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ARE YOU READY FOR FEEDBACK? Criticism
is almost as appealing as a
bowl of sand.
Yet there are times when we writers must seek it out to become better at what we do.
Take the quiz below to find
out if you are indeed ready
for constructive criticism.
1. A reader doesn't like your lead character. What do you do?
a) Punch a wall.
b) "What does she know? This
character is intellectually above her! I'm not changing a thing!"
c) Take a deep breath. Ponder adding a small lovable
trait to your character.
2. A
reader suggests you delete a piece of
your narrative, the very narrative you've loved since the day you first
wrote it. What do you do?
a)
Kick a cat.
b) "What
an idiot! This paragraph is sheer poetry!"
c) Take a deep breath. Ponder revising the paragraph.
3. A
reader is confused by an action your character
takes, calling it "uncharacteristic." What do you do?
a)
Hurl dishes.
b) "Give
me a break! I fully explained this in
Chapter Two! Anybody with half a brain can see this is the most logical
response this character can make! Is it my problem he can't pay
attention?"
c) Take a deep breath. Ponder repeating a
few trigger words from
Chapter Two.
4. A
reader confesses he found your Chapter Seven terribly slow. What do you do?
a)
Spit on the floor.
b) "Slow? Maybe it's
slow to him because
he spends all his time in front of the TV waiting for something to
explode! Of course my in-depth character study is going to bore him!"
c) Take a deep breath. Ponder the pace of Chapter
Seven.
5. A
reader is unmoved by your emotional ending.
What do you do?
a)
Whack a tree.
b) "Where is this moron's email address? I
am so going to give her a piece of my mind!"
c) Take a deep breath. Ponder the reasons you chose
that particular ending.
If you answered C
to all five questions, you are ready for feedback.
If you didn't, you
aren't.
Yet.
Granted, breathing and
pondering aren't the easiest things to do when
our work is under
scrutiny, but they are definitely worthwhile endeavors.
An important lesson sits on the other side of that silence. A
lesson that should be framed on the wall of every writer in the world:
You can't blame the reader!
The
responsibility falls upon the
writer
to awaken the imagination, to excite the senses, to
communicate in a way that allows readers to "get
it" from beginning to end. If they don't, it isn't
their fault.
It's
ours.
So
let's
not get mad,
let's
get busy! And before we ask
for feedback, let's make sure we've reached
that
pivotal point in life
where we can
separate
ourselves from our work and
listen to
constructive criticism without taking offense. Then we'll know we are on the
road to becoming a
mature, professional writer. And isn't that what we all
want to be?
© 2008 Elizabeth Guy
(First published in Writer's Digest)
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