Critiquing

France is no more than a fond memory now. From my bed I could look out on this secluded patio, and in two strides I could be out there in the baking hot sunshine.
Back at home, I have finally caught up. E-mails are under control, crit group duties completed, bills all paid, store cupboard stocked up, all that miserable washing and ironing out of the way. The biggest bugbear of holidays for me is the laundry work on returning home.

Best of all, I seem to have got back into the writing routine. My latest is called Victorian Beauty, and I had to do a swift re-vamp of my heroine, who had got out-of-control-nosy over the hero. Critters complained they didn't like her any more, and at first I couldn't see it, until Mirella explained how it would only take a little reworking, a sentence or two, to make the whole thing take on a different slant - and then Mel would be acceptable.
I saw the light, and did as Mirella suggested. Even I like Mel better now! Just goes to show how easy it is to change a character's motivation, or make their actions believeable. But until my crit partners told the truth, I'd thought everything was fine with the story as it was. So the thought of the day is: be truthful, kind and constructive when critiquing someone's work. They need to know when it doesn't work, but don't need battering over the head about it!