Criticism. A frightening word. Criticism has such a negative connotation associated with it, that many a writer instinctively prepares their defenses at the mere utterance of the word. Criticism is naturally a hard pill to swallow, butit doesn't have to be. In fact, learning how to take criticism well is essential to our growth as writers.
Truth be told, I’m really not the one who should be writing an article on how to take criticism. I have actually been told that I’m defensive. Yes me! How can I refute such a claim? There is really no way to defend against being called defensive without sounding defensive. I guess it’s true. However, I do think I’m getting better, and I have learned a few things along the way that I would like to share with you.
And now, five tips on how to take criticism:
Make criticism your friend
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? I started writing stories because I didn’t like the books I was forced to read when I was younger. In school, all the books were either for girls or were just plain boring (Oh, I guess I was a critic and didn’t know it). I wanted to read books that I liked, so I set out to write my own. Yet, even though I was writing for myself, I was also writing for other readers: an imaginary audience. The paradox with us writers is…we want other people to read our writing, but at the same time, we don’t want people to read our writing. We’re afraid of the criticism that may come, or the rejection, but what we have to realize as writers is that criticism is our best friend.
Yes! It’s true! Criticism is your friend. Writers, we often miss a lot of issues with our manuscripts since we’re so close to the story. We have details in our heads that make the story clear to us, but they don’t always get transferred to the page the way they need to be for a hapless reader to be able to understand. That’s right, I said “hapless.” These poor readers have not gone through the process of writing a novel. They have not gone through the tedious process of outlining. The reader has not had to agonize over which characters to kill, and which characters to spare. Also--and this may come as a shock to some of you--the average reader does not have characters talking to him in his head. Gasp! The reader needs help to see the wonderful world and story you have woven together. We see this grand life-like picture in our own heads as the authors, but the reader does not. They need help.
The only way we can know if the hapless reader is seeing what we see, is with constructive feedback. We need people critique us. People to tell us what does and doesn’t work. Getting excellent feedback will help improve your story and take it to the next level. Criticism really is the writer’s best friend. Take pity on the hapless reader, and listen to their critiques.
It’s not you
It’s not you; it’s your writing. Yes, it can be very hard to distinguish between the two. Our writing often feels like a part of ourselves, but we need to learn to step back and look at our work objectively. A novel is like a complex computer. You have the hardware (the words, mechanics, grammar, spelling, punctuation) and you have the software (plot, characters, emotions). If you’re too close to your “computer” you might not find anything wrong with it, but if you look at it like a software engineer or a computer repairman, then you can find places that need fixed or tuned up.
Don’t take critiques personally. They are not insulting you; they are attempting to show you the bugs in your system that need weeded out. Don’t get discouraged, but be excited that the problems have been revealed so that now you can fix them!
Throw out the outliers
Outlier. What is an outlier? Is it some mysterious individual who insists on telling lies only when outside? Not quite. In mathematics, an outlier is a unit of data which strays too far from the rest of the data. An outlier is either far too high, or far too low. Far too left, or far too right. It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the gathered info. When plotting a graph, it is the conventional wisdom to “throw out” the outliers. The data that doesn’t fit in is not included in the graph. In other words, the oddballs are kicked out.
No, I’m not giving a pre-algebra lesson; I’m talking about critiques. The thing is, not all critiques will be accurate. Some will be far too positive, and some will be far too negative. You look at any great work of fiction, and it’s going to have its haters. Also, people have different tastes. Others just like to hate, and some just have no clue what they’re talking about. Critiques that are exceptionally negative are most likely inaccurate.
“Oh, I don’t even know how you live with yourself knowing that this is the best you can write! If I were you, I would eat all my writing utensils rather than waste them in the pursuit of writing!” Throw these critiques out. It’s easy to be a critic. Anyone can do it. There are people out there who simply find pleasure in tearing down others. They feel better about themselves when bringing down other people. Teddy Roosevelt said it well:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
It’s easy for someone who is not a writer to criticize. However, they don’t understand how hard it is just to finish a novel. Most people would like to have written a novel, but few want to take the time and effort it takes to write. Just remember, you are the one in the arena, the doer of deeds. It’s not the critic who counts.
On the other hand, if you get a critique that is exceptionally optimistic, praising you as the next C.S. Lewis or Mark Twain, it is probably just as inaccurate.
“Your words are like the flittering of angels' wings, your diction the coo of a dove, and your beautiful description of that filthy dumpster made me cry…” Throw these critiques out as well.
I’m not saying that you can’t be a famous writer; however, receiving critiques that are too heavy in praise aren’t helpful and realistically, probably aren’t accurate. There is always room for improvement, and critiques that offer you no advice on what to change or add don’t help. They can make you feel good, but they can also make you complacent.
A good rule of thumb is that things are never as bad or as good as they seem. Somewhere in the middle, the truth falls. Throw out the outliers.
The More the Merrier!
Is a survey of ten people from one city more accurate than a survey of a hundred people from around the country? No, this isn’t math class. Stop thinking that! The thing with critiques is you need to get a lot of them to get a clear picture and to really make your story good.
It probably sounds ridiculous, but the more the merrier! Now, you might be thinking that receiving more critiques is the last technique you would use in order to induce merriment, but you would be mistaken. Sure, actually getting the critiques isn’t too fun. I’ve gotten quite a few critiques on this very article, and I can’t say I enjoyed hearing about all the things I did wrong, but I realized, that’s the wrong way to think about it. It’s not about where I went wrong, it’s about how I can do better than I did before. After the critiquing session was over, I felt pretty good. I had received helpful advice on how to make my article much better than it was. In general, the more critiques you get, the better your writing is going to be, and the better your writing is, the merrier you are! See how it works?
Obtain as many critiques as you can, from as many different sources and people as you can. Sure, getting critiques from other writers can be helpful, but most of your readers probably won’t be other writers. Different people pick up on different things, so getting a wide pool of critiques will give you more ideas of what needs changed, added, or deleted.
I know it can be scary having so many people critique you, but when it comes to feedback, more is better. That doesn’t mean you have to incorporate every little piece of advice you receive. Ultimately, you are the writer, and you know your story best, but you can’t have too many critiques. The more the merrier!
Take it like a writer!
That’s right. Take it like a writer! Writers may not be known for their powerful physiques, but we should have indomitable spirits made of Teflon. Criticism is going to come whether we like it or not, but don’t let it stick. Don’t let it get to you. Writing a novel is a remarkable feat in and of itself. It’s something you should be proud of. Don’t let criticism get you down. Take it like a writer, because writers thrive on criticism. They laugh in the face of verbal bashing, and return the attack with a smile and perhaps a witty comeback.
You do not fear criticism. Criticism fears you. This is because you are the writer. You have power over criticism. It can only harm you if you let it. Harness the power of criticism; don’t let it harness you. Take it like a writer!
So criticism isn’t such a scary thing. In fact, it can be very good and beneficial. Don’t take yourself so seriously, and don’t take your writing so seriously. It’s all part of the learning process, and criticism is the best asset a writer has to improve his or her writing.
Now get out there, and get critiqued!
Become an Unstoppable Writer!
