Critique: Give and Take Part I

The post for today and tomorrow was written by Leslie Johnson from The Long Downward Spiral. Now, without further adieu, let's get to this great article.

"Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him."
-William Faulkner

That is one of my favorite quotes, but what does it mean to us, the writers? I don’t think there is any one clear answer to that because we could all interpret it differently, but one thing is for sure: we do learn by error. One of the best tools I use to find errors in my work is to have it critiqued by my peers, and also critiquing work written by my peers. Submitting one’s work for review can be an eye opening experience, and working through someone else’s work line-by-line can also train you to spot errors easily. Additionally, it can train the aspiring author to notice changes in pace, description usage, structure, and clarity in their own work.

There are a few ways that I find people to critique my work, and also obtain new pieces to review myself. Writers forums, and writers blogs are a great place to start. I will address writers forums first.

So called “writers forums” are places where authors can post their work for critique, and also post critiques of other people’s work. As much as these can be fantastic places for feedback, one must take all advise with a grain of salt. One thing to think about is that everyone who will take the time to critique your work is looking for errors. Nine times out of ten these people are authors, not readers. So, they will rarely take the piece for what it is, but rather look for what it isn’t. Because of the inherent issues with having a sundry of different authors with different literary tastes critique your work, one must define clear goals for the kind of critique one is looking for.

If you are trying to work on your pace, for example, it would be wise to state that in an “author’s note” at the beginning of your post. I usually post something like this : [AUTHORS NOTE: I am looking for constructive criticism with an emphasis on the stories pace and structure, but as always, all other criticism is welcome.]. That lets potential reviewers know what you are looking for, and they can gear their critique around those specific needs. The point here is to narrow down the kind of advise you want, and the resulting reviews will be much more helpful.

Another way to get more criticism on your work is by networking with other authors. I do this by finding people on forums that have given me good advise in the past, or by reading and contacting fellow bloggers who are also aspiring authors. I will usually send them a quick e-mail to introduce myself and ask if they would be interested in swapping critiques. Don’t just send them your story. Usually these critiques are of a better quality because the reviewers are more or less hand picked and may share your same literary tastes. If you write mysteries I would not send your story off to someone who writes fantasy novels. I have been lucky enough to have built a pretty good network of authors that I correspond with, and have been sent some fantastic pieces to read and review including two full manuscripts.

So now you have some feedback. Don’t climb into a hole. Put the razor blade down, it’s not the end of the world. Its very important not to take criticism personally. If you do, chances are that you will be upset or defensive and all the work that has gone into critiquing your work will be in vein. I read each critique carefully and try to put myself in the shoes of the reader. I go back to parts of the story that the reviewers referred to and re-read them. I try to take all advise in a positive manner, but if I don’t agree with them I still thank them for taking the time to read my piece—then forget it. I let it roll of my back. That may sound bad, but in my opinion one must have enough confidence in their work to know when they are right, and to stay true to their vision. Take the good advise and forget about the rest. Realize your faults and work on them, while keeping your voice as an author intact. Be prepared for people that wont like your work. Have thick skin. It will come in handy.

How and where do you get your critiques? Have you ever had your work critiqued by anyone? If so, what have you learned about the critiquing process?

-Leslie Johnson
The Long Downward Spiral