Getting feedback is an important part of the path to publication. I’ve written previously about writing critique groups and dealing with criticism, but one thing I haven’t touched on too much is how to evaluate a critique, and whether or not you should implement any of the recommended changes.
Critiques can be scary. Putting your work out there for another person or a group of people to see can make you feel vulnerable and helpless. Especially if you’re a new writer and feeling a little self-conscious about showing your work. But it’s important to remember that your critique partner is not there to bring you down. A critique partner is there to help make your work better.
A good, thoughtful, critique should not be filled with only “bad” things. It should give you a summary of what works and what doesn’t work–and why. And, hopefully, the person doing the critique with have some suggestions on how to improve the parts that need improving.
But before you take a critique to heart and start tearing down your manuscript, there are a few things you should first consider. Here are three thing to consider when evaluating a critique.
1. The taste of the reader
This is something we often overlook. A lot of times writers will just get together and start hanging out with other writers. Understandable because, while there’s not a lot of us, we’re pretty easy to find. The problem, of course, is that a lot of us don’t write the same thing. If you’re getting a critique on a horror story from someone who doesn’t care for horror, there’s a good chance it won’t be a quality critique.
Likewise, if you ask me to critique your novel written in the style of 1800’s Victorian Literature, you’re more likely going to get back a stack of papers covered in vomit than a thoughtful or helpful critique.
So keep that in mind, right. If a critique comes back from someone who doesn’t enjoy or ever read your genre, a lot of their opinions of it may not be valid.
2. How would this specific change impact the rest of the story?
This one is a little more difficult. Say you get a suggestion on how to improve a particular scene. You love the idea and want to do it immediately.
Don’t.
Before you start rewriting scenes based on a critique, sit down and really think about the long-term effect of that. Perhaps a minor change won’t affect anything about your story. But it may. Before making that change, list a few possible negative effects in addition to the positive ones. That last thing you want to do is rush into a rewrite that totally screws up your plot later in the story.
3. Do you agree?
This is perhaps the most important thing to ask yourself. Like I said above, you don’t have to do anything a critique partner suggests. No one knows your story better than you. So if a reader says something just doesn’t work about your story, really look at why they feel that way. The part may need improving, but it may not. Remember, as the author, it is up to you. (Until you sell it to a publisher, and then in a lot of cases, the changes are up to them. But let’s not worry about that; let’s worry about getting to that place first!)
And that’s it. I’m all for getting a good critique. Just don’t feel like you have to take every word of a critique as scripture. Do what feels right and remember that a critique is just one other person’s view of your story.
Thanks for reading and if you have any other tips about dealing with feedback, feel free to share them in the comments section.
