Partnership

I had a hard time starting this piece. My critique partner is sleeping. Let’s be truthful, I can’t live without her. When I think my writing sucks and that this time the magic isn’t going to happen, that I’ve lost my ability to write, just the word ‘more?’ will encourage me. No, she’s not a cheerleader or a crutch. In fact, she can be pretty hard on me. She’s a brave woman.

Why? Well, I don’t take criticism well. Okay, see, now it’s out there. I get cranky at myself when I’ve missed words or misspelled something, but tell me a scene isn’t working…I’ll pout. Yeah, I’m such a baby. So then I’ll stomp back to the drawing board and fix it. She’s never steered me wrong, and I hope she can say the same back.

Because we’re partners. We take it to a little higher level than Anny mentioned yesterday or than she’d want. Not only does my critique partner comment on story flow, but she marks structural problems. She’d be horrified if I turned in a manuscript that wasn’t clean. Same here.

But that’s what’s expected of our partnership. I would never try to rewrite her story, but I will point out errors. When setting out in a critique relationship, it’s of the utmost importance to know what’s expected—just like in any relationship really. For example ‘this is good’ as a comment alone won’t cut it for me when I’m looking for a critique—but I won’t complain if I hear it. I expect to be flayed and have the words cut to the bone. Thankfully, painful flayings are much less frequent than they used to be.

My critique partner and I have been together since 1992. That’s as long as I’ve been married. In fact, we hooked up two weeks before my wedding. I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say we know each other well. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I think that’s important, too. You won’t get a feel for each other’s writing in just one session. It takes several. Patience is important, as is communication. If you don’t like the way a critique is done, you should tactfully say so—and not because you’re pouting (like me) or because you don’t take criticism well.

Anyway, 1992…that’s a long time. We were together for fourteen years before she was published and fifteen for me. Ironically, our books were accepted mere months apart. Since we essentially learned to write together, we’re at the same writing level and it seems just. Time together aside, I could have been bitter or competitive because she got an acceptance first. I’m a very competitive person, but let me say and be very clear, there is no place for competition or bitterness in a critique relationship. There just isn’t. Neither is there a place for superiority. Both of those things will kill the partnership in short order. Even if your partner is published first or more frequently published, she still needs you. She trusts you to be there for her.

For the record, my critique partner is Bronwyn Green and I couldn’t be more proud to have her at my side as I write and to stand beside her as she pens great books.