Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I have said in my blog and to writer friends that critiquing helps me improve *my own* writing, as well as contributes feedback to the other person for their own writing. Yes, it takes away from my available time to write, but in the end, it is worth it for both people involved. (And for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-Ns","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":139,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/26\/an-education-in-craft\/","url_meta":{"origin":3066,"position":0},"title":"An Education In Craft","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"March 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"That first summer I worked with Paula on editing my manuscript, I read more than I wrote. Some of the books I read were helpful, and still sit on my shelf for future reference or inspiration. But the three that really stood out for me were Larry Brooks\u2019 Story Physics\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":188,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/08\/finding-time-to-write\/","url_meta":{"origin":3066,"position":1},"title":"Finding Time to Write","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"May 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"If you aspire to write, you know the dream\u2014quit the day job, write full time, make bucketloads of money doing it. Yeah. I\u2019m familiar with that one, too. Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t work that way, at least not for most of us. 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In the science fiction market, the genre for my first novel, acceptable manuscript word count tops out at around 120K as a maximum for a first-time author; mine was greater than 800K and still going with no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1049,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/17\/the-blissful-pen-confessions-of-people-who-write\/","url_meta":{"origin":3066,"position":3},"title":"The Blissful Pen: Confessions of People Who Write","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the early 80s I took a college class taught by award-winning writer Robert P. Arthur. I remember Bob as a big guy, not just in a physical sense with his tall, broad-shouldered self, but with his overall presence. He filled a room, that man. He expected\u2014and inspired\u2014a lot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Faery.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Faery.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Faery.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Faery.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1083,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/08\/crush-the-dump-make-every-word-important\/","url_meta":{"origin":3066,"position":4},"title":"Crush the Dump: Make Every Word Important","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"October 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"You\u2019ve done all the research necessary to support the premise\/science\/politics\/culture in your story and, in the process, discovered and\/or created some damn interesting tidbits of knowledge or worldbuilding. Thereafter, you put your newfound knowledge in the buildup of your first chapter, in a dialogue between two characters, or perhaps in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/FlyingMan.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/FlyingMan.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/FlyingMan.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/FlyingMan.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":251,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/17\/myst-1-the-book-of-atrus\/","url_meta":{"origin":3066,"position":5},"title":"Myst I: The Book of Atrus","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Rand Miller, Robyn Miller and David Wingrove Hyperion Books. \u00a91995 ISBN: 978-0786881888 Mass Market Paperback, 422 pages. Anna is the only person young Atrus has ever known. His mother died in childbirth. His father, Gehn, abandoned Atrus immediately after, leaving him to his grandmother\u00a0to raise or bury. 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Of course, as in any such feedback, this is what *I* see in such experiences. Your mileage may vary. But it occurred to me this morning that showing compassion to another being (human or otherwise) has a comparable benefit. A kindness takes time\u2014to help an animal in need, to hear another person’s story, to share your own and commiserate, to offer advice when asked, to stay silent when all that’s needed is an ear and a shoulder, to pick up another’s load and carry it a while so that they can rest.<\/p>\n