while, a scale falls off, and I can see something I never could before. How many layers do you think there are, anyway?
ReplyDeleteI am always analyzing and self-evaluating. But it also helps to have a critique group that will be completely honest with you.
ReplyDeleteI just read what Tana wrote above, and that's exactly me. I'm so terribly hard on myself and then I second guess everything I've written and even why I've written it. I'm expecially hard on myself after the ms has sat for a while and I haven't read it in a while. I have to remind myself how much I loved it during the first draft and five or so rewrites.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason why agents might not be responding to a query could be that the manuscript's word count is too high or low.
ReplyDelete