So over to Laura...
GETTING
AND SURVIVING CRITIQUES
by
Laura O'Connell
Criticism is scary, but it’s part of an author’s
life. In order to receive good feedback from a review it’s important to choose a
critic who is familiar with the genre in which you write. Separate your personal
emotions from your professional role as a writer. It’s not you personally,
they’re criticising, it’s your professional work. Keep that at the back of your
mind and the reviewer’s negative comments will have less sting.
Before you hand your manuscript to a reviewer,
communicate what you’re expecting from the critique. Highlight areas you feel aren’t working and
why you think they’re not working. This helps the reviewer to focus on those
areas for you and it saves time for your critic and for you.
When you get a critique back from a reviewer, put
your ego in your back pocket and sit on it. Receiving a review on your work can
be harmful to the ego, but can be avoided if you look at it from the point of
view that it’s going to make your writing better and increase the chances of
getting an editor’s attention.
Remember always that there’s no such thing as
perfect writing. Writing is an evolving process that grows organically into a
living breathing piece of work that will excite and move your reader in a new
and life changing way. None of us is perfect. What is perfect anyway?When the critique comes back, skim over it quickly and try not to focus on the negative comments too much at this stage. Be aware of the positive feedback as you read and hang on to that. This is where your writing has worked. As you revise the work, you can add more of what’s working into the weaker writing.
After the first quick read-through, take time out to let the emotion that the skim read has evoked mix with your subconscious thoughts. I allow a couple of days for this part of the process. When you’re ready, come back and read the critique again. Then read the manuscript slowly so that you tap into your emotions as you read. Be aware of your physical reactions as well. If there’s a comment that gets your back up stronger than any other, highlight it. This section definitely needs looking at in more detail.
If you’re still not sure about the critique go back
to my first statement. Getting a critique is scary, but looking at your work
objectively will make it stronger, and much more publishable. A good critic
helps you to understand yourself as a writer and where you fit in the
publishing world. Watch for your ego, it likes to be out there, pull it back,
be humble and continue to work toward your writing goals.
About Laura O'Connell:
Laura enjoys writing stories about second chances in
love and life. She calls the Gold Coast home, however, her curious nature leads
her on adventures to locations that surprise and delight her. Laura has a
passion for telling a good story set in places where she has lived and
travelled. Her first book, African Hearts,
was shortlisted in the 2011 Caleb Prize.
Laura
around the web:
WebsiteAuthor Page
Book Blurb - Web of Lies:
High school sweethearts, Stephanie and Lachlan are
torn apart by circumstance, bad decisions and a web of lies, leaving an unknown
future for their son, Ryan.
Lachlan and Stephanie are forced to confront the
consequences of their actions and the entire family is compelled to reveal the
truth, find forgiveness, and renew loving one another. But the hardest decision
is still to come … where does Ryan live?
Buy Links:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteWe often talk about how to critique but it's good to be reminded of how to receive criticism. Thanks for a great post.
Thank you Louise, for dropping by. Taking critique can be difficult for all of us.
DeleteThanks for this wonderful and always timely post, Laura. I'm especially bad at receiving critiques that show all my mistakes - my ego must be big! - and will try to put your helpful suggestions into action.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it's about having a big ego, Lia, I think it's more about us having an open mind when we receive our critiques. Thanks so much for being so honest!! It's a great quality to have. :)
DeleteHi Laura,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog. Thanks for a very insightful look into critiques and how to survive them. As an editor, it's sometimes difficult to know how a client will react to my suggestions and criticisms. I make a point of saying that while spelling is usually clear cut, grammar can be a matter of opinion as can punctuation. The English language is forever evolving and I know that one day a lot of phrasing that I believe is not correct, will become acceptable.
Lovely to have you here. Thanks!
Thanks so much for having me, Serena. I feel privileged to be part of an editor's blogspot. :) Editors have as difficult, perhaps a more difficult job giving the critique rather than receiving it. And yes, the English language is forever evolving and we as authors, sometimes like to stretch the boundaries and see what we can get away with. :)
DeleteHi Louise,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with you. It's very important not to be too precious about our work. At very least we should consider what the reviewer has suggested.
Thanks for dropping in :)
Hi Lia,
ReplyDeleteTypos are easy to fix and that's why you have other people look at your work (fresh eyes). Even editors are better off having someone else look at their work.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Serena and Laura,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to come to another blog and meet RBP friends - if you know what I mean, Nas' blog being the common factor. I have Louisa George over on my blog today.
