How We Write Wednesday: OUCH!!! Critique and Editorial Revisons
Ouch! Other people's revision notes hurt. A lot. No writer loves being told that what they've crafted doesn't work for the reader. Even light critique or editorial revision comments can be painful to work through, but WE NEED THEM. Eh-hem. Yeah, this is going to be one of those tough love HoWW posts I know you love so much…
Don't think I don't sympathize with a writer's sensitivity to hearing constructive criticism.It's never easy for me, turning a manuscript over to a beta reader (akin to dropping my creative pants in public) or my agent or editor and asking them to show me where the story breaks down (where I need to get back to the gym and work on the gushy parts). But I do it. Because I'm a professional writer, and I adore my readers, and I want every book to be the very best it can be. AND I can't get the story and plot and characters and setting and theme and symbol and narrative structure, etc. there completely on my own.I know that while I draft, everything's not always going to be perfect the minute my creativity poops it out ;o)
We're too close to our work once we're in the thick of the writing. We're no longer seeing the story's journey from a reader's perspective. At some point, our writer's experience becomes the tunnel we see through. Which means, we're in the tall grass (yes, I'm having fun with metaphor today, since Jenni's doing the bulk of the HoWW post work), losing our way even as we write something unique to our voice that we want readers to love.
To be worthy of that love, we have to be willing to let go of a little of our creative control. At least long enough to ask the writing professionals we trust where we're not getting the story right.
Enter the very necessary critique and editorial revision phases of your creative process.After which, in both cases we have to be ready to go back and deconstruct (or as Jenni calls it, DESTRUCT) our story all over again, based on someone else's fresh take on what we've done. We'll talk editorial during a later post (and I'm taking the HoWW reins back next week to focus on deconstructing drafts that you need to revise). Which means the rest of this post will be my very brief take on working with a critique.
Jenni's talking today about something I call her "stream of consciousness" critique style. When she reads for me, she gives me her immediate impression whenever she's pulled from the story. She tells me in that instant what is and isn't working, then she continues that conversation with herself and me in future edit notes in the same critique, as she discovers the rest of the story and further issues. I LOVE this technique, because I'm seeing exactly what's happening in her story experience the first time she reads every part of the book. It's a running summary, but she doesn't go back and pretty comments up. It might seem harsh to some, because she's not pulling her punches at any (and I mean any ;o) point in her read, but it's invaluable feedback to me.
BTW, she doesn't tell me how to fix things (an expectation of a lot of novice writers is that a critiquer will be giving them paint by numbers instructions on how to fix each problem–uh, no). She doesn't over explain what's not working in the writing of the story. Instead, she tells me what's not working for her in the reading of the story.
It's then my job to hear what she experienced, incorporate it into my vision for the manuscript, then figure out what's broken (often not exactly what she's pointing at in a critique note, because what she's experiencing in a particular place in the story is confusion resulting from something else I need to fix sooner).
It's my job to go back and fix things, because she's respecting me as the creator of the world she's reading. It's my job to pull up my big girl panties and get back to work, because I asked for her feedback, however giving it works best for her, because I wanted the broken bits I've left in the story cleaned up long before my agent or editor or readers get their eyeballs on what I've created.
And, yes, it can hurt. But so can going to the doctor or the gym or even visiting the dentist we're not overly fond of having poking around in our mouths. Still, we do all these things, because they're good for us. And we don't blame the professionals who help us or the treadmill that firms our thighs, because it's not a birthday party every time we see them. They're doing their jobs. We're lucky to have them in our lives. And it's up to us, once we leave them, to keep the work going and follow whatever of their advice we choose to (or not).
And here's the thing about handling less-than-flattering critiques that we'll come back to in a week or so. If you're too thinned skin to deal with a critique partner's not-always-flattering notes on your work, how on earth are you going to have the skills you need to work with that publishing house editor you hope to write for one day? You know, the publishing professional who isn't a friend, who really isn't invested in whether or not he/she's hurting your feelings, and who potentially holds your next book contract in his/her grasp, while they're telling you to fix something you don't want to go back and mess with again…
So, to sum up. Scoot over to Jenni's blog to read more about how we write/critique. Come back here next Wednesday, and I'll lead you through an overview of the nitty gritty of deconstructing a manuscript once you have your own or someone else's revision notes to work from, and stick with us throughout the month for more motivational tough love ;o)
And until you missed them, here are HoWW series topics and posts for you to catch up on:
April's Revision Adventures:
The Real Work Begins
The Stream of Consciousness Crtique
March's HoWW plot speak:
Intro to the importance of Narrative Structure: Even the Best Characters Need a Plot
A closer look at how hard this can be for a character-driven writer: Plot THIS…
Intro to Conflict Lock: No Conflict, No Story and External Conflict: Lock and Load
A character-driven author goes deeper into the Conflict Box: Failing and Fixing
The REAL secret to plotting best selling novels
February's Character (and critique/brainstorming) posts:
Mining for motivation
Layering motivation into plot
The Character Chart
Making characters realistic YOUR way
Character is just the beginning
