On July 16th, 2011, Ella wrote, So I’ve finished my novel and I’ve to shown it to some people and let them critique me. However, I’ve never been very good at taking criticism, and I’m having a hard time using their comments. It just sort of makes me queasy when someone says there’s something I should change about my precious book, and I get so worried about what they say that I want to give up, or at best, overcorrect. I guess all I’m really asking is if you or the bloggers have any advice on accepting criticism and using it to your advantage. Thanks!<\/i><\/p>\n
Great question!<\/p>\n
Criticism is hard. Tomorrow I\u2019m going to meet with my critique buddy, the wonderful kids’ book, YA, and science writer Karen Romano Young, to discuss my work-in-progress and hers, and I will be scared. I\u2019m scared already, even though we\u2019re friends and she\u2019s a really nice person and her criticisms have been very helpful. I\u2019ll be so scared I\u2019ll want to talk about her book first and then ease into mine.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s hard and sometimes torture, criticism is essential. Few writers (but definitely some) can revise entirely on their own and turn in prose that needs only a light editorial dusting. The early chapters of Beloved Elodie<\/i> have big boring patches. I\u2019m hoping the pages I gave Wren (Karen) this time are tighter, but they may not be, and I have to know. She may see other problems, too, that I\u2019m not aware of, which will be especially useful to learn about.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to process criticism right on the spot, and you probably can’t. It may be impossible. A great line when you\u2019re getting criticism is, \u201cThank you. I\u2019ll think about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, in the privacy of your room or office, you can go through the five stages of grief (classically applied to the response to a diagnosis of terminal illness, but no hyperbole is too extreme when applied to writing criticism!): <\/p>\n
\u2219 Denial \u2014 The manuscript is fine exactly as it is!<\/p>\n
\u2219 Anger \u2014 My writing pal is just jealous!<\/p>\n
\u2219 Bargaining \u2014 I can change this paragraph on page 75 and the second sentence on page 112, even though I spent seven hours on each one, but if I revise them, I won\u2019t have to rewrite the entire middle section.<\/p>\n
\u2219 Depression \u2014 My story never was any good, never will be, and I might as well trash it. (Some of you, I suspect, skip the first three stages and go right here. If you must, you must, but try not to inhabit this step for long.)<\/p>\n
\u2219 Acceptance \u2014 Hmm, hmm, hmm. If I make my villain more likeable, as my writing buddy suggests, then the conflict with the hero will have more tension. Oh, this is cool! I see how I can make everything better.<\/p>\n
The best strategy for getting comfortable with a dose of criticism is to sit with it for a while. Let your readers\u2019 suggestions percolate in your brain without making judgments. Take a walk, pet the dog, play with the cat, bake muffins. Let a few hours go by. If you find self-hatred settling in – if you think the criticism also means you\u2019re a terrible person – remind yourself of your virtues and the people who love you.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m talking here about constructive criticism. My advice is different if what you\u2019ve been told is global and non-specific, as in \u201cSorry, I just didn\u2019t like it.\u201d Or, \u201cI hate it when you give me something to read. I always hope it will better but it never is.\u201d Or, \u201cI think you should take up another hobby.\u201d When you get this kind of thing, ignore it and show your story as quick as you can to someone else and never to this frenemy again.<\/p>\n
Constructive criticism is criticism you can use. I\u2019ve mentioned on the blog that editors have responded to my manuscripts in the past with criticism that my heroines aren\u2019t likeable. These editors have meant well, but that statement isn\u2019t helpful all by itself. I haven\u2019t intentionally made my heroines unsympathetic. What I need are specifics. What did my character do or say or think or fail to do or say or think at which moment in the manuscript to convey that she isn\u2019t likeable? Show me the places: which action, which line of dialogue, which paragraph of thought. Then I can fix.<\/p>\n
Your critics may not be gifted at helpful criticism. They\u2019re probably not professional editors, so they may be vaguer in their ideas than you\u2019d like. In this case, after your period of silent absorption of the criticism, you can ask your readers questions, the questions that have come to you while you contemplated.<\/p>\n
When you get specifics, when you know the problem is that the action drags in the second chapter, for example, then you may stop feeling overwhelmed. You start to think that you can cut half a page of dialogue and you don\u2019t have to name every book in your main character\u2019s bookcase. And instead of thinking your manuscript is bad, you can start thinking how great it can be.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve written about this before, but when I started out as a writer, I used to take all criticism. After my first writing course ever I formed a writing group. We were all beginners making our best guesses about what would improve our pals\u2019 stories. I tried whatever was offered, figuring I would learn and I could always go back if the suggestion didn\u2019t work (I saved my old versions even them). This strategy helped, because I did learn. Plus, it desensitized me by taking me out of the realm of hurt feelings. I didn\u2019t have to decide in a vacuum about the validity of a comment. I could try it out and see if it held water.<\/p>\n
Of course this goes back to the need for specific criticism. It\u2019s hard to try out a broad suggestion like, “Make it more exciting.”<\/p>\n
You can show your revisions to your readers and ask if you\u2019ve addressed their concerns and if new things are bothering them. If you\u2019re in a critique group, you can come back and back with the same pages until you\u2019re satisfied.<\/p>\n
I no longer take all the criticism that comes my way, but when I ignore a suggestion I always have a reason. My character wouldn\u2019t do this. Or, this idea doesn\u2019t jibe with the tone of my story. Or, this is factually incorrect. If I\u2019m not sure, I usually try the suggestion.<\/p>\n
It may help with your criticism aversion to know that every writer gets criticism. Nobody writes a perfect book. And everybody has to take her share of hurtful criticism, criticism that isn\u2019t well-intentioned. It comes from friends or reviewers in the media or on Amazon.com. We take it, and sometimes we stew for a week or a decade – there was one miserable review of The Two Princesses of Bamarre<\/i> that I can still quote word for word – but we keep writing. <\/p>\n
Finishing a first draft is an achievement worthy of whooping and dancing and shouting from the rooftops. So is finishing a revision. Make the good, useful criticism your friend. Make it a reason for gratitude and celebration. You\u2019re getting help with what you love. Hooray!<\/p>\n
Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n
\u2219 Snow White cooks and cleans for the seven dwarves while they\u2019re digging in the mines, but they\u2019re never satisfied with the results. Write about how she deals with their constant criticism. Write several versions for several different Snow Whites, if you like.<\/p>\n
\u2219 Through magical intervention, your main character, Marcia Masters, who yesterday was a ninth grader, is now a teacher and her students are her former teachers reduced to children. Write how her teaching goes over the course of a class or a few days.<\/p>\n
\u2219 Your main character, Michael Monroe, is working on a project with his father. Michael is eager for this, but nothing he does pleases Mr. Monroe. Write the scene.<\/p>\n
Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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