Marissa Beck's Blog, page 2
April 18, 2024
Criticism and Me (And You?)
Criticism is a thing that happens… all the damn time. Recently, while The Ruby of Idree was being edited, my editor mentioned multiple times that he was glad I took criticism well. It kept coming up and it got me thinking about criticism in general.
I can’t say I’ve always been good with criticism. It… has been pretty hurtful and detrimental at times. (I’ll give examples.) But in the past decade or so, and likely do to my time in a writing group, I’ve gotten alright at dealing with what I’ll call “well intentioned criticism.” And I do my best to ignore malicious criticism.
There are four types of criticism, as far as I’m concerned: constructive criticism, misaligned positive criticism, misaligned negative criticism, and malicious criticism. (Also, if you called me on the repetition of the word criticism at this point, that would be constructive. Sorry about the repetition.)
My editor gives solid constructive criticism. Every time he sends me chapters, they are marked up to high hell. He points out the words I’ve made up. When my characters repeat actions in the same scene. Laughs at all the justs. And sends me funny memes when my writing looks particularly stupid. He rarely gives compliments, but he doesn’t have to. His attitude is laid back and kind, even if he’s taking a red wrecking ball to my work.
The thing about constructive criticism is that it’s done for the love of the art. My editor, for example, has told me many of times he thinks I’m a good writer (also that I need to learn basic grammar, but what the hell is a comma splice anyway? I went to public school, people!). He finds the flaws in my work and encourages me to re-write certain things, because he wants my work to be better. He wants it to shine. He wants to polish and let it glow. So when he sends me a batch of chapters and I have sixty comments to work through and a hundred track changes, I roll with it. And I know that when I look at his critique and decide… Nah, I’ll keep my work, he’s okay with it too.
Constructive criticism points out flaws for the purpose of helping, of teaching, and lifting up an art. I love constructive criticism. It’s great and is a wonderful tool to get better. (This is why writing groups, beta readers, and editors are all super important. If you’re a writer/artist, please find people who do this ^. You need those people who will give you constructive criticism. They, like the writers for Deadpool, are the real heroes here.)
Then there’s misaligned positive criticism. This is when someone may not like the work they’re reading, but still want to see it get better. Still want to help. I, personally, have to practice this with one person in my writing group. She’s a sweet, lovely lady… and she writes romance. Now, I’m not a fan of romance as a genre. It’s not my thing. I recognize that it’s literally the biggest genre ever and I don’t mind a little romance in a fantasy or mystery or sci-fi or horror book. But I don’t like it to be the whole point of a story.
She writes a genre that I don’t enjoy and that I don’t know a lot of the rules for. So, when she brings her work, I want to give her my best, which is misaligned positive criticism. I want her story to shine as much as it can, but… it’s not my jam, so I know some of the things I might naturally tell her to change would not actually work towards her goal. So, I adjust how I talk. I’ll stray away from plot points and tropes and I’ll focus on dialogue, on consistency, on repetition, on character development, on repetition. I’m still giving her actionable things to help make her work better, because she’s flipping awesome and I want to help her out, but… I just don’t like that genre and don’t want to step on its toes.
For instance, here’s a misaligned review: I’m not a fan of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings trilogy. While I adore the world building and attention to detail, my preference in stories is character well above plot or world building. In my opinion, characterization falls flat through most of the story. If Tolkien treated his characters the way he wrote his world, these stories would be perfect, however, they fall far flat for me, because some of the characters are plain forgettable, and the few who do get some good characterization… just don’t do enough heavy lifting to make up for the others.
^ This is my genuine feeling for LotR. (The movies are better in my opinion, more action and more lively characters.) The series is not for me. I want more focus on people and it’s totally okay for me if the world takes a couple steps back and requires me to use my imagination to fill gaps. Characters are king to me. Do I still see positives in these books? Yup. They’re gorgeous in what they do well… but they don’t do well the thing that I care about most. (I’m fully prepared for the hate on that opinion.) I can still find positivity and goodness, see both the good and the bad, but it’s not my taste. That’s what positive misaligned criticism is like in my opinion.
