No matter how thick your skin is, it’s always tough to hear something negative about your work. You've worked so hard on your writing for so long, made so many edits, and now your critique partner is saying there's even more to change?
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to handle critiques in a more positive way. Here are four tips.
1. Don’t take critiques personally
You have to remember that your critique partner, or CP, is doing this to help you, not hurt you. She’s trying to improve your writing, not tear it down. This isn’t a critiscm about YOU, it’s a suggestion for your story. So don’t beat yourself up about it.
2. Sleep on it
You should never ever make changes to your work right away. You might feel differently about the edits after looking back at it with fresh eyes. Read through whatever your CP had to tell you, then step away for a few hours, or take a look at it the next day. Then go back, read through it again, and revise as necessary.
3. Don’t take all the suggestions, but don’t reject them all
Everything your CP is suggesting you change is just that. A suggestion. You don’t have to listen to everything she says. If you’re adamant about your villain’s name or the plot twist in chapter seven, keep it. It’s your story, after all.
But don’t reject everything. Think it all through carefully. Try to approach your story as an impartial reader and decide what will improve your writing and what will harm it. Then go from there.
4. Thank your critique partner
Remember to show your gratitude. It takes your critique partner just as long, if not longer, to read through someone else’s work and give advice on it. Thank them for their time and help, and offer to look at something of theirs, too. Chances are they’ll be more than willing to help you out again sometime.
Have you ever been frustrated or hurt by a negative critique on your writing? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Share a short section of your current project in the comments (3-5 paragraphs) and practice using the techniques above when handling any edits you might receive. Be sure to help out your fellow writers by critiquing their writing as well. Have fun!
Ohhhh boy, that’s a tough one. It’s challenging even to post. But hmmm, okay. Here goes. This is not the actual beginning of the story, but it’s in the first chapter.
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Picking up a white mug that bore a gray emblem of the county, Koskowski poured himself a cup of coffee.
He thought it strange that his new hire often preferred to dress so often in black,but supposed it worked well—contrasting, along with her hair, against the lighter tone of her skin. Koskowski liked some things black too, namely his coffee. Walking over to look at the images, he took a sip and nodded.
“There were a few folks up in the woods there that didn’t want to sell their property back when the feds were buying all that land,” he said. “Not many, but a few.” Unlike Holck, Koskowski’s accent was full-blown Southern. One of his grandfathers had been transferred to Oscuro while working for a textile mill some 70 years back. For more than 15 years, Koskowski had worked in the county government’s small basement office. He sat down his mug and pointed at the pictured rooftop.
“Those houses were built a long time ago. Long as I can remember, old Skeeter has been taking his boat to the docks out there and delivering goods and such.” He held the pictures to get a closer look at them. “Yes. That outbuilding, that’s new. Good find. I don’t know that I would’ve seen it, what with the trees mostly obscuring it.” Popping the cap off a red ink pen, Koskowski circled the structure.
I liked it. I did have a question though. Would it be “set down his mug?”
Ooh, nice start. I’m curious to see where it’s going. A couple things to think about: It’s unclear who Koskowski’s talking to from these paragraphs alone. I would try to straighten that out as soon as possible so the readers can take in what he’s saying without being distracted. Also, this sentence seemed a little clunky to me: “He thought it strange that his new hire often preferred to dress so
often in black,but supposed it worked well—contrasting, along with her
hair, against the lighter tone of her skin.” Maybe try shortening it? Good luck! 🙂
Here’s a beginning:
My personal black hole opened up at a typical snooty-leaning, orthopedics-department party, which meant drinking. This aligned with my husband’s pleasures, and I was happy to be there myself, having never minded the status of doctor’s wife or the company it engendered. I didn’t know that this party would suck my lifestyle through a wormhole.
It was summer, and hot. The hemlines were high and collars dipped low as they rested near silicone valleys; tiny flowers on white were in style, for the dresses. And sandals. Sandals with high heels and professional pedis. The men wore Polo. Not because it looked better than anything else, and not because it lasted longer, but because it was more expensive and had a visible logo.
