Last week I concentrated on what I consider to be the greatest danger of critique – losing faith in yourself and your writing. Another danger in throwing your baby to the wolves is losing your story.
Yes, that’s what I said. You see, you often get so much feedback that it overwhelms you. One person says change the P.O.V. Okay, you can do that. Another says to alter the hero’s personality. Well….okay. Another says your setting doesn’t fit…..and so on and so on.
So, a month later, after you’ve done all those tweaks and trims, you sit back and re-read the updated work. Wait a minute. You don’t know whose tale this is, but it certainly isn’t yours. It doesn’t have the same plot, the same meaning, and certainly doesn’t come to the right conclusion.
So, what happened? Well, you threw the baby out with the dishwater. You accepted all those opinions and it completely changed your work. Ahh…that’s the key word. Opinion. Just weigh what was suggested, and more importantly, WHY.
Maybe the person who said ‘change’ the P.O.V. actually meant for you to clarify your position, not change the whole thing. Re-check the setting. Maybe that needs to be foreshadowed a bit more, so that it works when you get there. And as for personality…well, maybe by alter, he meant strengthen.
Often what becomes most clear in a critique is that your words just don’t tell the story you wanted to tell. YOU might get it – after all, it’s clear in your head. But if you can’t show the reader what you see in your mind, it won’t get through. So, if you like your story, then maybe the critics are telling you it needs to be more defined. Look to see if, in setting up the details, you wandered too far from the core.
Oh, one more thing. I’ve often heard that when being critiqued, the author must not say anything. This is because we naturally try to defend our work. These people are telling you what that stranger that buys your book will be thinking. So pull up your britches and take a deep breath – and open your mouth.
Instead of defending, discuss. When someone says “This doesn’t work,” press for detail. Be sure they know what you were going for, and then ask what was missing. You’d rather know now, and fix it, than get that book on the shelf and get bad reviews.
Remember what I said at the beginning last week? Critiques are invaluable – they show you where your writing is weak, offer tips or tricks that you hadn’t thought of, and even help you sound out the story if you’ve written yourself into a corner.
Ask for critique. Take it seriously. But understand how to use it.
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