I'm taking all this great information in. I automatically edit stuff all the time. A writer friend pubbed her novel independently on Amazon. On reading it, published and all that it was I noticed 'correctable stuff'. She had written something like 'Mary was a Shop Assistant' when 'Mary was a shop assistant' was what I'd have written. So being the helpful person/interfering busybody that I am, I mailed her. I was quite surprised when she returned my mail with a curt 'no, the capitals are quite correct' and went on to list all the people to whom she'd shown her book to who had loved it and never said anything negative. She also added that she'd quite understand if I didn't want to continue reading the book. She has published more short stories than I have, so I took it that she knew what she was talking about.
That'll teach me to keep my mouth shut in future unless asked for my opinion. But tell me Laura and Serena, was I correct about the capitals or was I wrong?
Hi Maria, thanks so much for dropping by and getting down to the nitty gritties. As Serena said in an earlier reply, the English language is always evolving, so perhaps twenty years ago I would have capitalised 'shop assistant', in this less formal world we live in I would use lower case. I think the lower case is easier on the eye, but it's also important to not get too precious about our work. I would hope my readers' eyes would slip over these words and not notice whether it's capitalised or not because they are so engrossed in the story and feeling the journey. We all aim to draw our readers in and to be inside the heroine's head while they read. If we as authors can achieve that, we've done our job. The details of the final presentation I'll leave to my editor.
DeleteYes, Laura, things are always changing. That's a good point that the readers eyes won't pick it up because because they're so engrossed in the story!
DeleteOh, Maria! You made me laugh so hard! We just can't stop, can we? I emailed a multi-published author on her self published! Telling her she should have added other ingredients in the story!
ReplyDeleteNas
No, Nas, I think we're both a bit addicted! Is there any medicine we can take for this? :)
DeleteMx
Hi Serena. Great post Laura.
ReplyDeleteI have a few lovely critique partners who aren't afraid of telling me how it is. One of them is Laura. :) I'm fortunate enough to know they are honestly trying to help me with my writing and I get great feedback, good or not so good. :)
Best of Luck with 'Web of Lies Laura.' :)
Lovely to see you here, Suzanne. It's always a pleasure to critique your work and see it again shining brighter than before after the edits. Thank you for the good wishes for 'Web of Lies'.
DeleteHi Maria,
ReplyDeleteOh yes, there are quite a few of us who are friends with (and fans of) Nas!
I suppose that often spelling is a matter of opinion, but in this case, it is my humble opinion that *shop assistant* is all lowercase. I would make an exception in a résumé where you're trying to sell yourself, but any occupation—doctor, teacher, baker or sales assistant—is written in the lower case.
I have found myself in a similar position when someone got the genetics wrong in her book. As it was the basis for the cause of conflict, I wrote to the author who was very nice but told me that a doctor and a nurse had both told her that she was correct. OK so doing up to second year genetics doesn't count (that would be me) and neither do the genetics text books or genetics websites. All I know is that things like that annoy me. As do foreign words that are incorrect in the context. (OK will step down off my high horse :) )
Thanks for dropping in, Maria. I'll go in and say hi to Louisa (who was my blog guest back in April).
Hi Serena, thank you for coming over and saying hi on my post too.
DeleteI remember Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code got me all worked up. He said that Isis and Amon, two Egyptian mythology figures, were a married couple. Isis was married to Osiris not Amon and that freaked me out more than the Jesus was married premise. Not that Jesus doesn't matter, but you know what I mean! I mean, here was this bestseller, and the writer was making this absolutely stupid mistake. And he's there raking in the money while the rest of us are......oh, well, I remember I told you this story before, but you know....
LOL Nas! I guess being editors we do things like that (and we don't even charge for the comments ;-P)
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming in and saying hi
Hi Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteYou're very lucky that you've found each other. Good crit partners are invaluable! It sounds like you have a good relationship based on trust—which is the most important thing for a writer.
Thanks for calling in.
Serena, I think you just hit the mark. A good critique relationship is based on trust, and instinct. Sometimes we just know something doesn't look right and we don't know why we have to change it, but we do.
DeleteI've enjoyed the interaction with you all on this post. Good luck with all your critiques. I think it's important to remember our work will be better after fresh eyes have looked it over. I'm so glad we have critics and editors. They make my work better than it is and keep me alert to my weaknesses. Well done!! I lift my hat to each of you. :)
Hi Laura,
DeleteI loved this post and all the comments. Thanks for sharing this with us and chatting with all of us here!
Congratulations on the release of Web of Lies and all the best!
Thanks Serena for hosting Laura here this week!
Nas
It's been wonderful having you here, Laura. You've sparked a bit of conversation. I wish you well with your new release, Web of Lies. I love the sound of it. Good luck with the sales! Must head over to Amazon...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Serena, it's been a pleasure being here.
Delete