Critiques, part 1

Over the years, I’ve often been asked about craft, inspiration, plot, query letters and other publishing-related topics. I’m happy to share what I know and in an effort to be efficient, I compiled a post with multiple links to – hopefully – better assist writers with their questions. Something I didn’t include in the post that I’m asked a lot lately concerns critical feedback. Here’s a paraphrased question that’s been posed to me several times recently:

“I’m a new writer and I’ve never finished a book before, but I wrote a few chapters and I’d really like someone to look at them and tell me if they’re anygood. Where should I go for this?”

My response? BACK TO YOUR KEYBOARD.

Let me elaborate on why. Getting an idea you want to write about is easy. Turning that idea into a completed novel is not. I read somewhere that 80% of people polled say they’d like to write a book. Less than 10 percent of them actually do it. Why? Because writing a book from Chapter One all the way to The End is time consuming and difficult, to be blunt. If it wasn’t, most of those 80-percenters would’ve done it. The bottom line is that life is busy for everyone, plus new ideas crop up that make you want to work on them instead. To start and finish a book requires an almost manic dedication to one particular story, so in my opinion, the last thing you want to add on top of that is getting a critique every few chapters. Some writers may be able to handle that, but most of us, when we are trying to overcome that First Book hurdle, need encouragement. Not criticism, no matter how constructive or well-intentioned it is, and if you give your story to someone to read, then expect critical comments because no one writes a flawless first draft. No one. In fact, no published novel is flawless, even after going through the editing, copyediting, and proofreading stage. If you’ve finished a book and think it’s so fabulous that it needs little to no revising, you’re probably overestimating your abilities. I believe it was Oscar Wilde who said, “Books are never finished, they are merely abandoned.” In other words, what you wrote can always be improved upon, and that improvement is done through revisions. But here let me quote another writer: “I can fix anything except a blank page.” – Nora Roberts. Revisions are imperative, and critical feedback plays a crucial part in revisions, but first, fill those pages from Chapter One to The End. Otherwise, you may find yourself repeatedly polishing initial chapters on a novel that will never be finished, and that’s as useful as making beds while in a burning house.

Let’s say you’re of the ultra-thick skin variety and criticism bounces right off you (and if you are…teach me your secret? *grin*). Even so, I wouldn’t recommend seeking an outside opinion until you’ve completed your first novel. Why? Well, until you’re done writing the story, you don’t know yourself what may stay or may go.  Take my debut novel, Halfway to the Grave. What you see in Chapter One now was, in first draft form, originally Chapter Four. From initial writing to selling the book, I ended up deleting the first three chapters in their entirety because after the book was finished and I went back over it, I saw they contained too much backstory that dragged down the pacing. When I wrote them, of course, I thought every word was necessary. It was only in hindsight that I realized none of them were. What if I’d given them to a friend/family member/critique group when they were all I had and was told that the story was boring and to write something else? (which would have been valid criticism at that point, by the way). Then I may never have finished the book that ended up becoming a bestseller and launching my career. Again, if you’re a brand new writer who’s never finished a book before, my recommendation is to focus on that one goal exclusively. Believe me, that’s already challenging enough.

I’ll address the “I’m done with the book, now what?” or “I’ve completed several novels, but I’m not sure if this one is good enough to finish” questions in a later post. Right now I need to go over the galley pages for Once Burned, where, proving Oscar Wilde right, I will cringe over all the errors that I didn’t notice before in the manuscript.

Mirrored from Frost Light.