Novel Journey Critiques

Gina, Jessica and I are critique partners who are passionate about good fiction. To that end, we pledged never to allow each other to settle for mediocrity. Our critiques are tough to say the least.

I've received comments like: "Yawn." "No way." and "I don't believe this character would do that." among other remarks. I've even had them suggest I scrap entire chapters. But they do encourage me to reach for the best I can be. The point is: I could do better. And I did. We all do.

We've grown up together in our writing, teaching one another as we each learn something new. We've learned to show and not tell, use action instead of passive. POV, characterization and description are bywords of our critiques. Once we had all that down, we learned when to break the rules, and how to do it with panache.

After receiving a number of requests for critiques, we decided to do a series on Novel Journey. You're invited to submit 1,000 words for a free critique by each of us and posted (author to remain anonymous) on Novel Journey.

Our first brave soul will be critiqued on Thursday, Dec. 28th.

Also upcoming: author interviews with Michael Palmer, Zondervan Sr. Fiction Editor: Sue Brower, Jeff Andrew, and lots of other folks.