The critique partner I mentioned in a recent post just sent me her manuscript the other day. This is something that I’ve read portions of before, but in other versions where her character had different beginnings, met a few different people, and was even narrated in a different perspective. As I said in that other post, I’m so happy the get this manuscript because I love her writing, I love this character, and I love that I have the chance to see her adventure from beginning to end. (Also, this puts me in a position to help twist and turn and fine tune the path of said adventure, which is thrilling.) On top of all of that, though — I’m relieved.
Since graduation, I’ve sent her my whole manuscript TWICE, plus a few short stories I cobbled together. She’s sent me a few short stories of her own, and asked for help in plotting out her rewrite, but, I feel, nothing near the volume I’ve asked her to critique for me.
The “partner” in the phrase isn’t something to take lightly. There should be a near-even amount of back and forth, of assistance and gain, going between the two. Lately I’ve felt as if I have taken an unfair amount of time on the receiving end, so while I’m always anxious to hear her opinion of a new idea of mine, there’s a little bit of guilt involved in knowing I’m not doing the same for her (who cares that she’s not currently asking for help and I am, my guilt certainly doesn’t care).
I like feeling like I’m earning my keep, that I can even out the trade off we’re doing with each other so we can both always feel like this relationship is beneficial and good. At least until I send her another manuscript in a couple of weeks.
Writers, do you have a critique partner? Do you ever feel like one or the other is taking up all the time, whether it’s true or simply in your head?
Aww! Well, if it makes you feel any better, the lack of back-and-forth was largely due to all the angst I had about how to make the novel work. I’m sure that future projects will come forth much faster, now that I’m out of that weird funk. And I never felt like you were taking advantage of me or anything.
Also, “My guilt certainly doesn’t care.” <—That describes so much of my life! Ha!
And I’m totally aware of that! Ha. Being perpetually guilty is part of who I am. If I wasn’t feeling guilty about that, it would be something else. =)
I was on the other side of your critique swap. I have a full-time job and just had my second child, so I don’t have a lot of free time. I have a short story and a novel WIP that I’ve been working on in pieces. My critique partner did not have children was much more prolific.
I didn’t have time to read her novel manuscripts and do any writing of my own. I take my time when I am editing someone’s work. Eventually, I had to tell her that I wasn’t going to be able to finish her novel, even though she busted through my short story in 15 minutes.
I have a new critique partner now, and we are going through our trial month together. We agreed on a page limit that both of us could work with. I’m hoping this will avoid the guilt from piling up on either side.
I feel your pain there, too; I’ve had time in my life where I had so much going on that when someone asked me to look at something, I’d put it aside and unintentionally let it rot. Never a good thing to do.
I think it is important that you and your critique partner produce at least close to a similar amount, so no one feels guilty about the relationship. At the least a maximum word count is important for something that you trade off regularly; Rachel and I did that in a writing group we were a part of for a little while. But, you want to make sure that your CP is someone you can trust, who views receiving a manuscript from you as something exciting rather than a chore — that’s the number one priority.
[…] than I actually understood what to do with. I was going to do my new book research, read most of my critique partner’s novel, catch up on a bunch of books. Instead I went to the beach, walked the dog, and did an […]