You're looking at that title and going "wait, how can she know? She's not published!". You're half right - I'm not published yet. However, I know what it is because I have given and gotten it. I listen and question the people who give it and am grateful when they start out with "I love this but". The but is how I know I'm about to grow as a writer with what comes after it. I could go on and on but let's not bury the lead.
The best writing tool ever is... Drum Roll Please....
Criticism. Yes, the C-word of the writing world. It is the best thing that you can give a writer, either as a fellow one in a writing group, or as a reader after they are published. It is how we know what we are doing wrong and what we are doing right. It is not easy, either giving or receiving, but it is needed.
Without it, we writers will stagnate. We will not reach our full potential. Most importantly, we'll think our work is good when it's a big old steaming pile of you know what. There is a higher chance of being rejected by an agent or publishing house if you do not get someone to read your work before you get there. All writers need it. I highly recommend going out and finding a small writing group to share pieces with and get feedback. I also recommend using the sandwich method - say something nice about the piece, give the harder feedback, and end with another nice thing to say - as how you should give a critique. You'll get a solid three sentences out of just using that method.
Now, there is the other side of criticism. There are times, in life, when you're are good. You did the work, you put in the effort, you got published, and then the reviews come in. The general public loves it, but the newspaper critics don't. They don't understand how that got published. They don't get that you are amazing, possibly the next insert-person-here, but they don't get it. It'll hurt, for a few minutes or hours, you might cry, but then suck it up buttercup. For one, you're published. You're awesome for even getting that far. For two, you take in what they say and you make your next book even better. You silence the critics and then both sides are with you.
Alright, it's a blog circle post, so there are questions. Let's get into them. Please feel free to answer the same questions in the comments.
What is your method of critiquing a piece of writing?
I touched on this lightly up above, so I'll expand down here. I use the sandwich method when giving a critique. That is giving a nice piece of feedback, then the negative, before giving one last piece of nice feedback.
Here's an example from last year's Last WriYer Standing - we all write to a prompt and one person gets cut a week - that I gave:
I wasn't sure where this was going in the end. Is she really dead? There wasn't any real conclusion to this. It worked with the prompt, I think, but wasn't satisfying to me. It was the fact that there was no showing what truly was going to kill her. Or not kill her. And where are the friends? There's so many questions for this one. Maybe try closing up story threads next time.
There's good, then what I thought could have been better, and giving some things to do better next time. That's my way of doing a sandwich method. Now, I don't do this all the time, just when I need to give feedback alone. If someone gives me something to edit, I go in and find typos. I make sure that I caught everything I could and then, at the end, give a summary of what I think using that method. I would recommend, with using this method, you do more than three sentences, but you could compact it down to three alone.
What do you expect out of people critiquing your work?
Ooo - so, this is a very good question. At the very least, I expect a three sentence sandwich. That is my bare minimum, feelings will not be hurt, but that's the lowest level. With me, my level of expectations go up as I know the person who is giving me a critique. I expect a best friend to take my hand, giving me a cup of strong coffee, and go "Liz, you are a great writer, but this is crap and here's how we're going to change it". They don't even have to go "here's how we're going to change it" but tell me "hey, fix x, y, and z and I'll read it again". I've had that conversation several times with my best friend because she knows I have to hear it, plus I'll listen to her.
It's also why Power is slowly being edited / not edited. Dear gods, my writing is horrible from 2008. However, if anyone else but my best friends told me that my grammar was terrible but the plot is good, I would have covered my ears and go "lalalalalalalalala" like a five year old. That's where I was as a writer and now I'm at the point where I will take a lot of criticism. I've grown a lot in eight years, even though my grammar still sucks, but that's because of criticism. You'll grow too, dear readers, if you open your mind to knowing that you might need someone to tell you that your Great American Novel needs the Great American Edit.
Until next time, keep on writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment