When you put your manuscript (MS) out there and ask for a
critique from fellow writers on a website like Romance Writer’s Community (RWC)
or Book Country (BC), think of it as taking off your clothes in front of complete
strangers and asking them to tell you what they think of your body. If you’re
comfortable with that thought, then go ahead and strip.
DON’T get naked (unveil your writing) if you’re not ready
to have your flaws pointed out.
If you receive a critique, expect to get comments like your
stomach is fat and flabby (too many adjectives) or you’re bony and need to put
on weight (add descriptions). Your critic might say your adverbs (boobs) make
your sentence top-heavy and need reducing. Alternatively, the critic says
you’re flat-chested and need fleshing out. Now, turn around. There are those
dreaded analogies, metaphors and similes that abound and bounce around like
over-sized butt cheeks in your MS. You get the picture, I’m sure.
Okay, so you've decided your MS (body) is perfectly toned
and ready for publication (exposure.) You've spent months, years sweating it
out at the editing gym and know it’s good, but if you think everything is trim
and fit—think again. Gird your loins and be prepared to hear you have typos,
spelling errors, run on sentences, gawking narrators and just plain weak prose.
What? But you checked a thousand times—fifty members of your family and/or
friends checked as well. If they did, then they obviously love you dearly, too
dearly to be truthful. These critics you've undressed for are emotionally
detached and don’t know you. Professional editors are even more direct. Best
look at them as judges for a Miss/Mr. World Beauty Pageant. They’re paid to be
brutally honest.
Even editors write books and may end up on one of the
critiquing websites willing to undress. If one of them looks at your MS then I
suggest you shut up, sit up and listen very carefully. Opportunities like that
don’t come one’s way often. Oh, and you’ll recognize them because they waste no
time telling you they’re editors. However, they will listen to a critic because
they learned the hard way. I'm talking reputable editors here, not wannabe editors.
Develop a thick skin.
Some critics are kind and only point out obvious errors—Jed’s
blue eyes that turn brown two chapters later. They will almost always say your
writing flows and the story sounds really interesting (dull) from what they've
read. They tell you the things they’d like to hear about their own MS. You
know, do unto others . . . . I don’t say this is always the case, but “interesting”
is not usually the adjective you want to hear about your MS. You need to ask
yourself if the “kind” critique is honestly what you want. I doubt it, unless
you have your head in the sand. You need to know the truth about your MS. If
it’s fat and flabby, then you need to know so you can go on a grammar diet and
hit the edit gym, or if it’s too skinny and flabby, you must eat more of the
healthy stuff—and buff up.
Set aside the transparent robe of hubris and arrogance and
put on a robe of humility and LEARN. You don’t have to agree with everything
your critic says, but you do have to consider every criticism or concern.
Above all, remember that your editor/critic set aside his
or her valuable time to look at your MS and, assuming they are not emotionally
involved with you and owe you nothing, you owe them the courtesy of listening
if nothing else.
Don’t get indignant because they think your writing falls
far short of brilliant—listen to their suggestions. Perhaps there is room for
improvement. No author ever writes the perfect sentence, but that is what all
good writers strive for.
It’s okay to ask why they say what they do, but hear them
out. If you still disagree, then seek clarification from expert sources before
blasting their criticism out of the water.
The people who critique your work are the vanguard for
readers. If the critic misses a typo or plot error, chances are your readers
will find it. And readers really don’t give a damn about your feelings—they
paid for your book. Readers are not like RWC, BC, or other websites like this
with monitors to ensure everyone plays nice. Once your MS is published you can’t
run to “mommy” and claim you’re being bullied.
Above all, stay calm, forget the bruised ego and LEARN. Accept
the suggestions you agree with, and, after considering what they say with an
open mind, delete the stuff you don’t agree with. And NEVER be rude or dismissive. Be excited
that, because of the opinion of another writer or editor, you have the
opportunity to rewrite—the opportunity to make your “interesting” MS brilliant.
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