Writers Conference Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'll be going to Rutgers for the Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature One-on-One Plus Conference. (Say that three times fast!)

I've never attended the Rutgers conference as either a mentor or a mentee, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this format differs from some of the other conferences I've participated in. (It'll be interesting to look at this from both sides of the box as well...)

Hopefully, I'll have the new, infamous digital camera charged and ready for the outing.

I suppose this is also a good time to talk about how to receive criticism/feedback of your work.

Believe it or not, it's actually kind of intimidating to sit down with an author face-to-face and analyze their manuscript. You know that they've put their heart and soul into what they've just handed you. And, I know from sitting on the other end of the chair, what you want to hear as the author is "I love it! Here's your contract." (Note: I believe at the SCBWI Poughkeepsie conference, only once has an editor come with a contract in hand.) As the critiquer, you want to give positive feedback and constructive criticism. You want the writer to feel like you understood what she was trying to do, and that she got some value out of sitting with you.

Here are some things to think about as a writer before you sit face to face with an editor/agent/author that's critiquing your work.

1.) Come prepared. If it's been a while since you handed in the work to be critiqued, give it another read so you can talk about it without having to flip through the pages. Think about a list of questions that are pertinent to that manuscript in particular, and your writing in general. Do you worry your characters aren't fully drawn? Do you usually have problems with setting -- is the setting clear in this piece? Do you keep hearing the same feedback in rejection letters that you don't understand?

2.) Listen. It is so hard to listen when someone is saying something that you construe as negative about your 'baby.' I remember how hard it was in a creative writing class not to try and defend your work when classmates were still giving feedback. This is the same thing. Listen first.

3.) Ask questions. Usually after feedback is given, the critiquer will ask if you have any questions for them. Here is where you can ask them to clarify their comments. If you felt like the critiquer didn't "get" your work, tell them what you were going for, and ask how you can make that more clear. Ask them the questions you prepared before. ** Do not pull out another manuscript and ask them to look at it. **

4.) Be courteous. If your time is wrapping up, and you see the next group of participants are waiting, end your session cordially. Say thank you, shake hands and give them a business card if they ask. Don't ask for "one last question" when the next participants are waiting. This is uncomfortable because the editor/agent/author has to keep their schedule, and doesn't want to shorten another persons critique because they're running long.

I hope that helps for future conferences, and look forward to tomorrow!