I like this form of criticism too! It’s good. Getting an opinion from someone who doesn’t exactly like my ideas or genre is helpful. It’s an outside opinion and those help me grow in my writing. Seeing something from a new perspective aids in my writerly development. I’ve learned things from people who write things I don’t like. I’ve learned things from people who don’t like what I write. This type of critique is not malicious, it’s just different, and it can be super helpful.
Then there’s misaligned negative criticism. (Don’t let the word negative set you off. This isn’t all bad, not yet.) This is your “grumpy gills” sort of criticism. This is someone not liking a genre and making it very clear that they don’t like it. This is someone who hates character heavy narratives and points out that you need to spend another ten years building a world. They aren’t going out of their way to hurt you, but their words don’t usually feel very good to hear.
They want to help… but they want to help by making the book more to their own personal taste, rather than help you better your own idea.
Again. This isn’t awful. It doesn’t feel great, but there are things to learn from someone who gives this sort of critique.
For instance, there was a historical fiction writer on Scribd whose work I gave a critique on. He, by some sort of obligation, returned the favor on my fantasy story—even though his profile clearly said he hated fantasy. He didn’t like that there was magic. Didn’t like the setting. Didn’t like that it was on a different planet. Wanted me to place it on Earth (I think he wanted it in the 16th century? I don’t know it’s been a while since I read the critique). On about a sample of ten pages of my writing, he wrote me four pages of notes. Four. Pages. Most of which were to tell me to leave fantasy behind and write something more practical… like historical fiction.
But, he liked my tone. Liked my character voice. Caught a couple errors. And! He even gave me a paragraph-long lesson on the history of ships (important to that story). He didn’t like what I was doing. He was negative about it. But there was some good there. Some use to the critique. Some positives. This type of criticism feels bad, but there are good things hidden in it sometimes.
My advice? Squint at this type. If someone clearly doesn’t like what you do? It’s okay. Not everything is for everyone. But just because they want you to change your genre, doesn’t mean you should. But, if they have a knowledge on parts of a ship that you didn’t know about? That’s not worth nothing. Take the advice these people give with a grain of salt. There can be some good things to learn here. But don’t let it settle too deep. If you want to write about a princess getting kidnapped on a magical pirate ship, do it. It doesn’t have to be a grounded tale set on Earth and without magic. (But you should probably get the parts of a ship right, because not all of the diagrams you find online are 100% accurate. Dude was right about that; I found the receipts.)
Finally, there is malicious criticism. This sounds and reads bitter. It has vitriol in it. They don’t like what you did and they don’t want you to get better, they just want you to know you suck. These people are bitter and mean to be bitter and mean. They do not care about your work and they don’t want you to get better.
Don’t listen to these people and don’t engage.
I had two people in my writing group at one point, both of them gave malicious criticism to me. If you’ve read Listen, you know that book is super raw and real. But, when I was taking that to my writing group, it was even more vulnerable and fresh. It was a journal, a diary at that point, personal, not a hint of fiction to it. And those two ripped into me. Everything was wrong and awful and I was stupid. They didn’t want my writing to get better, they wanted me to know that I was ungodly and stupid for going to therapy. (Yes, really. I was stupid for going to get help.)
Given how deep in depression I was at that time, that sort of criticism was hugely painful. Except I had eight other people critiquing me telling me how moving, raw, emotional, and important my story was. (They wanted me to publish the original version, but fuck that, it was too traumatic for me to put out there for the world to see, so I put a fiction veneer on that and then I said it was alright.) That malicious criticism hurt beyond words and if it weren’t for the constructive criticism I was getting with the others in my group, I would have given up.
Malicious critiques hurt. They are painful and cut deep sometimes, that’s how they’re designed. It’s especially hard to deal with this type. But it really is best ignored.
Pro tip. If people have nothing good to say at all about your work? You don’t need that. You also don’t need someone who tells you everything is perfect. I, for one, want people to see the flaws, to want me to get better, and grow through them.
Creating art is like living life. You’re gonna fail somedays, but you learn from the failures and the kindness and support of others.
If someone is ONLY tearing your work down, they don’t have good intentions. If they tell you you’re perfect all the time… they probably shouldn’t be a critique partner.
