A Slice of Orange

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By OCC Co-President Sandy Novy-Chvostal

Critiquing: Sometimes a Paneful Necessity

I am a writer; words are my bred and butter. So I take great pride in insuring that I always select the right word to express my exact meaning.

Yet, despite the fact that i have a photogenic memory, even I have been known to make mistakes. I once told an editor that she was an abnormality in the business, only to have a friend quickly correct that to anomality. And although I realize that a condiment is something you put on your hot dog, and a condom on something else entirely, I’ve unfortunately traversed those two words as well.

But as bad as it is to make mistakes like these in pubic, its even worse when you make them in you’re writing. Because then the reader (and editor) is detracted from what you are trying to say.

Which is why I am so thankful to have critique partners. Along with helping me develop plot and characterization, they also help me catch those small mistakes in my books that some time slip through spell check.

But if you are a knew writer, you may not have found critique partners yet. And you may be wondering how ou can get you’re work critiqued. Well, here are a few suggestions to help you get started:

*Enter OCC’s Orange Rose Contest. The oldest, RWA chapter contest, the Orange Rose, was created to help our members get published. Every entrant receives detailed feedback from three published writers, and finalists are judged by acquiring editors. (Please see page 15.)

*First-Chapter Critique drawings. Offered monthly by our generous published authors, OCC members can enter this drawing for free at every general meeting.

*Critique Group Raffles. Still in the works, our creative Ways & Means directors are devising ways to give members the chance to “check out” how established critiqued groups function. Watch for more info in upcoming Orange Blossom issues and The Morning Juice loop.

*Stay for lunch at the meetings. There’s no better time to get get to know your fellow OCC members, and hopefully, find someone you’d like to work with–such as an all most error proof writer like me!

Happy Writing!

Sandy

Sandy Novy-Chvostal (aka Sandra Paul) has a degree in journalism, but prefers to write from the heart. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have three children, three cats, and one overgrown “puppy.” Romantic Times has labeled Sandra Paul’s work as “outrageously funny and surprisingly perceptive” while Rendezvous stated “Sandra Paul is imagination with wings.”