Sunday, April 6, 2008

The Retreat of the Wonder Twins

In just under three weeks, I'm going on a writing retreat with my friend and critique partner, Paula Payton. I got to know Paula when we served as Regional Co-Advisors for the Michigan Chapter of SCBWI (2003-2005). Early in our tenure, she jokingly referred to us as The Wonder Twins, and the name stuck. The wonderful cartoon at the top of this entry was drawn by Ruth McNally Barshaw.

Paula and I used to belong to the same online novel critique group. That group dissolved, but our friendship didn't. I learned a huge amount about manuscript critiquing (and writing) through my years with that group.

About a month ago, we exchanged copies of our works-in-progress. We'll critique each other's manuscripts before we arrive. At the retreat, we will discuss the comments and work on revisions.

Progress report: I have read Paula's novel through once, and I'm about half way through making detailed comments. I still have to compose my impressions and write a summary.

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