I’m pretty good at rolling with critique these days, mostly because the people I surround myself with are the sort who want my work to shine. Is my work the vibe of everyone? No. I’m currently taking a serial killer book to my writing group and they’re all wrinkling their noses at the blood and gore… but they love my descriptions, and the find my repetition, and my misspelled words, and my repetition. (I’ve done that joke twice now, sorry.)
Rule of thumb, if someone can see good and bad in your work, that’s someone you want on your team. If someone doesn’t like your particular genre. It’s okay, not everything is for everyone, but they can still have good ideas to learn from.
If someone is a hater? Just ignore it. Don’t engage. Don’t feed them. They like that.
If you are a creator, find you some peers that want you to find improvement and can give it to you straight with the good and the bad. Keep an open mind, there’s always something to learn from other people, and know that you have the final say in what your art looks like. Afterall, in my most recent book (coming in 12 days, dear God), my editor told me to clip a couple scenes that I said no to. They looked trivial to him, unnecessary, but they’re important to my art from my point of view. Take the opinions of others openly, learn from it where you can, but stay true to the art you want to create.
Guess I got out my thoughts on criticism. Don’t know if ya’ll cared or not, but this is my take on it. I hope it helps. I try really hard to look at this subject in as healthy a manner as I can, or at least a way that works for me. How do you guys deal with critiques? Am I wrong? Am I right? Keep it constructive if you comment. (haha)
Much love, Everyone.
-Marissa
I can’t say I’ve always been good with criticism. It… has been pretty hurtful and detrimental at times. (I’ll give examples.) But in the past decade or so, and likely do to my time in a writing group, I’ve gotten alright at dealing with what I’ll call “well intentioned criticism.” And I do my best to ignore malicious criticism.
There are four types of criticism, as far as I’m concerned: constructive criticism, misaligned positive criticism, misaligned negative criticism, and malicious criticism. (Also, if you called me on the repetition of the word criticism at this point, that would be constructive. Sorry about the repetition.)
My editor gives solid constructive criticism. Every time he sends me chapters, they are marked up to high hell. He points out the words I’ve made up. When my characters repeat actions in the same scene. Laughs at all the justs. And sends me funny memes when my writing looks particularly stupid. He rarely gives compliments, but he doesn’t have to. His attitude is laid back and kind, even if he’s taking a red wrecking ball to my work.
The thing about constructive criticism is that it’s done for the love of the art. My editor, for example, has told me many of times he thinks I’m a good writer (also that I need to learn basic grammar, but what the hell is a comma splice anyway? I went to public school, people!). He finds the flaws in my work and encourages me to re-write certain things, because he wants my work to be better. He wants it to shine. He wants to polish and let it glow. So when he sends me a batch of chapters and I have sixty comments to work through and a hundred track changes, I roll with it. And I know that when I look at his critique and decide… Nah, I’ll keep my work, he’s okay with it too.
Constructive criticism points out flaws for the purpose of helping, of teaching, and lifting up an art. I love constructive criticism. It’s great and is a wonderful tool to get better. (This is why writing groups, beta readers, and editors are all super important. If you’re a writer/artist, please find people who do this ^. You need those people who will give you constructive criticism. They, like the writers for Deadpool, are the real heroes here.)
Then there’s misaligned positive criticism. This is when someone may not like the work they’re reading, but still want to see it get better. Still want to help. I, personally, have to practice this with one person in my writing group. She’s a sweet, lovely lady… and she writes romance. Now, I’m not a fan of romance as a genre. It’s not my thing. I recognize that it’s literally the biggest genre ever and I don’t mind a little romance in a fantasy or mystery or sci-fi or horror book. But I don’t like it to be the whole point of a story.
She writes a genre that I don’t enjoy and that I don’t know a lot of the rules for. So, when she brings her work, I want to give her my best, which is misaligned positive criticism. I want her story to shine as much as it can, but… it’s not my jam, so I know some of the things I might naturally tell her to change would not actually work towards her goal. So, I adjust how I talk. I’ll stray away from plot points and tropes and I’ll focus on dialogue, on consistency, on repetition, on character development, on repetition. I’m still giving her actionable things to help make her work better, because she’s flipping awesome and I want to help her out, but… I just don’t like that genre and don’t want to step on its toes.
