Taking criticism constructively: getting feedback on writing

Unleashing your masterpiece into the world can be daunting. It’s a heavily personal thing that you’ve laboured over for years. They are characters that you live in the pockets of every day. But unless you are writing purely for pleasure, it’s an inevitable and essential part of the writing process.

But more than anything, it’s HELPFUL too. I certainly value the questions and comments I receive when I read to my writing group. You get so absorbed when writing that you can’t see the wood from the trees. You might know the motivations behind the main character’s seemingly absurd actions, but unless that comes through somewhere in the text, it will be confusing to readers. It’s hard to play detective when you know 'whodunit'.

The Open University have put together some useful guidelines for giving and receiving feedback as part of their free Start Writing Fiction online course. Here’s a brief summary:

1. Don’t rush into completely rewriting - take time to reflect.
2. Accept some comments and reject others. YOU decide.
3. If you have feedback from multiple people, pay special attention to where they pick up on the same thing.
4. If you are not going to develop the idea any further, can anything be salvaged? A line that springs off the page may work elsewhere, so add it to your journal.
5. It is just a draft, and any feedback is not personal.

And one final one from me.

·        Don’t edit by committee – you can’t please everyone, and nor should you. It would be incredibly bland!