I’ve written a little about how our writers group operates, and we’ve discussed how helpful it can be to have other eyes review your work. But it’s not always so easy to hear what someone has to say about what you’ve written, especially when it is newly-completed and dear to your heart.
Today’s post was contributed by Daniel Kellberg a member of Off the Page & Under the Radar. His advice on how to handle being beat up receiving a critique is spot on. In the group, we try to follow his guidance, but it’s —well, difficult, you know?
So you’ve joined a critique group. Congratulations! Critique groups are one of the best ways to get consistent feedback on your writing.
Here are a few things you can do to make sure you get the most out of your time in the “hot seat” as I like to call it.
Prepare Yourself
This step starts before the meeting, but it’s importance cannot be overstated. Offering up your writing for critique can be downright terrifying. I’ve been through dozens of meetings with friends I trust and respect. I still have to psych myself up every week.
It’s helpful to keep a couple of things in mind.
Feelings are temporary; feedback is forever.
You might not enjoy the process of having your work critiqued in front of you. You might even leave the meeting feeling like you “flunked your own novel,” as author Lee Bacon once put it. I promise you, that feeling doesn’t last forever. Heck, it’s usually gone by the next morning. The feedback though? That stuff hangs around, and it’s worth its weight in gold.
Your critique group is on your side. Even if you’re new to a critique group and still finding your feet, give people the benefit of the doubt. They’re not trying to tear you or your book down. They want your story to be good, too!
Now, once you’re actually in the hot seat…..
Don’t Take Feedback Personally. In a good critique group, all feedback will be directed toward the work, not the person. But even then, it can be hard not to feel attacked, especially if someone’s picked out a gaping plot hole or an inconsistency in characterization. Hearing even the most valid critiques can feel like you’re having your insides scooped out with a rusty spoon.
That’s completely natural, but if you don’t get a handle on your emotions, you’ll leave every meeting with hurt feelings and no idea how to improve your story.
The key here is to remember one simple truth:
You. Are not. Your book. The more you can separate yourself from your work, the easier a time you’ll have. That’s easier said than done, and there’s no magic to doing so. I know sometimes your stories feel like your baby/pet/other-beloved-entity, but at the end of the day, they’re just a thing that you make, nothing more, nothing less.
As difficult as the above can be to put into practice, I can offer one bit of hope: it gets easier over time. The more times you get feedback, the more it will become just another part of the writing process.
Resist the Urge to Explain Things***
This tip comes with asterisks, which I’ll get to shortly. But, in general, if you’re being critiqued, you should basically take a vow of silence.
This can be hard. During the critique, you’ll feel defensive. You’ll have the urge to explain things. You’ll want to talk about why that plot development actually did make sense because of [INSERT REASON HERE].
Resist that urge.
There’s rarely anything worthwhile you can say. At the very least, before you respond to a critique, ask yourself why you want to respond. Is it to defend yourself? To show the rest of the group why you’re actually right and the person critiquing is wrong? If it’s either of those two, you’re better off keeping quiet. Even if you’re objectively right and can prove it, there’s nothing to be gained in doing so. At best, you’ll slow things down. At worst, you’ll look thin-skinned and argumentative. Critiques aren’t about right and wrong and having gotcha moments. They’re about letting people respond to your work. You can always disregard feedback you don’t plan to implement.
Now for those asterisks I mentioned….
The first one is simple: feel free to ask questions. If something’s unclear or confusing, make sure you get it clarified.
The second asterisk is very specific, but it’s important to think about. If a given section of your work bungles explaining something that’s crucial to understanding the rest of the story, it’s fine to just lay out the necessary information so everyone will be on on the same page moving forward. This prevents future sections of the story from being ruined because you confused everyone six chapters ago.
The third asterisk depends on what you’re attempting to get out of your critique group. When I recommend not explaining yourself, I do so with the following to assumptions in mind:
That you have a finished work polished to the highest level you’re capable of
The purpose of receiving feedback is to see how readers perceive your book.
Maybe those two things don’t apply to you. Maybe you want to brainstorm ideas for a tricky scene that’s stopping you from getting through your first draft. Maybe you want targeted feedback on a particular fight scene or to see if a character motivation is coming across. In that case, discuss all you want! Brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of other writers is a perfectly valid use for a critique group.
Answer Questions Sparingly*
This might seem like a weird one to get its own point, but it’s something that comes up in almost every critique meeting I’ve ever gone to. Inevitably, someone in your group will ask you questions. About plot, about character, about what you’re trying to do with this story, and other topics that aren’t directly presented in the text. Those questions are fun; they’re interesting. You probably want to talk about those things.
Resist that urge, too.
Once a story is out in the world, it has to stand alone without further input from you. One of your goals with a critique group should be to make sure your story is doing that. If you tell your everyone things about the book that an average reader wouldn’t know, you risk tainting your group’s perception.
And please, please, please don’t spoil your book during a critique. If I had a nickel for every time someone just blurted out the ending to their series or book while I’m at a meeting, I’d have three nickels. Not a lot of money, but it’s absolutely bonkers that it’s happened three times.
The third asterisk from the last section applies to this tip as well. If you’re brainstorming or problem-solving, answer all the questions you want!
Obviously, every critique group is different, just like every writer is different. What I’ve laid out above should be regarded more as guiding principles than direct commandments, but I’ve found them helpful in my own critique groups. Hopefully, they can help you, too.
Critique groups ain’t for the faint of heart. Good luck!