Q. How will you critique my manuscript?

A. A manuscript has many layers to study. I look at one layer at a time, using the six traits of writing. I've divided the traits into two groups: the big picture traits and the small details traits.

1. Ideas, organization, and voice are the big picture traits.
2. Word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions are the small details traits.

If your book doesn't have the big picture writing traits ready, it's not publishable yet. In Lessons #1-6, I'll teach you how to see these traits. Week by week you'll read books that compete with yours, so you can see how other writers used these traits.

Q. When will you critique my manuscript?

A. Critique begins in Lessons #7-12 of the Intensive Picture Book Workshop and the Children's Novels Workshop. For lessons #7-11, you'll send me writing for the big picture traits. For lesson #12, you'll send in a completed picture book manuscript or a first chapter. (I'll critique your other chapters in the Next Chapter workshops.)

Q. Can I start with the critique?

A. My students come from all levels of the continuum, from beginner to advanced. (Yes, authors and ilustrators with published books take my workshops.) Reading one book doesn't mean you know everything that happens in the next one, so you don't start a book in the middle. A workshop is the same. Everyone begins with at the beginning with Lesson #1. No exceptions.

Q. After I complete the workshop, will you critique my next book?

A. After you have taken Lessons #1-6 once, you can start a new manuscript in that format with Lessons #7-12. (If you change formats, you will need to start with Lesson 1 again. Picture books and novels are very different.)

Q. Will you critique my manuscript if I don't take these workshops?

A. No. I believe in the old Chinese proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I don't want to just give you the fish (the critique). I want to teach you how to fish.