Friday, April 22, 2011

The ABC's of A Good Friend... "S"

(Are you self-confident about your salad?)

Today is day 19 of Arlee Bird's A-Z Challenge! Since I write for younger children and we're doing the ABC's, I thought I'd do The ABC's of A Good Friend (and throw in a few random pictures, because I have a bit of a camera habit).

~S~
Can you tell when someone is sincere or when they are two faced?  Being sincere is an important quality in a friend.  It's also an important quality in a critique partner or a Beta reader.  You need your friends to be straight-up with you.  You want people around you that are willing to share their hearts so that you will be willing to share your heart with them.  Have you had a friend that you felt like you were always sharing/giving to them and they never offered the same support in return.  (No names please!)  It gets tiresome after a while.  Being self-confident is important too.  Having a friend who knows that she a valued human and has skilled is a plus.  It will give her the edge.  If you don't have self-confidence, hopefully hanging out with him or her will teach you how "act" like you do have self-confidence.  Often it's what people see on the outside is what they believe to be true.  You could be a gushing pile of nerves inside, but if you have a great "stage" presence no one will ever know. It's also nice to have friends who have self-respect and self-control.  Those two things sometimes go hand in hand....

I hope you have lots of sincere friends to share your life with and super critique partners that show you respect by sharing their sincere critiques of your work, so you can improve your manuscripts.  (And maybe a silly friend to eat a super salad with.)

Do you have another "S" word to share with me?

16 comments:

  1. I certainly have a fantastic crit partner who gives it to me straight. She tells me when stuff is wrong, so when she praises my work, I know she's being sincere. She's trustworthy--oh, wait--that's a "t" word! :)

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  2. Speaking of sharing with sincere friends we are off to dinner with some from interstate tomorrow!
    surfing popped into mind as another "S" word.

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  3. I have awesome CPs who aren't afraid to tell me something isn't working. I love them for that. It me, they're Super critters. :D

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  4. Hmmmm I think you got the best S words there..... a friend should be Slow to criticize and Swift to encourage...never Sharp tongued or Sarcastic. Oh boy....really stretching for it there wasn't I?

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  5. Looks like S was an easy one to do. Sincerity is a good one.

    I have to disagree with mybabyjohn. I like sarcasm!

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  6. Sweet friends are nice too!!! Sensible friends who can be silly are fun too!! Yay!! take care
    x

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  7. I choose Sweet as well, along with Sophisticated, Strong (emotionally), Sensitive( a must), and finally SENSATIONAL!

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  8. hi miss sharon! yikes theres soooo much S words for good friend stuff. for me i got a real sincere and straiht up cp and thats making me a way better writer. sharing stuff is just real important for friends.
    ...hugs from lenny

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  9. There's so many good S words!!

    And your salad looks yummy!

    Simply Stunning! :)
    xo Catherine

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  10. You've done so good with the alphabet thing! I like my friends a bit silly too (goes along with Nutty!)!!!

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  11. Sure-footed. I appreciate people I can follow without fear of being lead astray, or off the side of a mountain.

    Metaphorically speaking.

    Or literally.

    Neither would be fun.

    Joe
    s: Snowshoes

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  12. You did a great job covering the S-qualities of a friend! All of those are so important!

    happy Easter!

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  13. Ah Sharon,
    Yet another Stupendous posting in the amazing 'alphabet challenge', that brings further awareness of fellow bloggers.
    Oh I do have an 'S' word that I wont share with you. It relates to this 'alphabet challenge':)
    Have a peaceful and positive Easter.
    In kindness and a cup of 'T', your way, Gary :)

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  14. When some one asked George Benard Shaw, if there was another word that is like "Sugar" meaning it has only "S" but sounds like "Sh" Benard Shaw said in a non challant way "Sure, sure!"

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  15. I've dropped in from the A-Z challenge. I love your theme of friendship. I feel I'm almost doing the opposite, with workplace bullying. For Q I touched on the Qualities we try to instill into our children. Yours must be so much more fun to write! Sue@JumpingAground (Alliteration & drabbles)
    Sue@traverselife(Workplace bullying)

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