We talk all the time about how to shore up our weaknesses. That’s basically what getting a critique is all about! And it’s super useful. But not having huge weaknesses is just what makes a book acceptable. What makes a book brilliant is its strengths. So how can you learn to make your crazy diamonds shine even brighter?
These questions are designed to help you do just that (with invaluable help of those who have read your work). I’m staying away from prescriptivist advice, which can be limiting. Instead, groups using these questions will help the author see the awesome things they’re already doing, so they can focus on how to do them intentionally and maybe even better, as well as new and exciting ways they could leverage those strengths.
These questions also attempt to get away from a universal scale, and to set an individualized scale for each person. This should do three things:
- It should be less hurtful. If you only get two strengths and someone else gets seventeen, that would SUUUUCK.
- It should be more useful. It doesn’t matter if you are weak at dialogue. We’re all working on our weaknesses, and almost all books involve dialogue. It matters what kind of dialogue you’re best at–that’s something you can USE.
- It should keep the group from unintentionally setting up a hierarchy. One person being good at description doesn’t mean other people suck at it. But human brains being what they are…. Anyway, this method avoids leaning into that.
A strengths discussion can be incredibly useful—especially when you’re giving shape to new ideas. But counterintuitively, it’s also a topic with a lot of potential for unintentionally hurting others through omission or comparison. These questions attempt to mitigate that, and keep the focus constructive.
Questions for Identifying Reoccurring Motifs and Strengths:
- What kinds of scenes is the author particularly good at? For example, quiet moments, fight scenes, large-scale battles, political maneuvering, puzzle-solving scenes, sneaking scenes, introspective scenes, otherworldly or dreamy scenes, creepy scenes, intimate scenes, sex scenes, reveal scenes, etc.
- What aspects of writing does the author particularly shine at? For example, engaging dialogue, inescapable flow, building hair-pulling sideways tension, building chest-bursting forward tension, absorptive description, world-building that echoes through the whole story, characters who leap off the page, complex relationships between characters, a voice that just pulls you in, arresting interiority, heart-stopping action, strong-but-not-cheesy symbolism, weaving in world building, layering meanings, beautiful language, deft energy flow throughout a scene and book, structure that gives resonance and depth to the internal and external arcs, elegantly choosing exactly the right beats, crystalizing moments that you remember, perfectly-timed reveals, etc.
- In what way does the author lean into these skills already?
- What kinds of stories center scenes that involve those skills?
- What plot-shapes take advantage of those skills?
- What kinds of characters shine with those skills?
- What kinds of worlds shine with those skills?
- What kinds of reveals, plot devices, or turns take advantage of those skills?
- What genre/subgenre and age group’s stories come to life with those skills?
- What themes take advantage of those skills?
- How can the author lean into those skills, when they’re not a core pillar of the story they’re writing?
- What kinds of character relationships does the author shine at?
- What kinds of world building does the author shine at?
- What kind of tension is the author best at? For example, sideways tension between characters with different goals, sideways tension within a character who has conflicting goals or loyalties, building forward tension, active tension within a scene where you fear for the character’s choices or life, ambient tension where you feel like something bad is going to happen but can’t say what, etc.
- Is there a number of characters in a scene does the character shine the best with? Scenes with one character alone? Two or three characters? Five to ten characters? Or a very large number of characters?
- What kind of dialogue situations does the author shine best at? Emotional arguing? Showing intimacy? Puzzle-solving? Etc…
- What kind of action situations does the author shine at? Sneaking into places scenes? Chase scenes? Being-Clever-To-Save-Your-Life scenes? Sword-fighting? Magic? Explosive political action? Epic dance scenes? Wild nature exploratory scenes? Etc…
- What kinds of characters would or do have the opportunity to shine, given the author’s strengths? And what about the author’s skillset makes those characters shine?
- What are some ways the author’s writing has improved since you’ve known them?
- What are the author’s recurring motifs or themes?
- What plot arcs echo those themes or motifs?
- What kinds of character arcs echo those themes or motifs?
- What kinds of worlds echo those themes or motifs?
- What kinds of reveals, plot devices, or turns intensify those themes or motifs?
- What genre/subgenre and age group’s stories do those themes or motifs fit?
- What kind of stories naturally extend from these motifs and themes?
Final Question: In your fan-fiction universe, what kind of story would you love to see the author write, that you think would embrace their talents?
