Author Heather McCorkle

Today’s tip is inspired by this week’s #WritersRoad chat. Our topic was being a good critique partner. This can end up being so much harder than it sounds. Those of you who are in, or have been in, critique groups know what I mean. It was a great chat filled with a lot of good advice. Tip: Be the kind of critique partner or beta reader that you expect others to be. I’ll add to this though, be respectful, mention what worked, what you liked, and don’t try to force your ideas of what needs to be done or changed onto the author. If you expect others not to hold back, understand that others may not be open to this kind of critiquing. The safest thing to do is to get to know the writer first, ask about their expectations, and respect them.

I caught a lot of great tweets for you last week! The wonderful and frank Audry T brings us this great post about why we should plot: AudryT  Are you a pantser-by-default? Get off your ass and start plotting: terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/03… One of my favorite blogs talks about when to do research: LTWFblog Let The Words Flow When to do Research? Before the first draft, or after? wp.me/pF0gi-1Tf #amresearching #amwriting #amwriting Agent Sarah LaPolla stresses the importance of reading our manuscripts aloud: sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla by julichilliard: Writers: Read your work aloud. If you trip over too many words or poorly constructed sentences, it's time to rewrite. Agent Sarah LaPolla brings us a tip on dialogue: sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla by julichilliard:  #writingtip If it's obvious who is speaking, you don't need dialogue tags. Narrative is much cleaner when you remove unnecessary "said." My critique sisters and I are hosting another critique sess...