Summer Workshop 2016 (Completed)

♠ Session #2 | How to Critique + 1 on 1

Welcome back everyone!

With an exceptionally well done week, we want to thank everyone for their outstanding participation in this! It's so nice to see everyone putting in their effort and even taking the time to get to know everyone!

Alright, so let's jump right into our session two... The topic this week is How to Critique, including an activity we'll be doing for 1 on 1 conferences with your partners!

♠️

Critiquing

Now, many of us who're in certain book clubs or critiquing clubs would often follow this format when writing a review for a book:

- Positive
- Negative
- Encouragement

That, is a good model to follow for critiquing anyone's book. But the fact that everyone will follow that, you'll often have your comments section of your book filled with the same format of reviews.

So let's structure another critiquing method so that it changes up the generic way! Here it is:

- Positive feedback (what you thought was pretty well written by the author)
- Character inflection (what you appreciated or disliked about the people in the story)
- Feedback (what can be changed/altered/fixed)
- Words of encouragement that are different than saying "keep it up."

Sometimes the same format gets boring and repetitive. Anyone agree?

So if you end up critiquing, try using different formats because you want to stick out from the rest of the boring reviews. It gets the author excited as well! We speak from experience.

Especially long paragraphs...with a lot of things the reader wants the author to fix. Too repetitive! Break it up into small comment portions. That way the reader can digest the information and feel encouraged rather than discourage to think: "Wow, maybe my writing isn't that good after all..." Which definitely shouldn't be the goal of critiquing.

Hope this helps you all for future critiquing!

♠️

A C T I V I T Y : CRAZY COMMENTING

Now, onto the second week's activity! This one is more adventurous and very different from what you must be thinking.

How many of us were paired with someone in a book club and we're practically FORCED to read it?

You will be paired with ONE person. This person is going to be the pairing you're going to work with for the rest of the week.

Your assignment is to read their book; but not much of critiquing. Why, you ask? We'll get onto the critiquing discussed above sometime later. THIS critiquing challenge will be focusing on:

The pure BOOK.

Too often the critiquing consists of fixing spelling, grammar, punctuation. Sure that all matters; but don't ignore the story for the grammar. Same way the quote goes, don't miss the forest for a tree.

ENJOYING the story is the key here. You want to sit down and READ the story the same way you sit down to read your favourite book. You're not going to sit down and find its flaws; you'll embrace the vibe of the book. That's a very important part of being a writer.

Requirements:

- Read at least 6 chapters of the person's book; feel free to read more if you discover you like the story!
- Comment, comment, comment; this activity is all about enjoying the book. See something you like? Let the author know!
- Feel free to vote
- If you've read some of the book before, continue where you left off
- Most of all, READ don't EXAMINE!
- There is no minimum to comment and neither is there a maximum...But PLEASE, be reasonable with your commenting.

Pairings:

ASK EACH OTHER WHICH BOOK YOU'D YOU TO READ IF THEY HAVE MULTIPLE!

@judajudaas and @numinousally

@ritafcorre and @tulsi107

@I_Am_Sherlock and @mxnsterz

@gnizzles and @abnegationbooklover

@divinereaderz and @night_lights19

@muzic-lover and nekotoxic

@SagarikaKhannaBooks and @deepsealife

@divaqueen1016 and _BlindDreams_

@HayleyMonroe and @Kiah4Leanne

@cleverwren and @Ms_Book_Worm

@jamisters and @no_kidding

@willow_danvers and @tulsi107

@Fleeting_Dreams and @annagems

@Free_Me_From_This and @MaddyCampbellWriters

@hurri-cane and @eleutheromanial

@fymir13 and @handwrite

@Lunar_Life and @SET_in-stone

@gappi1902 and @Kiara786786

@ShyAnimalLover5 and @spicy_sweets

@ElliePlays and @koalanindya

@Emcobaby2005 and @tulsi107

@lutfiaaah and @GeekyBooks2

@DanyelleSilver and @GirlWithAWish123

@pathetic2001 and @scribbledfindings

@tulsi107 and @Belli_Love

Please complete your assignments on time! Your assignment is due July 8th, 2016.

S H O U T O U T :

This workshop's shoutout goes to... cleverwren !! They are the author of, The Summer of Stripes Tees. Everyone should check them out and give them some support on their book! Be sure to follow them as well, as the love you give to someone will shed back onto you! Congrats on the shoutout!

Thank you everyone! Have fun with completing your assignments, we promise you'll get this love back. Besides, it IS called, "Crazy Commenting!"

WritersRing