For instance, here’s a misaligned review: I’m not a fan of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings trilogy. While I adore the world building and attention to detail, my preference in stories is character well above plot or world building. In my opinion, characterization falls flat through most of the story. If Tolkien treated his characters the way he wrote his world, these stories would be perfect, however, they fall far flat for me, because some of the characters are plain forgettable, and the few who do get some good characterization… just don’t do enough heavy lifting to make up for the others.
^ This is my genuine feeling for LotR. (The movies are better in my opinion, more action and more lively characters.) The series is not for me. I want more focus on people and it’s totally okay for me if the world takes a couple steps back and requires me to use my imagination to fill gaps. Characters are king to me. Do I still see positives in these books? Yup. They’re gorgeous in what they do well… but they don’t do well the thing that I care about most. (I’m fully prepared for the hate on that opinion.) I can still find positivity and goodness, see both the good and the bad, but it’s not my taste. That’s what positive misaligned criticism is like in my opinion.
I like this form of criticism too! It’s good. Getting an opinion from someone who doesn’t exactly like my ideas or genre is helpful. It’s an outside opinion and those help me grow in my writing. Seeing something from a new perspective aids in my writerly development. I’ve learned things from people who write things I don’t like. I’ve learned things from people who don’t like what I write. This type of critique is not malicious, it’s just different, and it can be super helpful.
Then there’s misaligned negative criticism. (Don’t let the word negative set you off. This isn’t all bad, not yet.) This is your “grumpy gills” sort of criticism. This is someone not liking a genre and making it very clear that they don’t like it. This is someone who hates character heavy narratives and points out that you need to spend another ten years building a world. They aren’t going out of their way to hurt you, but their words don’t usually feel very good to hear.
They want to help… but they want to help by making the book more to their own personal taste, rather than help you better your own idea.
Again. This isn’t awful. It doesn’t feel great, but there are things to learn from someone who gives this sort of critique.
For instance, there was a historical fiction writer on Scribd whose work I gave a critique on. He, by some sort of obligation, returned the favor on my fantasy story—even though his profile clearly said he hated fantasy. He didn’t like that there was magic. Didn’t like the setting. Didn’t like that it was on a different planet. Wanted me to place it on Earth (I think he wanted it in the 16th century? I don’t know it’s been a while since I read the critique). On about a sample of ten pages of my writing, he wrote me four pages of notes. Four. Pages. Most of which were to tell me to leave fantasy behind and write something more practical… like historical fiction.
But, he liked my tone. Liked my character voice. Caught a couple errors. And! He even gave me a paragraph-long lesson on the history of ships (important to that story). He didn’t like what I was doing. He was negative about it. But there was some good there. Some use to the critique. Some positives. This type of criticism feels bad, but there are good things hidden in it sometimes.
My advice? Squint at this type. If someone clearly doesn’t like what you do? It’s okay. Not everything is for everyone. But just because they want you to change your genre, doesn’t mean you should. But, if they have a knowledge on parts of a ship that you didn’t know about? That’s not worth nothing. Take the advice these people give with a grain of salt. There can be some good things to learn here. But don’t let it settle too deep. If you want to write about a princess getting kidnapped on a magical pirate ship, do it. It doesn’t have to be a grounded tale set on Earth and without magic. (But you should probably get the parts of a ship right, because not all of the diagrams you find online are 100% accurate. Dude was right about that; I found the receipts.)
Finally, there is malicious criticism. This sounds and reads bitter. It has vitriol in it. They don’t like what you did and they don’t want you to get better, they just want you to know you suck. These people are bitter and mean to be bitter and mean. They do not care about your work and they don’t want you to get better.
Don’t listen to these people and don’t engage.
I had two people in my writing group at one point, both of them gave malicious criticism to me. If you’ve read Listen, you know that book is super raw and real. But, when I was taking that to my writing group, it was even more vulnerable and fresh. It was a journal, a diary at that point, personal, not a hint of fiction to it. And those two ripped into me. Everything was wrong and awful and I was stupid. They didn’t want my writing to get better, they wanted me to know that I was ungodly and stupid for going to therapy. (Yes, really. I was stupid for going to get help.)
