The Best Response to Criticism about Your Book

I have been writing for many years, and I still get that honest feedback most writers cringe about. I used to get upset for days, throw in the towel, and tell myself, I will never write another word again.

The next week I would try again, the sound of the voice almost as clear inside my head.

By the following week the voice would be gone, and in it's place new things to think about like character, setting and plot.

Who knew?

Through the years I have learned two simple words that most of the time stops the 'perpetrator' in their tracks.

THANK YOU.

You might hate what they've said but say thank you. They might add some additional feedback, feedback you might not have asked for in the first place, but remember to say thank you.

THANK YOU.

I'm hurting right now, YOU THINK TO YOURSELF, but thank you. In a few days I will look at your words again and make a decision on what I'm going to do about them. I will decide if I weed out what you've suggested or keep it. But thank you. You didn't have to say anything. You could have chosen to be silent, you could have chosen never to share with me your thoughts. 

So THANK YOU.

Be prepared for a YOU'RE WELCOME. It usually comes, and sometimes, if you hold out for a bit longer, trying with all of your might not to protect your baby by making excuses for it, you may here something like:

"But I really liked ..."

Handling Criticism

I don't know about you but handling criticism, whether it is filled with love or a scathing review is a bit like taking a bite out of that great looking cookie only to discover the chef accidentally used salt instead of sugar.

None of us like criticism; it's the next best thing to cleaning out the bathroom toilet. Still, once the criticism is looked at certain decisions about your work can be made for improvement.

1. The critique is right on the money. I'm going to make changes.
2. The critique is a nut job; or at best, just the personal opinion of the critiquer.
3. The critique is a manifestation of the critiquers own insecurities.

Looking at these various responses, they all feel the same to me in the beginning. I may feel somewhat insulted, somehow not understood, and suddenly I am either angry or feeling insecure about my work.

Years ago I entered a contest. The entries had been painstakingly worked on. When I didn't win a single award I looked at the judges comments. Some were helpful. Others were scathing and I wondered how the judge thought I'd ever write again if I based my opinion on my work from their review.

Fortunately, I didn't.

One of the hardest things to take in is unsolicited critiques; those that come to you without you even asking for them. But these, like the others, can be purposeful for your work if you let them.

Photo by: Arry_B, courtesy of Flickr

But you have to let them in.

My new book, Scrambled, is a cozy mystery but it doesn't run typically cozy. It has an amateur sleuth, a murder, even some quirky instances played out by the main character who knows nothing about solving a mystery. But it is more serious than the typical cozy. Susan not only has a back story, she lives in the real world where separation from a long-time marriage is possible. And so my cozy takes on a deeper level than some.

Is this okay, even if some readers think my story is more of a suspense novel?

I think so. Keeping things interesting in your writing, keeps the readership coming. And I can't help but think that a cozy can also create some great suspense--if you let it.

5 Ideas + 1 to Get you Writing

Having a difficult time scheduling your daily writing time? Whether you have a full-time job outside the home, children hanging on your legs, or your day quite honestly seems to get away from you before you realize you haven't made time to write, we all need to schedule writing time.

Photo by: Earls37a, courtesy of Flickr

I find that if I don't schedule, my writing time doesn't happen. And if I do schedule, I don't often focus on the task at hand but find time to clean my desk, wipe a few layers of lint off my computer screen or eat. It isn't always easy to write.

But that's not because I believe in writer's block.

For me, it's not writer's block that keeps me from moving forward, it's plain and simple, laziness. Sometimes my brain is just lazy and it doesn't want to perform, either that or my heart's just not in it. Maybe that's writer's block, and if so, so be it.

What I know is that I can always move forward if I make the effort. Here are a few things I do:

1. I just start writing! I write for 15 minutes and whatever comes out, comes out. The words may be, "I hate this and I have no idea what to write," and then a few minutes later I'm talking about my day yesterday, or my grandchildren, or the pot pie I ate for dinner. It doesn't matter--not really--what I write, it's getting the juices flowing.
2. I look at my magazine pictures that I've cut out and placed in a three ring binder. I write about the picture using my five senses. I clear the way for a great story.
3. I read a great line from one of my favorite books, and go off that. No, I'm not going to use, "Just call me Ishmael," but I'm going to borrow the line, even change it a bit to get me going. "Just call me (insert your own name)" and go from there.
4. I look out my office window and write what I see. It's amazing the writing that comes depending on the season that I am writing in. Or I travel to another place to write, somewhere outdoors. Some writers even spend some time writing in a hotel room away from the doorbell, the phone and other daily distractions. 

Get away from home for awhile to write!
Photo by Koonisutra, courtesy of Flickr

5. I take out something unfinished, read over it, and make editing changes. Sometimes my best work

    comes from a piece that has been sitting inside my computer for awhile. 

The best news about being a writer I think is the process in writing that next best seller. It's the process, not the result that usually gives me the most satisfaction and growth. 

Get writing!

Why Criticism for your Writing is a Good Thing

As a writer, criticism for your writing may be as prevalent as your next paragraph, but the criticism itself doesn't have to be daunting or depressing. I have learned through the years of writing that criticism can be a real winner if you look at it in a positive way. After publishing for almost 30 years I still get criticism when it comes to my work, and this is a good thing. Why?

Photo by Tony Hall, courtesy of Flickr

• Valid criticism helps you see your work with new eyes. Perhaps the reader didn't understand a sentence you used or why the character changed hair color "suddenly" from blond to brown when there wasn't a logical explanation for doing so. Allowing someone else to critique your work gives you an opportunity to revise and improve it. 
• Sometimes the criticism you receive appears more off than beaten track than on it, and in writing, you want the comments that you take in to be "right on" the money. After I read feedback, and before I return to make changes, I let a couple of days go by. When I pick up the manuscript again it's easier to pinpoint the criticism of my work that is valid. If you're having your work read by multiple readers, see if they have problems with the same areas of your work. This is usually a good clue that what you've written isn't working--for multiple readers.



Photo by Chris Radcliff, courtesy of Flickr

• Criticism, wise criticism, helps you to connect with a reader who loves your work. I have friends and family members who read my work before I publish it. I am grateful for their help because I am able to publish a better product. Though I publish my own works through self-publishing, having others read your work will get you beyond the "slush pile"  when it comes to submitting your work to a publisher. 
• One more thing about valid criticism. You will sometimes get a reader's "opinion" when it comes to your work. They might not like it because you've written romance and they prefer westerns. They may prefer nonfiction when what you've written is fiction. They may like more dialogue in the books they read and less setting. Make sure that the changes you make feel good to you. You will never be able to make every reader happy.

In the end, criticism of your writing is merely a critique anyway, and never has to do with you as a person. Keeping your feelings separate from the critique will go a long way in allowing you to improve your work. Put on an reader's hat if you have to when it comes to reading the criticism you receive and leave your creative mind at the door.