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Writing Peer Letters for Better Critique Conversations

Episode 186: Writing Peer Letters for Better Critique Conversations

Episode Description

  Critique conversations can sometimes be complicated by the reader’s intention rather than serving the author of the piece being critiqued. This month, a small cohort of Stop Writing Alone members is trying out a new process for critique involving some tools like Writing Notes (discussed in episode 185), and Peer Letters, to help writing groups remain focused on the true purpose of critiquing each other’s writing: helping each writer to best bring their vision for their writing to life. In this episode, Nicole describes how she has used this tool in the Stop Writing Alone Critique Crew to serve the writers she is reading

  COMPLETE SHOW NOTES: 

https://stopwritingalone.substack.com/p/episode-186-writing-peer-letters#details

Check out this episode!

#stop writing alone #writing group #writing podcast #writing community

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"Writing Notes" for Critique and Creation

Episode 185: "Writing Notes" for Critique and Creation

Episode Description

  As the Stop Writing Alone Critique Crew has begun to experiment with a new way to critique our writing, I have discovered a tool in “writing notes” that I wanted to share with the whole community. “Writing Notes” are meant to be shared with readers of your work to help focus their feedback on what you actually need to help your WIP become exactly what you’ve dreamed, but I have also found that these notes are helping me stay focused as well. This week I shared my process in writing my writing notes and challenge you to take the time to write them for your own WIP.

  COMPLETE SHOW NOTES:

https://stopwritingalone.substack.com/p/episode-185-writing-notes-for-critique#details

Check out this episode!

#stop writing alone #writing group #writing podcast #writing community

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I’m a pretty superstitious sports fan. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the @mets. Last year, when I was distracted by lots of #writingcommunity events with @stopwritingalone in the Spring, I missed out on #OpeningDay and the beginning of the season. When I surfaced from my creative corners and peeked in on the Mets, well… things were going very well and I was terrified to tune in. I’ve had a lifetime of feeling like the jinx. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I did not want to *interfere* with last year. I was even asked, “What kind of Mets fan are you?” A sacrificial one, I guess? 🤷🏻‍♀️ A ridiculous one with stupid superstitions that don’t make any kind of real sense? Anyway, it’s opening day in the mlb today and I am here for it. If things go sideways this season some part of me is going to blame myself. Lol. But, you know what? I’m feeling lucky this year. And I am putting my faith in the athletes who have to do so much more than *show up* to make this happen. 🔵Let’s 🟠Go ⚾️Mets! #LGM https://www.instagram.com/p/CqaisQsO0Og/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#writingcommunity #openingday #lgm

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Lexemo leash practice. First step: Nicole, learn how to put the wings on the right direction. 🤦🏻‍♀️ #beardiesofinstagram #motherofdragons https://www.instagram.com/p/CqYmAPmO-fU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#beardiesofinstagram #motherofdragons

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This is Alex. And his invented alphabet. And goggles to see his toys underwater during his bath. I love this kid so much. #myson #momlife https://www.instagram.com/p/CqPEIqAsrjB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#myson #momlife

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I am super intrigued by the 21st century science-thing going on with my body right now. This afternoon I had an amniotic lens placed in my right eye to trigger some sort of stem cell garden to help combat the dry eye I have. It’s a one eye at a time type of procedure and I have been told that this type of treatment will offer only the tiniest bit of vision improvement, but when you’re on my end of visual issues, micro improvements can feel monumental. And anyway, I am just excited to be a host to any kind of healthy growth, particularly in the ocular region! Wish my tiny micro growths luck on their new lives as a part of the wacky bio dome! #ifeellikeascienceproject https://www.instagram.com/p/CqMK6vMrrVQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#ifeellikeascienceproject

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Got into my office and was greeted by yesterday’s mini #bookhaul from @bnstatenisland — new #writernotebooks, a book on togetherness and a book about Octavia E. Butler — I didn’t realize until just now how much this is me walking the talk of @stopwritingalone summed up in one bookstore trip! #ubuntu #octaviabutler #writerlife #nicolesnotebooks #stopwritingalone https://www.instagram.com/p/CqLDjMOun9N/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#bookhaul #writernotebooks #ubuntu #octaviabutler #writerlife #nicolesnotebooks #stopwritingalone

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Is ChatGPT AI A Writer's Friend or Foe?

AI is here, do you think ChatGPT is a writer’s friend or foe? This week Nicole sits down with three writers who have dove in to use tools like ChatGPT and Jasper to ask them about their experiences. Jackie Dana, Heather Huffman and Susie Taylor share how they have used these tools in their fiction, content creation, research and more. Tune in to hear about why you might be celebrating this new tech and what, if anything, you still have to fear. 

