CRITICISM -- GIVE & TAKE

On this week's Nonfiction Ninja blog, Stephanie Bearce talks about HOW TO TAKE CRITICISM AND USE IT. One of the more important lessons a writer needs to learn. Steph specifically talks about getting a critique from an industry professional and how to use that information. 

I'd like to add to the convo by focusing on giving a critique. Another skill that every writer should learn. Here are just a few pointers you can start with.

1. Read the manuscript twice. I like to read through once as a reader would, just for fun, and get a first impression. And then read it again looking at key components like the lead - did it grab my attention. The flow of information - was it in a logical order? Did I get confused? Scenes - did they support the main idea? Were they vivid?

2. Start with a positive comment. It is just as important for a writer to know what they do well as what they need to work on. Explain, briefly, what you liked about the manuscript. Maybe you were impressed by the the way the writer used quotations, or wove in details to make a scene pop. It isn't helpful to just say, "This is amazing." 

3. Be specific. Point to places in the manuscript that you felt needed attention. Being vague never helped anyone. So, if you felt the ending didn't work for you - explain -- was it too abrupt? Did it go off topic? Did it lack closer? And why?

4. In an oral critique, mention 2 or 3 elements and then let another member of the group speak. In a written critique, you can elaborate. 

I'll add more to this list in the weeks to come. But basically, be nice, be helpful, and pay it forward. 

Drowning in Jane Austen - an Interview with author Nancy I. Sanders

I have the great pleasure of sharing an interview with my friend and fellow NF Ninja Nancy I. Sanders, the bestselling and award-winning children’s author of 100+ books, as well as two wonderful how-to writer's guides that share the inside scoop on how to create a successful writing career like hers: Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Children’s Books, Get Them Published, and Build a Successful Writing Career  and Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books. If you want more inspiration, check out her insightful blog posts at Blogzone.

Nancy's newest title is Jane Austen for Kids published by Chicago Review Press. It's an exciting introduction to one of the most influential and best-loved novelists in English literature. Often compared to William Shakespeare, Austen’s genius was her cast of characters—so timeless and real that readers know them in their own families and neighborhoods today. Her book’s universal themes—love and hate, hope and disappointment, pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility—still tug at heartstrings today in cultures spanning the globe.

Jane Austen lived through some of the most important events in history—the American Revolution, the French Revolution, British expansion in India, and the Napoleonic Wars. She wrote about daily life in England as she knew it, growing up a clergyman’s daughter among the upper class of landowners, providing readers with a window into the soul of a lively, imaginative, and industrious woman in an age when most women were simply obscure shadows among society.

This book is much more than just a biography. Like all books in the For Kids series it contains 21 activities that immerse kids and adults in the Regency period. You'll learn to dance the Boulanger, play Whist, host a tea party, perform a theatrical and so much more. This is a great resource for any reader looking for the woman behind the words.

Today, on the 202nd anniversary of Jane Austen's death, I wanted Nancy to tell us a little about how she came to write about Jane and about her writing journey.

P: Why did you decide to write about Jane Austen?

N: As a teenager, I fell in love with Jane Austen when I read Pride and Prejudice. About 2 years ago I watched her novel adapted to movie, Persuasion, starring Amanda Root. That movie instantly became one of my favorite movies of all time. That evening, I devoured Jane Austen’s novel and started obsessing about reading all six of them (some of them for the first time).

I actually felt guilty drowning myself in Austen’s novels instead of doing my household chores and other daily commitments when suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. I could let myself obsess about Jane Austen and write my own biography about her too! So I landed a contract to write this book and for the last 2 years while I wrote this biography, I lived, breathed, and ate everything Jane. It was one of the most wonderful life experiences I’ve ever enjoyed.

P: What was a highlight of your journey?

N: The most memorable event was taking a Jane Austen tour with JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America. I got to walk in Jane’s footsteps and attend a gala celebration in England in honor of the 200^th anniversary of her death. Also, meeting all the wonderful Janeites on this tour as well as at their annual meeting really has given me such a richer life and appreciation of Jane.

 P: What do you hope to accomplish with your book?

N: Jane Austen was one of the greatest writers in English literature of all time. She was simply a genius. And she was a woman writing when women had few rights at all. I love introducing young people to such a fantastic writer as well as such an amazing woman. I hope they’ll find in her a great role model and also fall in love with her writing. In a world of cell phones and gaming and technology, I hope to inspire a new generation of young people to learn the joy of curling up in a comfy chair and losing yourself in a great book.

P: What word of advice do you have for other writers?

N: Sometimes we find ourselves obsessing about something. Instead of feeling guilty about it, turn it into a manuscript project. For example, are you bitten by a home-decorating bug? Write a book about it! Do you love the cooking shows? Write a biography about your favorite celebrity chef! Really dive into what you’re passionate about and turn it into a book project.

Thank you, Nancy! (and thank you, Jane)

Using Fair Assumptions in Nonfiction

Nonfiction is the truth, facts, and nothing but the facts. Right?  So, is there ever room for conjecture if it is based on those very facts? This question inevitably comes up during a writing workshop, and it is hard to explain, but yes, you can make certain assumptions if the facts support it.

I first heard the term "fair assumptions" during a talk given by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and Elizabeth Partridge.  The example given involved a scene in which a gas lamp hissed. "How do you know the gas lamp hissed?" a student asked. Elizabeth explained that the details of that scene were taken from a photograph that showed a gas lamp hanging in the background. Elizabeth had used that kind of gas lamp and she'd heard it hiss. She made a fair assumption that all gas lamps hiss therefore the lamp in the photo hissed and the people in the photo would have heard it, even though nowhere in any written historic document had anyone mentioned the noise the gas lamp made. 

Last week I mentioned Erik Larson's book Isaac's Storm, and he, too, makes a few fair assumptions which he notes in the back matter. Some are based on photographs. With a magnifying glass Larson picked out specific items like a hat, clothing, etc,strewn in the debris that Isaac would probably have seen although he never wrote about them in any letter or journal.

Another refers to his description of Isaac's family going to either the Murdoch's bath house or  the Pagoda bath house on Sunday.  Larson admits that he found no documentation proving this, but asserts that the close proximity, and the "communal character of the time -- and the absence of television -- it is all but certain that the Clines did so."

Another example is Larson's assumption that venomous snakes competed with people for space in trees to escape the flood and bit people who then may have fallen and drowned. No one knows if this really happened in Galveston, but the phenomenon has been reported elsewhere. Snakes most certainly would have crawled to higher ground, but would they have bitten their competitors? I know I would out of fear and survival instincts. 

The most understandable assumption involves dreams.  As Larson says, "I base this observation on human nature. What survivor of a tragedy has never dreamed that the outcome had been different."

Would you make the same assumptions?  Every writer is different. 

Before you include a fair assumption in your own text ask yourself: Does it change the story? Does it change the reader's perception of the event? If so, don't do it. 

This tool should also be used judiciously.  In Larson's 300 page book, which includes 15 pages of notes, I found only 7 instances where he had to explain his use of fair assumption.  

And like Larson, explain your reasoning in the back matter. Don't let your reader assume you made anything up.