You can become a better writer by giving and receiving actionable advice. Here’s how.

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Video Transcript: Writing Critique

Hello, this is Mary Kole with Good Story Company. I am here today to talk about writing critique, how to give it and how to accept it, and what role it should play in your writing life.

Now, one of the things that I hear from everybody that I interview about, you know, how do I become a better writer. It's something that I champion myself with my editorial clients, with my Story Mastermind small group writing workshop intensive is the idea of getting critique and giving critique. Now, there was this writer one time who told me, "I am applying to Story Mastermind, but I want to get critique from everyone in the group. I don't want to give critique. I don't have the time. You know, I'm at that point in my life where basically, it's just like you give me critique, I run with it, whatever." Lovely, but getting critique is just one part of the equation. I firmly, firmly believe that giving writing critique is also going to be instrumental in your development as a writer because it allows you to spot things in other manuscripts to which you are less emotionally attached to, then you will start very slowly and after much time, spotting those things in your own manuscript. It will hone your self-editing skills, not just your editing skills towards other projects, other manuscripts, other writers. It is all part of the great, big learning journey that you must take as a writer. And so, I strongly believe it's not something that you can really skip over.

The next question I would get is well, where do I find the opportunities for writing critique. You can get that kind of one-way writing critique by hiring an editor or getting a critique partner, a beta reader, submitting for an opportunity where an agent or a publishing house editor will critique you at a conference, something similar like that. The critique group question is always on the minds of writers everywhere. Finding a good critique group or a good writing partner is like dating and marriage. The stakes are very high. When you find somebody, you don't want to let them go but there's a lot of kind of dating, and false starts, and sort of not-so-great encounters leading you to that moment because sometimes, it can be very wild and random out there and you can meet people who you don't necessarily resonate with.

Some resources for finding writing critique, Crit Collective is a forum that I started for posting yourself as a writer, your project, and try to solicit maybe somebody, Critique Connection if you will, with other writers directly.

(Note: Crit Collective has since integrated with the Good Story Membership.)

You can use Facebook groups, whether in your region or worldwide. You can find writing communities at Writing Community Websites where writing is posted or where book reviews are posted. Those can actually be great places to connect with critique partners so I'm thinking Goodreads, I'm thinking Wattpad, places that attract a lot of writers and readers. Some reviewers, also who sort of make a name for themselves as book reviewers on Amazon or on Goodreads, they also hang their shingle out as a for-profit or a like exchange book reviewer for manuscripts. If they're writers themselves, they may be open to a manuscript exchange so there's some ideas.

Depending on what genre you're writing in, if you're writing children's books, you can join the SCBWI, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and connect with other writers there. They throw virtual conferences, in-person conferences are coming back at some point, so you can connect with writers there and really kind of take advantage of people in your own region. And similar groups exist for all kinds of writers, whether you're a romance writer, a sci-fi writer, thriller writer, any kind of writing niche that you could be into, that you write in, you could find a similar group or web presence online forum, something like that, where you could connect with writers in your category. And I suggest connecting with people who have experience in what you're writing or are published themselves or are maybe a couple of steps ahead of you on their own writing journeys because that makes their advice more credible.

You could share your writing with anybody, from your cousin to the lady at the dog groomers, and they may have feedback for you but when you really start getting seriously into writing critique, giving it, getting it, you really want to pay attention to kind of where that critique is coming from, whether the source is credible, whether that critique is going to be something that you can use and really take seriously or whether it's just like, "I loved it," and it's your mom saying that. Of course, she's gonna love it because you're a beautiful angel and the sun shines out of your body, according to your mom, everybody's mom. That's the way it should be. But is that feedback credible? Is it going to help you grow and mature and take steps forward as a writer? Maybe, maybe not. And so, selecting that person becomes very, very important, not just because hey, they're a writer and you found them and here they are. And they're willing to give you feedback.

But I think searching for the right critique opportunity is something to really invest your time and effort into because once you find that person, once they give you good feedback for where you are and what you need, even if some of the feedback is challenging, that's the kind of critique partner I would work with, rather than somebody who's like, "Oh, it's great," you know. There is definitely a place for praise and I think all feedback needs to come with a healthy helping of praise but I would rather be challenged because that's what's gonna help me with my development. You can, of course, hire a freelance editor or hire a beta reader to sort of streamline that process but it is the pay-to-play relationship and so, with a critique partner, you guys may end up in a friendship or relationship for years, where you just swap manuscripts. This is more of a per service-based or per project type of relationship that you do and they're paying for. So there's a bit of a power imbalance there as well, and it's less relational in some cases.

So there are a lot of options but I would, absolutely, if you don't have someone, try and add a critique partner, writing partner, an editor, a beta reader to your mix because we are hopeless when it comes to evaluating our own work objectively. We cannot see it with just a blank slate. We cannot find the flaws in it as easily, especially when it comes to things like killing your darling, where you just love a part and you don't want to hear that it needs to go and it's not doing anything for the story but you just can't lose it. Well, you need somebody to come in and say, "Hey, I don't have any attachment. This doesn't belong here. Why is it in here?" So just something to think about.

Writers are always challenged to find really, really good critique partners. But I hope some of these resources have been helpful or have maybe planted a seed in you to go out today if you can and try and find somebody. There are many virtual tools to go and connect with other people so you don't even have to go anywhere. You can do it in your pajama pants, just like I'm in my pajama pants here.

Now, how do you be a good critique partner or how do you give good critique? That's something I touched on a little bit already, but I would say praise is never unwelcome. Make sure it's genuine. I want you to sort of approach this as you would like to be approached, which means yes, you want praise but at the same time, you are doing this, ideally, because you want to learn and grow. And so, you want to give somebody actionable advice rather than just saying, you know, "I don't like it." Well, what would make it better? How could you see this writer improving it? They don't have to take your advice and when you're receiving critique, take the wisdom and leave the rest. You don't have to take all of the critique that you receive, especially if it goes counter to your idea for the story. It doesn't jive with you for whatever reason. But you want to give actionable advice, instead of just like, "Meh, this part sucks." No, it's like this doesn't seem like something the character would do. What if they did this instead? Or this scene seems low stakes because they both get what they want. How can we throw in an obstacle there? Maybe the dog can run away or whatever the case may be.

So you're giving actionable advice. You're sandwiching it with praise, ideally, at the beginning of your feedback and at the end of your feedback. There's something every writer does well. And so, for you to be a good critique partner, celebrate that. Celebrate what your critique partner is doing well. Pat them on the back a little bit. It can be very discouraging to write after a while, especially if you're coming up against that sort of glass ceiling, you feel like you're ready to be published but it just hasn't happened yet. And a lot of writers and critique groups feel like they're right there. So a little bit of encouragement always goes a long way. Give them actionable advice and try to understand their intentions.

This is what I have to do as an editor all the time. I have to understand what the client is doing, what they want to do, how their execution matches or doesn't match their intention. And sometimes in that gap is where you'll find a lot of actionable advice that you can give that will really make a difference. So that's how you get critique inspiration for you to go out there and get a critique partner, and ideally, how you give great critique to others.

My name is Mary Kole with Good Story Company. Here's to a good story.

If you’re serious about taking your writing to the next level and want to get there fast, you need Story Mastermind. In just six months, you could have a complete, polished draft in hand, along with a plan to submit it and position it in the market. Applications open twice a year, February-July and September-January.