Is it time for a critique of your work? You did it! You got some exciting words on the page. Take a bow, pat your back. Now you want to know if it’s any good. Do your friends love your protagonist’s wit and charm? Are other writers in awe of your subtle handling of exposition? Does everyone cry on cue? Is it feedback time?
Should you look for feedback, support, confirmation of your ideas during early drafts? Or will input from outsiders taint the story only you can tell?
There’s a case for both approaches. But I believe there’s a central factor in each that can be vital for a writer, and that’s self-confidence.
The case for early critiques
I had, in the earliest days, a lot of insecurity as a writer. This is not to say that I’ve out grown self doubt. I’m learning that it never goes away completely. New York Times best-selling author Susan Jane Gilman, said at a conference recently: “Keep writing. Doubt is part of the process!”
But, when I first got serious about turning my NaNoWriMo novel into a real draft, I didn’t know much about the nuts and bolts of long-form fiction. I spent months tweaking some language but didn’t know where to go from there.
Naturally, I showed my work to anyone who would read it. Inspired by a regional writer’s conference, I started a critique group in my city and attended a workshop where 10 other writers with various levels of training and skill gave me feedback on one chapter.
The feedback rolled in and I made changes based on their suggestions. I wound up with a chapter that was even more confusing and convoluted. I didn’t fully trust my ideas and approach. But I kept at it.
Tips for handling critiques
Little by little, I changed my approach to early readers. I have a goal in mind every time I hand my work off. They can be small points or big picture. I develop questions to keep myself focused. Sometimes I tell readers up front, other times I ask the questions later so that I don’t influence how they read.
When I receive the comments, I do a few things:
- switch from writer to editor mode (separate yourself from the work as much as possible)
- remember, the comments are not personal (whether they love it or hate it)
- read over the comments
- take note of my initial reaction
- put the notes aside
- reread them a day or two later and decide if I agree with them
- get back to work
No matter what, you are in control. Believe in the story you are telling or the questions you have. Be open to new ideas that others suggest. But in the end, you get to choose which comments resonate with you and which do not. Thank your readers for their time and effort then do your best to let go of anything that doesn’t resonate with the story you’re trying to tell.
The bonus of critique
Bonus! You get practice taking criticism. Writing is being rejected. It hurts to hear that your beloved words and ideas don’t translate like you think. It makes you question your abilities. But it is the bumpy surface of the road we choose to travel.
Here are a couple of quotes from successful authors to keep your head above water when the critiques start rolling in (from others or yourself!)
“You’re going to find enough haters, you don’t need to hate yourself.” — Anne Korkeakivi , author of An Unexpected Guest, and Shining Sea
“My sense of self-worth is not a democracy.” — Susan Jane Gilman, author of The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street
Double bonus! Critique partners and early readers help each other out. While they read your work, you read theirs. And what happens when you read someone else’s work, with distance, with an eye for helping the author make it their best possible story? You hone your internal editor’s eye, as well. You will pick up on quirks and language usage that will help you in your own writing. You will detect how someone skillfully handles an issue you may have been struggling with or you may become convinced that you don’t really need as many adverbs as you thought you did.
The case against early critiques
“When we show our work too soon, we are abdicating authority over it. Certainly, there comes a point where we need a fresh eye, but until we have done all we can do, we jeopardize our relationship to our initial impulse.” — Alan Watt, founder of the L.A. Writer’s Lab and author of The 90-Day Novel and The 90-Day Rewrite.
While I am all for the support and discovery of feedback from early readers, I found one downside. And it’s a pretty big one.
In my most recent draft, I wanted to experiment. I wanted the freedom to change characters’ names, throw in a new subplot, chop up the sequence and see what felt right. I wanted all of that without having to take into account how it could confuse my critique partners, who had been reading my scenes for the past year or more.
So I took a break from critiquing. I kept the story private and that helped me remain deep in my story world without anyone giving me their thoughts on what they liked or didn’t like. It’s hard to kill a scene when your writing instructor loved it.
The approaches are different. But in both experience, getting early feedback and keeping work to myself, I learned, I wrote, I developed as a writer. The key, I think, was knowing which was right for me at what time and what to do with the feedback. Confidence.
