Comments on Tina Laurel Lee: Coworking, Groupthink, Collaboration, TPR

Hey, Ray! Thanks for asking! I think this: it'...

2012-02-01T13:02:16.862-06:00

Hey, Ray! Thanks for asking! I think this: it's like receiving critiques. You learn from receiving them and at first they make your book a lot better, but eventually you reach some kind of skill ceiling and you keep trying to please people and make it right and you're desperate to make it right because you have been working on this thing forever but you just can't seem to do it, but you don't give up, and then this amazing thing happens where you actually reach the one million words you are supposed to write and you can totally see what is going on and where your book needs to be fixed. And so it goes with query critique until finally you write a new query that takes into account nothing that the critters said, but is perfect the first try.

I say post it, get some perspective on your query from the flurry of opinions and then write a killer one because you are the only one that knows the beauty of your book.

If all of that makes any sense. :)

Let me ask you this: have you ever posted a query ...

2012-02-01T12:11:47.348-06:00

Let me ask you this: have you ever posted a query on a message board and opened it up for crit? I've been reading a lot of these lately, and I'm noticing a distinct tipping point in the groupthink process. Initially, the queries seem to improve by leaps and bounds, but then, in an effort to please the mass mind, the writers end up sacrificing a lot of the spark and life in their query. In order to make it palatable to the group, they have to make it bland, often plugging it into one of the many, accepted 'query formulas'. I ask because I'm going to be posting my own sometime soon, and I'm wondering how much stock I should put in that kind of feedback. Your thoughts, Ms. Lee?

I think this all began with the three of us (J too...

2012-01-18T13:13:49.284-06:00

I think this all began with the three of us (J too). You keep the water cooler over at your blog. Thanks for working in the cubical next to mine. It really has made this arduous adventure much more fun. Thanks! :)

I am so much more creative when I am not creating ...

2012-01-18T09:39:07.448-06:00

I am so much more creative when I am not creating in a vacuum. I haven't read the times article yet, but I am pretty sure that I disagree, too. :)

I would not be anywhere close to where I am now if it weren't for you and your coworker movement. I owe you a ton! :) Plus you are just awesome to hang out with, even if I wasn't getting tons of writing done. :)

Hey, hi, Lily Cate! I checked out a trailer for ...

2012-01-17T12:06:46.892-06:00

Hey, hi, Lily Cate!

I checked out a trailer for one of your husband's films once. Must have been on you blog. I remember loving the oddness of it. Thinking that there was some kind of writing equivalent I should explore. It was horror, right? Does he always do horror? Oh, maybe you just said he does shakespeare sometimes. That sounds like my kind of life! What about writing? Have you explored collaboration like that as a writer? I wonder does it have to happen locally?

'Tis the time for trying new things over and over and over again.

I love this theme. My husband is a filmmaker, whi...

2012-01-17T10:06:52.963-06:00

I love this theme.
My husband is a filmmaker, which is monstrously collaborative. If just the right people get together on just the right project, it's a blissful harmony. And when they don't... (shudder) For the last few years, he's been working with a brilliant musician and a small company of actors that are so fantastically interested in trying new things. And if that sounded a little porny, seriously, it's not. It's like - "Let's do some Shakespeare in an abandoned theater". "Sounds great!"

Hi, Marcy! How did it go last night? There were to...

2012-01-17T09:36:37.611-06:00

Hi, Marcy! How did it go last night? There were tons of folks there! I wish the Monday evenings weren't such a crazy time for me.

Oh oceangirl, look how sweet you are! Going over to check up on you.

Hello Tina, I would go where you go Tina. I don&#...

2012-01-16T21:41:54.513-06:00

Hello Tina, I would go where you go Tina. I don't know much but I do know that to be in your group is wonderful.

thanks for the reminder! Heading over there now to...

2012-01-16T18:36:44.388-06:00

thanks for the reminder! Heading over there now to sign up for the evening's practice :)