Lessons from the Literary Trenches: Working through Criticism
Accepting and then working through the criticism you receive on a manuscript is one of the hardest things we do as writers. I have gotten better at it over the years, but it still smarts—especially when I’ve already revised something many times and think it’s “done.” What you do with criticism, however, can mean the difference between a project’s success or failure. Here are my hard-learned “lessons from the literary trenches.”
- Choose your readers carefully. Keep in mind that those who are not writers or editors may not have the language to tell you precisely what is wrong. You may need to ask them follow up questions.
- I have three “beta readers.” They don’t read all at the same time, but spaced out by several months. It’s amazing how different people can see different things.
- Don’t try to explain. You won’t be in a reader’s house to tell them what you really meant! Your critic is responding to the text. Listen carefully and try not to get defensive. Remind yourself: they are doing you a huge service that will ultimately make your work better!
- Sometimes, critics want to play writer by offering you solutions. “What if he…?” or “What if they…?” Dissuade them from offering you solutions. That’s your job. And I always find it muddies my mind to hear “their” visions.
- If they haven’t written the feedback down, make sure you take notes. When my husband reads my work, I ask him to write down his feedback. Then I can take what he writes and skulk back to my lair, to process it in my own time.
- Take a deep breath. They’re talking about the WORK, not YOU (although we writers tend to conflate the two!)
- Think of yourself as a re-writer. I do.
- Feedback is only useful if it resonates with you, if it’s basically telling you something you already know. And even then, the changes must come from your own creative vision. They have told you what doesn’t work, but you must create what works!
- Getting criticism isn’t merely an ego blow; it’s frightening. For some reason, we (absurdly!) have no faith that we can ever re-imagine anything, even though as writers of fiction we imagine as easily as we breathe! Faith in yourself is something you develop slowly, over time and repeated experience.
- Transfer the criticism from your reader to yourself. Rewrite it in your own words. Internalize it. The way I do this is to literally transfer the information: I make a table with three column headings: PROBLEM, SOLUTION, and TEXT. I use the text column for new material as it comes to me. The “Solution” column is for the abstract concept, such as “add more description here.”
- Breaking down the feedback in this way quantifies it and makes it feel manageable. I can check off the easier issues such as trimming back, working my way into the tougher problems of characterization, believability, or forward movement. Once I’ve taken a stab at all the issues and have crossed everything out, I will print out the manuscript and read it from start to finish.
- Personally, I like to work on as much as I can without re-rereading the manuscript. I do the work in my head, write passages out separately, imagine where to cut, etc. I want to keep my reader’s eye as fresh as possible for the re-read.
- Writing the best book possible means, for me, switching back and forth between being a writer and being a reader. They are two distinct beings within myself. I strongly believe that developing the reader in you is as important as developing the creative writer.
- Give your work a week or more to lie fallow before you re-read it. This will allow you to acquire more distance from it and be a better criticial reader.
- As creative writers, we are always partly blind to our work in progress. Try not to beat yourself up over this reality. We see things when we see them. It is a process, and sometimes a long one. Most of my novels have taken anywhere between 14 and 21 drafts!