Yesterday in class our professor returned the synopses we wrote for our novels. I got a “B,” along with a few suggestions and critiques. Not so many years ago, I would have flared up after receiving comments on something I had written, but not anymore. Over the years I’ve learned a few techniques that help type A people such as myself handle critiques.
Off the top of my head, here are a few things that help me deal with criticism:
01. TAKE A BREATH. If you get easily worked up over bad reviews (like I do), it’s a good idea to pause after reading the criticism before doing anything. If your immediate response is to click REPLY to a negative review or start shouting, you should probably take a breath first.
02. REMEMBER, THE CRITICISM OF OF YOUR WORK, NOT YOU. Even if it’s not written in such a way (“You suck as as writer!”), keep in mind that what readers are really telling you is, “Your book doesn’t work for me.” My book Commodork is about my personal experiences growing up with the Commodore 64 computer. The first negative review I read stated that I should have talked more about the Amiga computer (a computer I didn’t own). This leads into the next point.
03. PROCESS THE CRITIQUE. Determine what the person is trying to say. For me, this is easier after the initial sting has died. Sometimes, what a person is trying to tell you is not obvious. For example, one takeaway I had based on negative comments about my second book was that I should have stated more clearly what the book was about on the outside cover. When people complained and said “You didn’t mention this, this, or this,” what they were really telling me was, “I was expecting a book about subject A, and received a book about subject B.”
When I receive comments or critiques, I chew on them. Chewing is different than dwelling. Dwelling is laying awake at night and losing sleep over someone’s comments, or being afraid to write your next book because of a comment some random person made about your last one. Chewing is taking someone’s comment, chewing it up, dealing with it, and then swallowing it. Accept the criticism, mull it over, absorb its nutrients and then poop out the rest.
04. CONSIDER THE SOURCE. Welcome to the internet, where everybody has an opinion (and a blog, apparently). Critiques of your work might be coming from people intending to help you, paying customers who are disappointed, or trolls who get enjoyment from simply being jerks. Occasionally, the people behind negative reviews have ulterior motives. I received two negative reviews of Commodork from (get ready) other authors writing in the same genre, both of whom added links to their own books after giving mine a bad review! Not only do you have to consider the source, but your sources motive as well. In the case of my novel’s synopsis for class, the source was a professor of professional writing, a (many times over) published author, a voracious reader, a person whose opinion I respect, and ultimately, the person that will be grading my novel at the end of the semester. Perhaps I should listen to her suggestions!
05. WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? “God grant me the serenity, To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference.” If people have complaints about your printed book, well, there’s just not a lot you can do about that. If it’s advice that can be applied to your next one, accept it and move along. If it’s not, smile, and flush it.
06. ASK QUESTIONS; CLARIFY. If a person is offering you a sincere criticism, ask them if they have any suggestions. Whatever you do, don’t turn this into a belligerent attack in the realm of, “If you’re so smart, why don’t YOU write a book!” If the reader (your CUSTOMER) had a problem with something and is being honest, after listening to them, ask questions to clarify what could have been done. Again, if it falls into the realm of “too late now” there may not be anything you can do except grin and bear it, but you might find a little nugget that can be applied to your next project.
07. DON’T BE DEFENSIVE. This applies doubly for writers who ask for constructive criticism. Don’t ask someone what they think and then lambaste them for doing just that! If you don’t want someone’s opinion, don’t ask for it and don’t search Google for it! Sometimes it’s hard to separate the well-meaning suggests from the downright mean ones (they both sting), but in the end you are the only person that can let them affect you. Even burnt cookies may have good icing. I just made that up.
My professor has suggested that I move an exciting scene from my novel up front into a prologue. Guess what I worked on writing last night?
Keep in mind that you can’t write something that EVERYONE is going to like. People (as a species) are just not wired like that.
If you write so that enough people like it, including some key people (namely publishers), then it’s all good – you’ll move enough product to make it worth the effort and at the same time, your craft will be enhancing the human experience.
If you’re writing only to please yourself, keep a journal.