Given how deep in depression I was at that time, that sort of criticism was hugely painful. Except I had eight other people critiquing me telling me how moving, raw, emotional, and important my story was. (They wanted me to publish the original version, but fuck that, it was too traumatic for me to put out there for the world to see, so I put a fiction veneer on that and then I said it was alright.) That malicious criticism hurt beyond words and if it weren’t for the constructive criticism I was getting with the others in my group, I would have given up.
Malicious critiques hurt. They are painful and cut deep sometimes, that’s how they’re designed. It’s especially hard to deal with this type. But it really is best ignored.
Pro tip. If people have nothing good to say at all about your work? You don’t need that. You also don’t need someone who tells you everything is perfect. I, for one, want people to see the flaws, to want me to get better, and grow through them.
Creating art is like living life. You’re gonna fail somedays, but you learn from the failures and the kindness and support of others.
If someone is ONLY tearing your work down, they don’t have good intentions. If they tell you you’re perfect all the time… they probably shouldn’t be a critique partner.
I’m pretty good at rolling with critique these days, mostly because the people I surround myself with are the sort who want my work to shine. Is my work the vibe of everyone? No. I’m currently taking a serial killer book to my writing group and they’re all wrinkling their noses at the blood and gore… but they love my descriptions, and the find my repetition, and my misspelled words, and my repetition. (I’ve done that joke twice now, sorry.)
Rule of thumb, if someone can see good and bad in your work, that’s someone you want on your team. If someone doesn’t like your particular genre. It’s okay, not everything is for everyone, but they can still have good ideas to learn from.
If someone is a hater? Just ignore it. Don’t engage. Don’t feed them. They like that.
If you are a creator, find you some peers that want you to find improvement and can give it to you straight with the good and the bad. Keep an open mind, there’s always something to learn from other people, and know that you have the final say in what your art looks like. Afterall, in my most recent book (coming in 12 days, dear God), my editor told me to clip a couple scenes that I said no to. They looked trivial to him, unnecessary, but they’re important to my art from my point of view. Take the opinions of others openly, learn from it where you can, but stay true to the art you want to create.
Guess I got out my thoughts on criticism. Don’t know if ya’ll cared or not, but this is my take on it. I hope it helps. I try really hard to look at this subject in as healthy a manner as I can, or at least a way that works for me. How do you guys deal with critiques? Am I wrong? Am I right? Keep it constructive if you comment. (haha)
Much love, Everyone.
-Marissa
April 13, 2024
Hello? Is this thing on?
I never really know what to do with a blog. I know less about how to write a personal introduction. That’s fine though.
Welcome and hello. My name is Marissa Beck and I am an author. I’ve always loved stories and it has been my goal to share my stories with others as long as I can remember.
Without too much detail, my life wasn’t simple, safe, or pretty growing up (it still isn’t). Books, video games, and shows—all stories—gave me a way to escape. I loved seeing characters grow and get out of horrible places. I could empathize with those that were going through remarkable things and reaching new heights, even if my life wasn’t what most would call… fantastic.
At a young age I started telling my own stories and as I got older and found feedback, most people would call my writing a raw experience of emotions, not that it was good back then, but everyone took notice of that aspect first: the realness. I tend to focus a lot on character and on their growth, that often includes facing down a lot of the horrors of life and the joys of life. I hear from most that it’s cathartic—and it certainly is for me.
My goal is to be able to allow people escape from the real world, if they need it or want it. I hope to provide a place where you can see yourself in someone else, in some character, in some world. Going through what I have, the fact that I got to see relatable characters face their lives and move through and grow and become so much more than what they started out as… it gave me hope. I wish to carry that on and writing is one of my favorite things to do ever (editing and marketing not so much). I can do what I want… and do what I love at the same time, thankfully.
I’ve always believed if I can brighten one day, then it’s all worth it. And that’s what I set out to do.
This blog is going to be laid back, relaxed. I’m not out here trying to write perfectly ( Here, when I can, I’ll keep y’all up to date on upcoming projects, on progress through things, on the process, and even maybe secret things in my Iridescent Universe.
