If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

So, I sort of suck at keeping a constant blog day. I've decided that Thursdays are now going to be AWESOME WRITER INFO DAYS! I hope you read that in an action movie overview voice, complete with Michael Bay-like explosions.

Today, I want to talk about something that is extremely important in writing...critiquing.

Critiquing is hard, I am not going to sugar coat it for you. You've work, no slaved, over your manuscript and you decide to put it out in the world to get some feedback. Then someone gives you a little criticism and it's like being slapped in the face.

NOTE: This is a bad critique. Most people do not say this so DO NOT TELL OTEHRS THIS!

You thought your MS was a beautiful, bouncing baby that the world would enjoy and now someone is telling you it is ugly. Don't they know how hard you worked on it?


"Your baby is so....alert!"-Erica O'Rorke, author of the TORN trilogy on finding something nice to say when critiquing.  

This is a perfectly acceptable first response to a critique as long as you don't act upon it. Yes, it feels like a nasty sting the first time you read it, but there are probably some valid points in the critique. Unlike a real baby, you can go back a change the parts others don't like. You can trim off the eyebrow...er...adjectives...and tighten up the voice work. All problems in writing are fixable, so don't stress out :)

Remember, most of the time, people just want to help you. They are giving you advice from what they already learned or are letting you know what pulls them out of the story or strikes them as being odd.

These types of critiques are INVALUABLE.

 They let you know what readers really think about your novel and can help make your manuscript stronger overall. You can't assume you know it all, because most of the time you probably don't. If you find yourself getting really bent out of shape because of a few critiques, you need to step back and have yourself a tall glass of harden the hell up as my new friend Jessica would say.

It just so happens I have some on tap!

Unless someone is being downright cruel, there is no reason to not at least think about what they've said. The writing community is actually a pretty tightknit group. They want to see each other succeed and most don't want to make you feel bad. While it is hard, you need to actually think about what others are saying, not ignore them all together. We just want to see you get published!

You need thick skin as a writer. People will not always adore your work. Agents might not, editors might not, readers and Amazon reviews might not, all of these people have potential to not like your work. They might have suggestions for you to make it better and you should never ignore them. Put on your +50 armor to critiques and think about what each person has said.

This keeps harsh critiques from hurting you...and also might keep the ladies away if you wear it out in public.

So, if you have joined a critique group, competition, or conference that has a lot of critiquing involved, be prepared and don't overreact to the small stuff. Take in the critique, think about it, and decide if it is right for you.

That's my sage advice for the day!

Happy Writing!