It was The South. Barely. So makeup was thick, hair stiff. Many of the women didn’t speak much because it would begin to crack their fake skin, and with the humidity a crack meant a potential slide—a mini avalanche of colorful, magical goo, and magicians don’t like to reveal their secrets (back then, Botox was in its infancy so facial muscles were at least not literally paralyzed yet).
lol the last paragraph cracks me up!
LOL That’s priceless! Love it. 🙂
Really liked this. Especially the part about their fake skin cracking.
This was wonderful. 🙂 You can really paint a picture. I was able to visualize everything perfectly. One thing I noticed is that a lot of your sentences tend to be lengthy and a little wordy. Maybe you could try splitting a couple of those up into two or three sentences. Just a thought.
Thank you!
Nice description of our “plastic” society.
That is pure genius.
Really great piece! Staying teachable and open to new information is the key to growth.
Thank you! 🙂 I totally agree.
I suspect we’ve all been hurt, frustrated, or outright ticked by a negative critique at some point. The worst one I had was actually from a contest judge. He/she didn’t have a single nice thing to say about a piece the other two judges loved (and gave great constructive criticism on, I might add). Every word was negative, harsh, and in no way tactful or diplomatic. I could’ve dealt with that, BUT he/she also proceeded to tell me how I SHOULD rewrite my main character in a way that would’ve completely changed her entire personality from a loving, protective mother going through a difficult time to a harsh-spoken, brassy, selfish woman abusive to her own children. I was mortified. I thought perhaps I was misunderstanding, so I had someone else take a look at the comments from all three judges. Response of that person was exactly the same as mine. I can only assume that judge has no compassion for struggling people, only likes brassy hateful female characters, and had a REALLY bad day the day he/she read my entry. Ugh. Needless to say, I discarded almost every bit of that judge’s feedback, except where I had agreement from the other two judges.
Wow, that’s awful. Especially from a contest judge! You’d think they would have more practice with giving criticism. You handled it well, though, so I applaud you for that. 🙂
The initial shock of it was painful, but once I realized (and had confirmed) that the feedback was seriously loaded with personal garbage from the judge, I was able to move past the emotional punch and pick the critique apart to see if there was anything useful within those pages (yeah, it was THAT long). Unfortunately, writers tend to think contest judges are above reproach. They aren’t. They are writers, editors, and readers with strengths and weaknesses, biases, personal agendas, and varying levels of writing knowledge. Contests don’t always screen their judges for the quality of the critiques they do. Authors who enter writing contests need to recognize that.
There are some truly fabulous judges out there, who give constructive, useful feedback and want to see you succeed, whether they deliver the critiques in a sensitive or harsh way. There are also some truly disastrous ones. As writers, we need to separate ourselves emotionally from criticism, whether it comes from crit partners or contest judges, in order to evaluate honestly what they say. Discard what dishonors your story and characters (like I had to do with that judge); keep what helps. WAY easier said than done, I know.
This stock question always arises when I say I’m a writer: “Have you been published?” I always reply, with a smirk, “No!” This seems to kill the questioners stone dead, as they always expect embarrassment, discomfort, dropped eyes, etc. They don’t understand that writing is mainly a condition and not a profession.
Ha ha, you’re so right. 🙂 Publishing is a bonus, to me. As long as I can write, I’m happy.
All right I was going to share the end of my book, because that’s where I need the most critique and my editorial staff is getting annoyed with me pestering her all the time about this project. But there is, like, WAY too much swearing to post here, so I can’t. It’s not that I particularly like cursing, but it’s a chapter about me getting shot (twice) by my drunk dad, and I can’t really help 17-year-old me and May cussing the guy out in our minds.
Anyway, I’ma post my Green Sneakers story. Basically I haven’t seen May in about a week, and I’m walking through the projects to visit a cousin, and I find May sitting in an abandoned McDonald’s building, staring at an abandoned-looking project home. I really hope you like it, but even if you don’t, feedback would be hugely appreciated. (c) 2015, C. Davidson, an author of Ayrelby.
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