BUT GUYS I WAS TOTALLY TRYING TO--

Somewhat inspired by the last post…

Let’s talk about critique, shall we?
And I’m not talking about giving critique either. Let’s talk about how to take critique.

The first thing that every writer needs to realize, whether they’re just a little kid writing fanfiction for the internet or an adult writing novels for publication, is that no writer, and no piece of writing, is perfect.
End of story. Always be prepared for criticism because there is always room for it.

The second thing that everyone must realize is that, if someone takes the time to critique your work and tell you where you need to improve, they’re not trying to insult you. If someone tells you that, you know, your dialogue is stiff and you keep shifting tenses, it’s really very likely that they saw potential in what they read and they want you to improve so that they can enjoy your future works. Or at least, I know that’s why I critique. If I don’t think there’s any hope for an author, I generally don’t bother to say a word to them. I just roll my eyes and remind myself to never read that person’s works ever again.

The third and most important thing to realize is that, when receiving critique, you really need to shut the fuck up.
Okay, I’m going to draw on my workshopping experience here. You have the person who provided the reading material for the workshop, right, and everyone’s critiquing their piece. But after everything that anyone says, the critique-ee has to throw their two cents in:

“Well, what I was trying to do was—“
“I didn’t mean it like—“
“Did you ever think that maybe I was TRYING to—“
“You’re reading it wrong, actually—“

No. Shut up. If you have to explain it, you didn’t write it well enough. Granted, occasionally you get someone criticizing you that is just a huge idiot. It happens. But you should still stay quiet and listen to what they have to say.
And, of course, if everyone’s telling you the same thing, then obviously they aren’t all idiots.
The thing is, if you have your work on the internet, if you publish it, whatever, you won’t be there to explain every little thing to your reader. You can’t stand behind every reader and tell them, every time, “I was trying to say…”
Your work has to be able to stand on its own, with no explanations and no excuses. So just suck it up, take the criticism, and fix whatever problems are pointed out to you.
Criticism exists to help you improve. Use it!


(Criticisms Selan gets all the time:
“You don’t describe things well enough”
“You don’t write Mario’s dialogue very well”
“You sound angrier than any normal person should be when talking about writing”

They’re all pretty well-founded.)