The Feedback Loop: Tell me if this sounds familiar… You’ve mapped out a fantastic story, put pen to paper, and really, really hope you’ve done your idea justice. That first chapter probably needs a sixth rewrite, though. And the middle part might be saggy. Maybe no one will notice? The banter seems snappy, too. Or rude. You’ve read it so much, you can’t tell anymore. Sigh.
Authors at every stage of their careers need a trusty feedback loop to help pinpoint where the magical ideas fall apart on the page. Critiques (and thick skin!) are vital to the writing process and help a writer hone her editorial eye. During this session, we’ll cover how to get feedback (contests! critique partners! beta readers!), how to give useful feedback to others and yourself, when it’s okay to ditch the feedback you’ve been given, and (gasp!) when it might be time to trunk a manuscript and start fresh.
About the Presenters
Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author whose works include novels, non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction. She has won the prestigious RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America (RWA), has been a finalist twice, been a Ucross Foundation Fellow, received the Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship for Poetry, and was awarded a Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Award. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) as a Director at Large.
She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with two Maine coon cats, plentiful free-range lizards, and a very handsome Doctor of Oriental Medicine.
Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com, every Sunday at the popular SFF Seven blog, on Facebook, on Goodreads, and pretty much constantly on Twitter @jeffekennedy. She is represented by Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
KATIE McCOACH (she/her) is a developmental editor & writing coach. She’s been helping authors grow their best stories since 2012. Many of her authors have gone on to self-publish, land literary agents and publishing deals, and several have won awards. Her editing specialties are romance, women’s fiction, YA, and memoir.
She teaches online and in-person workshops, is a founding editor of Revise & Resub (#RevPit), and judges multiple writing contests. She also runs an online Facebook writing community where she provides live streams on writing/editing topics.
She recently had her first child, over-cuddles her allergy-inducing cats, and is obsessed with almost every show on The CW. And with a coffee shop on every corner in Los Angeles, you’ll never find Katie without caffeine. www.katiemccoach.com
