You’re a Writer. You just received a critique. Constructive criticism. What Do You Do Next?
What you DON’T DO is answer back in the heat of the moment! If you contact the critic at all, you write a ‘thank you’ note and say how much you appreciated their time. Your job, now, is to be gracious, polite and calm. Even though inside you are seething. How 
dare they criticize your writing? Don’t they know you have sweated blood and tears over this manuscript? What do they know anyway?
I read and review books, for authors, all the time on my Blog. One time I was reviewing the book of a relatively new author. She had a good story.
She had first hand experience with her setting (the high country in Montana) but her characters needed massive fleshing out. Her knowledge of crime scene investigation was lacking and therefore she had made some serious mistakes in the forensics area of her story. Instead of taking my critique in the spirit of what was given, she wrote me a blistering email in response. When what she should have done was go back and looked at her work, to see if any of my comments had any value. She missed an opportunity to make her writing better.
Yes, I have felt the sting of the critique….many times. And you know what? After my hurt feelings calmed down, after my initial anger that my ‘writing was being attacked’ had abated, I saw that the critic had some valid points. That if I went back and applied the critique to my work I ended up with better writing and a better story. In the end I was grateful to the critic!
“I critique myself way harder than anybody else could critique me.” ~~ Wiz Khalifa
“I’ve always loved brainstorming with other writers, and I consider having my work critiqued a part of that brainstorming.” ~~ Jay Asher
“My most profound growth as a writer came when I joined an online critique group. What a harrowing, terrifying, wonderful experience that was.” ~~ Rae Carson
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MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! Did you miss the past few months? Johan Thompson (South African author) joined us in April. June: Mehreen Ahmed. July: Janet Macleod Trotter, author of Tea Planter’s Daughter and in August we say ‘hello’ to Cheryl Hollon.
Check out more Motivational Moments…for Writers!
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