COMPLETE SHOW NOTES HERE: 

https://stopwritingalone.substack.com/p/episode-184-is-chatgpt-ai-a-writers#details

Check out this episode!

#stop writing alone #writing group #writing podcast #writing community

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Just found a crocus in our front yard. Wondering who planted it. 😇 https://www.instagram.com/p/CqGgDe6OZJl/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Sent in the husband to check out the mysterious sphere. It’s man made. He thinks it’s a treat someone made for the deer or something. It is attached to a black string. Welcome to life with visually impaired Nicole. Mysteries are made out of anything! https://www.instagram.com/p/CqExXmqMzBo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Found some honest to goodness WILD Staten Island Turkeys 🦃 today hanging out where they are supposed to be: in the woods! Welcomed them to the neighborhood and then went to get a closer look at the mystery sphere I first spotted earlier this week. I put my Seek @inaturalistorg app to work on it and for a millisecond it identified the sphere as a “gall wasp nest” — anyone know anything about that? I saw “wasp” and got out of Dodge. Quickly. #sigreenbelt #sigreenway #statenislandturkeys @siadvance the turkeys were on Park Drive North — we never see them over here! https://www.instagram.com/p/CqCTw0-so1L/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#sigreenbelt #sigreenway #statenislandturkeys

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Went on a poetry scavenger hunt in the Staten Island Mall today for the session of @sigreenbelt “The Garbage We Inherit” workshop I am a part of. This was so much weird fun stumbling down memory lanes racing around the mall with no destination like I was 12 all over again. #amwriting https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp8coynugdr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#amwriting

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Can anyone tell me what this is? Saw it on the SI Greenway, very close to Signs Road. I was wearing my Chucks so I couldn’t get any closer. Is this some kid’s ball stuck in the tree with its exterior lost to erosion, or is this some bit of spherical nature? #statenisland #statenislandgreenway #greenbelt #naturequestion https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp6gkRwsJ2S/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#statenisland #statenislandgreenway #greenbelt #naturequestion

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This is equal parts adorable and pathetic. They are watching Instagram videos together. They are laughing and then, almost in unison, they begin to cough — one from asthma and the other from an upper respiratory infection. I am working to heal them both. #dadlife #momlife #familylife https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpyv2H5s-Hx/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#dadlife #momlife #familylife

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This weekend started normally enough. I think it was around 8am Saturday morning when Alex climbed on my back singing, “Good morning Mommy!” As he used me as a table for his Nintendo Switch. It amused me that it was in such stark contrast to how my brother and I used to greet the weekend by sneaking into the basement to watch cartoons and our copy of Star Wars on VHS recorded from TV all while hoping we did not wake our parents. This is Alex, forever seeing Mommy as his parent AND his playmate. Sunday, however, started a little differently. He woke and brought his Switch into his own bed, played for a little while, then put it down. Hearing the game stop I went and found him going back to sleep. Something was very wrong. I didn’t need the thermometer to tell me what his red lips already had: we had entered FEVER TOWN. It was 102° temp Sunday morning. 103° temp Monday morning. Each day the temp slowly fading to low grade, or, like, Monday afternoon, back to normal. There were no other symptoms. We kept him home from school today thinking we just wanted one full day of no temps between Alex and school. Then, at almost 8am, the hot potato child returned. We were still in fever town. I grabbed the thermometer to see how far in we had traveled overnight. This morning’s temp was 104.4°. Panic ensued. Drugs, ice, wipe downs and baths plus calls to the doctor, the daddy and the grandma all followed while the slow cool down commenced along with a more persistent cough. Finally another symptom. The doctor visit proved useful even though the fever was again GONE. I am overjoyed that it was not one of the “It’s a virus, nothing we can give you!” visits, but, instead, we are now armed with an antibiotic, an inhaler, new meds for the nebulizer, and a get-out-of-school for the week note. This has been the weirdest sickness for Alex to date. While I am, of course, overjoyed that he has not been suffering, I am troubled that a severe respiratory infection (with hints toward pneumonia) can sneak into my kid’s system without the loads of symptoms waving all the red flags and that the one red flag — the fever — could be lowered each day, fooling me each time. #momlife https://www.instagram.com/p/CpyVT6mucVD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#momlife

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@ikea with the Riveras #familytime https://www.instagram.com/p/CpjDvfXrRXE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#familytime

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Alex and mommy had a muppet movie night last night!! 🥰 https://www.instagram.com/p/CpiFm5wrVsa/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=