{"id":17107,"date":"2020-11-03T09:41:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T13:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=17107"},"modified":"2026-01-23T15:16:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:16:34","slug":"critiquing-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/critiquing-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Critiquing Writing and Dealing With Feedback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does critiquing writing actually help you become a better writer<\/a>? How should you deal with the feedback and critique you receive? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critiquing writing is an important part of the process for any writer, and all writers have to deal with feedback, whether it’s from editors, reviewers, or readers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about how critiquing writing can help you improve, and how to handle feedback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Critiquing Writing: Dealing with <\/strong>Criticism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each person\u2019s reaction to writing is naturally subjective, so you\u2019ll get feedback along a wide spectrum, and you\u2019ll get feedback you disagree with. Here\u2019s how to work through the feedback and the process of critiquing writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealing with Feedback Resistance<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some writers struggle with incorporating feedback healthily. Changing your masterpiece simply because your readers didn\u2019t like it feels like a corruption of art. Critiquing writing is a natural part of the process, and you can learn to deal with it in the way that’s best for your writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you feel this way, why invite readers you respect to review your draft at all? If it\u2019s simply because you want adulation for what a genius you are, then at least be honest about what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of reviewers as your own personal focus group to improve your writing.<\/strong> Movie studios do this with early cuts of their films. While it might seem arbitrary to shape an auteur\u2019s vision to the tastes of a crowd pulled off the street, focus groups seem to work in actually making films more successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we covered, King recommends putting at least six weeks between completing your first draft and starting your revision. The purpose is to get enough distance from your work that you no longer treat it as sacrosanct. Be willing to kill your darlings.<\/strong> This is an important part of critiquing writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Weigh Feedback<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll get feedback all along the spectrum, and you should weigh the feedback to see where it\u2019s pointing. This is part of dealing with criticism<\/a> when critiquing writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your reviewers are unanimous about one direction (whether something is great or terrible), they\u2019re probably right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say there\u2019s a tie\u2014one person thinks Johnny is believable but Mary is ludicrous, and another thinks the opposite. Then the author wins. You shouldn\u2019t feel compelled to change anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You shouldn\u2019t weigh feedback from each person equally.<\/strong> It depends on how much you respect their opinion, and what area they\u2019re particularly insightful about. Some people specialize in dialogue, others in character development, yet others in pacing, factual accuracy, and so on. Dealing with criticism means thinking about all the writing criticism, and then making decisions for yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ideal Reader<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There is usually one person whose opinion you trust above all: the Ideal Reader. For King, it\u2019s his wife Tabitha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ideal Reader is the person you have in mind as you write.<\/strong> You come to know your Ideal Reader\u2019s tastes so well you can predict how he or she will feel about any particular thing you\u2019re writing. Will she laugh at this scene? Will she get bored here if I explain too much? The Ideal Reader helps give you an audience as you write and is perhaps the only exception to writing with the door closed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ideal Reader should also be a honest reviewer\u2014eternally supportive but unrelenting. You might disagree with Ideal Reader\u2019s feedback, but you know there\u2019s truth to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially if you start getting attention for your work, the Ideal Reader should remain unimpressed and be the objective eye bringing you back down to earth. Hitchcock\u2019s wife <\/p>\n\n\n\n

King sneaks glances at Tabitha as she reads, hoping the scenes he\u2019s designed to score that great big laugh succeed. She\u2019s chided him for being needy this way. He admits that writers really are needy, but he loves when she loves his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing criticism can be hard to take. But it’s important that you take feedback ins stride, and use it to make decisions that can improve your work to get it to match your own vision. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does critiquing writing actually help you become a better writer? How should you deal with the feedback and critique you receive? Critiquing writing is an important part of the process for any writer, and all writers have to deal with feedback, whether it’s from editors, reviewers, or readers. Read more about how critiquing writing can help you improve, and how to handle feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":17113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,43],"tags":[145],"class_list":["post-17107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-self-improvement","tag-on-writing-a-memoir-of-the-craft","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nCritiquing Writing and Dealing With Feedback - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does critiquing writing actually help you get better? All writers have to deal with feedback. 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