Five Questions to Ask About Every Critique

Critique. Criticism. Insults. Ridicule. Sometimes, when people give feedback, on a writing project, it’s hard to determine what exactly they mean by it. And not knowing, hurts. If someone is just insulting parts of a story to discourage your writing, should you ignore them?

   If you’re serious about being a writer, how do you know when to listen to people’s feedback, and when to ignore it? Surprisingly, the motive behind the feedback, doesn’t really matter. The key to when accepting critique is right, and when it’s wrong, has nothing to do with whether the person offering the feedback is being supportive or ridiculing.

    First off, after getting feedback from someone, whether family, friend, editor, beta-reader or other, let it sit. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten feedback on a story, and gotten frustrated. I couldn’t think logically through the feedback, because my writing had just been torn apart, and I wasn’t able to see the feedback objectively enough to know if it was worth changing things or not. However, after letting the critique sit for a few days, there are a few simple questions to ask yourself to help determine if changes should be made based off of critique given, or if it’s merely the critique-giver’s personal opinion.

    One – If I change this, will it improve the story? A few years ago, when I was writing the rough draft for Never Without Hope, my mom suggested that I add a therapy dog. I balked at the idea. A dog? Really? It’s not like I hate dogs or anything, I like them . . . when they’re outside. The idea of putting one in my book, inside the hospital, just didn’t sit well with me. But, since I knew my mom was honestly trying to make my story better, I decided to add a dog. Turns out, Champ became a real hit! Even I fell in love with the St. Bernard. Had I not listened to Mom’s advice, I’d have missed out on a great asset to the mystery in the sequel. In that instance, listening to advice made my writing better.

    Two – Will changing this make my book more reader-friendly? While writing Gunshots at Graveyard Bend, someone pointed out a relationship ‘issue’. I wanted to ignore them because I knew what I’d meant by the scene, but knowing that a reader could imagine the wrong thing, I decided to change it. In the long run, I ended up adding another character to ‘lighten the scene up’, and the added character ended up making the whole thing more enjoyable, as well as more reader-friendly. With the added character, it also erased the possibility of the reader getting the wrong idea.

   Three – How important is this? If someone suggests that you change something and it really doesn’t make a difference one way or the other, then it’s alright to follow your personal preference. For example, someone told me to change the color of the boy’s home exterior in Graveyard Bend. The color of the paint on the building made absolutely no difference to the story. Since it didn’t make much difference, I changed it, but either way, it wasn’t something to stress over.

   Four – Will changing this take away from the story? Last winter, when I was getting ready to publish The Fudged Up Murder, it was brought to my attention, that the two old-lady sisters needed to talk different . . . that no one would understand them because people don’t talk like that unless they’re from Minnesota. I ignored the advice because, that was the point! The two elderly sisters were from small town Minnesota, and their vocabulary helped establish their identity. Changing it would have changed the ‘feel’ of the story.

    Five – Will changing this, change my goal? If an editor or beta-reader want you to change something that affects the whole theme/story goal of your book, you might not want to change it. Critiques are often offered by people who wish they could write a book but haven’t, and sometimes, they give you ideas that are things they wish they could write. It’s fine to incorporate those ideas into your story, but remember, it’s your story. You don’t have to write everyone else’s books for them. Keep your goal in mind, and don’t rely on your editors so much that you allow them to change the whole theme you were going for.

    So, when someone gives you feedback that hurts, let it sit, and then look at it with questions in mind. Don’t let the motive behind the feedback affect whether or not you accept it. Sometimes, people will give you feedback for the wrong reasons, but it’s okay. Regardless of the motives behind the feedback, we writers can always use feedback. We don’t improve when people pat us on the back and say we’re doing great. It’s when people offer critique that we can improve. So, embrace it. Don’t let the critique steal your passion, instead, let it drive your passion, and improve your writing.