There aren't a lot of people who having their work critiqued, but for an author it can be especially excruciating. Some of us have a tendency to blur the lines between our work and ourselves, so much so that we forget a critique of our words is not a statement about our worth.
Writing is an intensely personal endeavor. We spend hours casting individual threads until they weave together to form the stories of our characters and the worlds they inhabit. So, it's understandable that after all that hard work anything less than a glowing critique can be a bitter pill to swallow.
Understandable or not, the reality is critique and criticism are necessary parts of the writing process and learning how to give and give both are essential to the business of being an author. No matter how carefully you proofread or objective you try to be, you're never going to catch all of your mistakes or be able to step back far enough to take in every angle. Critique is critical to you success. No one is saying you have to like it, but you do need to learn how to accept it without losing your confidence, ending up on a "badly behaved blacklist", or ruining professional relationships. So here are a few tips I've learned about accepting criticism, correction, or critiques thus far:
Give It To Me, Baby: Receiving Constructive Criticism
- Woosah
Quite often a first response to criticism, especially if it's not especially gentle, is to lash out angrily or defensively. Before you fire off an angry email, make a hostile phone call or turn your writing circle into a battle royale, take a minute to gather yourself. Count to ten, sing your ABCs, picture Idris Elba naked, or do whatever it is you need to do in order to get some emotional distance from the immediacy of your defend or deny response. Woosah, my fellow writers. woosah.
- Don't Take It Personal
A critique of your work is not an assessment of your worth. Not every story will resonate with every reader and sometimes the lines and characters we think are brilliant others will find blah. It stings, it hurts, but it's the nature of the creative beast. When someone is giving you feedback on your work a good rule of thumb is not to take criticism to heart or let compliments go to your head. It's about your work, not your worth.
- Remember Feedback Is Fundamental
This is your story. You believe in it, you're committed to it, you love it. Your objectivity is shot. How shot? You are the clueless parent in the Lifetime movie convinced your precious Timmy couldn't POSSIBLY have done the crime when little Timmy is guilty as sin and you're too lost in the sauce to see it. This is part of why feedback is important. The people on your team (editors, betas, sensitivity readers, ect) are as committed to the success of your story as you are but they are far more objective. Beyond the standard corrections (grammar, proofreading, spelling, ect) they could spot things you've missed such as plot holes, extraneous characters, or scenes that serve no purpose. You may be Captain of the Good Ship Manuscript but you'll go down like the Titanic if you don't heed the advice of your crew.
- Analyze The Information
Take an honest look at what you've been told. Are there points that need clarification or characters that need cutting? Do you have a plot hole big enough to drive a semi through? Did you contradict your own canon or suddenly have one of your MC's act out of character for the sake of a plot point? If it needs fixing, fix it.
- Holla Back
Remember constructive criticism isn't a one way street or a one and done. It's a collaborative effort on the part of you and your team. Talk it over, ask questions, keep an open line of communication. Remember everyone involved wants your story to be its best.
Now that we've gotten that squared away...what if the shoe's on the other foot and you're the one giving the critique?
Giving Feedback: How To Be Brenda The Builder Instead of Negative Ned
When it comes to giving authors constructive criticism the ever fabulous Erykah Badu said it best, "Now, keep in mind that I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit."
The keyword in constructive criticism is constructive. You are building up, not tearing down. Your end goal is to help the author write the best version of their story they can possibly write. It's not to browbeat them into submission or destroy their confidence. That said, it serves nothing and no one if you don't point out flaws and weak points. So how do you balance the two? Here's some advice.
- Honesty Doesn't Require Brutality
This is direct, honest, and identifies the problem but is it constructive? Maybe try something a little more like this:
"Ever since the 50 Shades phenomenon billionaire bad boys have become a familiar trope. We know the idea can work, but how are you going to make your hero stand out from the crowd and stand up to the inevitable Christian Grey comparisons?"
See how that's saying essentially the same thing, addressing the same concerns and yet giving the author something to build on, rather than making them want to drink a box of wine and throw their laptop out the window?
- Make A Sandwich
No, I'm not talking about pb&j here. The sandwich method of offering critiques or criticism is when you start with some positives, address the areas of concern, and then end on a positive or hopeful note. It helps soften the blow a bit when the discussion of what didn't work is balanced out by recognition of the things that did. It also helps make sure your critique is balanced. Constructive criticism isn't just about pointing out the things that went wrong, its also about building on the things that went right.
- Don't Make It Personal
Keep your comments about the writing, not the author. When giving constructive criticism (which, to be clear, is entirely different from a reader review or calling an author out for something particularly egregious) your focal point is the work itself and not the person producing it. Personal attacks rarely lead anywhere good or result in anything other than hurt feelings and heated arguments.
"I see you made your main character just as materialistic as you are."
"This is the longest monologue ever. I think I fell into a coma waiting on him to shut up and not only is he long winded, he's dull! In fact, the only person duller than him is you ."
"I know you're allergic to the truth, but do you really think it's wise to make your hero a pathological liar?"
In each of the above situations, there's an issue with the main character (they're materialistic, boring,or a liar) but the critique also includes a swipe at the author. Not cool, not constructive, and not conducive to a cordial working relationship. Don't do it.
- Be Specific
"It's a nice story, it's just missing something."
That is a critique that serves no purpose. What's nice about the story? What is it missing? If you can't express it, the author can't address it.
I get that this is pretty basic information but basics are the building blocks of greatness...or something like that. The bottom line is giving and receiving constructive criticism go hand and in hand with being an author. We all need to learn how to do both professionally and effectively. A little bit of the basics can go a long way in avoiding conflict and controversy.
XOXO,
Dylan
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