Sometime in my teens (don’t ask when, I don’t know, I have a horrible memory due to repeated trauma and dissociation), I decided that it’d be cool if one of my characters from one series could meet another from another series and I wrote a short little conversation between them as an exercise and… well, then I thought: Well, why can’t all of them live in the same universe?
Soooooo… the Iridescent Universe is a thing. Unless I explicitly say otherwise, all of my works fit into the same universe… some with subtle hints… some are about as subtle as Deadpool breaking all sixteen walls. This blog will have some little hints about the Universe thrown in here and there. Don’t know when, haven’t decided yet, but it’ll be here.
Anyways… does that sort of sum things up as an intro? I don’t know. I’m here, I like books, I’m a nerd, and I’ll be trying to keep people updated on future books. If you like my books and want something to tide you over between releases, I have a Ko-Fi page (Ko-fi.com/marissabeck40) where I keep some bonus short stories, a military sci-fantasy series (that I try to update every month), and plan on other future bonus content for.
Here's some random get to know mes for fun.
Favorite Book: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Favorite Genre: Fantasy
Favorite Show: Hannibal
Favorite Movie: The Princess Bride (currently)
Favorite Color(s): Olive and Burgundy
Favorite Drink: Hot Chocolate
Is this how to intro? Did I do it?
Take care, Everyone.
-Marissa
Welcome and hello. My name is Marissa Beck and I am an author. I’ve always loved stories and it has been my goal to share my stories with others as long as I can remember.
Without too much detail, my life wasn’t simple, safe, or pretty growing up (it still isn’t). Books, video games, and shows—all stories—gave me a way to escape. I loved seeing characters grow and get out of horrible places. I could empathize with those that were going through remarkable things and reaching new heights, even if my life wasn’t what most would call… fantastic.
At a young age I started telling my own stories and as I got older and found feedback, most people would call my writing a raw experience of emotions, not that it was good back then, but everyone took notice of that aspect first: the realness. I tend to focus a lot on character and on their growth, that often includes facing down a lot of the horrors of life and the joys of life. I hear from most that it’s cathartic—and it certainly is for me.
My goal is to be able to allow people escape from the real world, if they need it or want it. I hope to provide a place where you can see yourself in someone else, in some character, in some world. Going through what I have, the fact that I got to see relatable characters face their lives and move through and grow and become so much more than what they started out as… it gave me hope. I wish to carry that on and writing is one of my favorite things to do ever (editing and marketing not so much). I can do what I want… and do what I love at the same time, thankfully.
I’ve always believed if I can brighten one day, then it’s all worth it. And that’s what I set out to do.
This blog is going to be laid back, relaxed. I’m not out here trying to write perfectly ( Here, when I can, I’ll keep y’all up to date on upcoming projects, on progress through things, on the process, and even maybe secret things in my Iridescent Universe.
Sometime in my teens (don’t ask when, I don’t know, I have a horrible memory due to repeated trauma and dissociation), I decided that it’d be cool if one of my characters from one series could meet another from another series and I wrote a short little conversation between them as an exercise and… well, then I thought: Well, why can’t all of them live in the same universe?
Soooooo… the Iridescent Universe is a thing. Unless I explicitly say otherwise, all of my works fit into the same universe… some with subtle hints… some are about as subtle as Deadpool breaking all sixteen walls. This blog will have some little hints about the Universe thrown in here and there. Don’t know when, haven’t decided yet, but it’ll be here.
Anyways… does that sort of sum things up as an intro? I don’t know. I’m here, I like books, I’m a nerd, and I’ll be trying to keep people updated on future books. If you like my books and want something to tide you over between releases, I have a Ko-Fi page (Ko-fi.com/marissabeck40) where I keep some bonus short stories, a military sci-fantasy series (that I try to update every month), and plan on other future bonus content for.
Here's some random get to know mes for fun.
Favorite Book: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Favorite Genre: Fantasy
Favorite Show: Hannibal
Favorite Movie: The Princess Bride (currently)
Favorite Color(s): Olive and Burgundy
Favorite Drink: Hot Chocolate
Is this how to intro? Did I do it?
Take care, Everyone.
-Marissa
