Yesterday we discussed critique groups that stray across the line into criticism. Critique is meant to help improve a writer’s skill. Criticism gets personal or judgmental.The problem seems to stem from the inability for most of us to separate ourselves from our work. We are our words, but the reader mostly sees the words, not the person behind them. Something painful or difficult for you to write may be read fairly objectively. Or your word choices may not elicit the same emotional response for the reader as they did for you. In the face of either or both, what is the best way to handle feedback?

Writing Tip for Today:

• Take critique the way you would a gentle yoga teacher correcting your posture. By correcting prose for clarity, you increase your chances of gaining readers or selling your work. And don’t interrupt to explain! If the reader doesn’t experience what you wrote as you intended, something is getting lost in translation.
• Who are you writing for? Is the person delivering an unpleasant crit someone you envision as your reader? If not, why worry yourself over unhelpful comments?
• Are you “performing your work? I remember bringing stuff to group thinking I was going to wow them. When my wow turned to whoa, I felt like a failure. Workshop your stuff to improve it, not to perform it.
• If you believe a critique is meant to belittle or demean you, let it slide right off your back. Maybe not easy, but simple. All critique is to be used or rejected by the writer.
• Finally, keep smiling. I always say “thanks” for all critique. It’s up to me to use it or lose it. Sometimes I set aside a crit until my emotions can handle it. Then I dive back into revision.