So I'm part of a writing group and we meet every week and I've been a part of this group for a while now. Well, I've started noticing a few things about some of our newest members and it got me thinking about how they are responding to the critiques we were giving of their work. Thus the topic for this post. Taking the critique is an important part of being a writer, but some people just don't know how to do this.
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| Everyone's a Critic... |
Yes, We Are Tearing Apart Your Baby
Your work is like your child. You've spent hours working on it, filling a blank page with words, bringing characters to life, and so forth. You love what you've done. Then someone comes along and tears it apart. Soon you pages are covered in ink, things are crossed out, there are comments all along the margins, and editing marks are pointing out every flaw that you missed in your own editing. Okay, I'm going to say it now. Yes, this does hurt. It sucks when you see your work covered in marks. But here's the thing, every writer has gone through it. When you get serious about being a writer, an author, you have to learn how to accept the pain and power through it so you can get better.
Should You Listen To Everyone Who Critiques Your Work?
Oh, god no. Please don't listen to every person who critiques your work. There'll be plenty of people who will read your work and put in their two cents about it. Some people are going to love it as is, some people will have things to tell you how you could make it better, and some people are going to hate it no matter what you do. You're going to need to recognize who are going to be those who want to help and who are just there to bash on you. Sometimes the closest people to you will be the worst people to have read your work, friends and family tend to be the ones who love everything that you do no matter what.
Find Those Who Will Be The Right Balance
This might be one of the hardest things that I have seen my fellow writers go through. Finding that right person to look over your work, finding that one person who will give you their honest opinion regardless of your relation with them, finding that one person whose feedback will be helpful to you; this person or people will be invaluable. This will take some time, but you'll be happy when you find this person. It'll help put you further along than those who stay on their own.
This is something that I know many starting writers struggle with. We get brave enough to show someone our work and then we get that first bad critique and it hurts. Then we have to figure out what we are going to do next. Do we trust anyone else to read our work? Yes, yes do. We have to. I'm lucky enough to have a whole group of people who I trust to give me honest opinions of my work. Everyone needs to find that person or those people who will help push them to be the best they can be.
Just remember to keep writing,
Dakota
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