May 15^th:  

Critique Partners are worth their weight in gold. Early on in my writing career, I was fortunate to get involved with four ladies who laid down some rules (or rather we followed rules laid down FOR us) that set in motion a plan to have a fellow writer (or four) look over your work and give honest feed-back. Key word: honest. Having someone read garbage and report back “it’s fabulous” is worth only the paper on which it’s written. I try to remember that every time I critique someone’s work. On the other hand, valuable advice when the plot/scene doesn’t work is probably your best opportunity to perfect your work prior to sending to a publisher. Having a fresh pair of eyes, a different viewpoint, or alternative phrasing can make or break your chance of acceptance.

I don’t necessarily use every suggestion and my critique partner doesn’t always use all of mine. After all, my stories belong to me. Her stories belong to her. That trust is critical for the partnership to work. So if you get your feelings easily hurt, you’re not ready for a full-blown critique partner. You’re looking more for someone who will pat you on your back and insist you are the next J.K. Rowling. Another word for that is ‘family.’