Critiques: A Writer’s Best Tool?

Jamie over at How Not To Write wrote an interesting article on Sunday about receiving a critique from an external service, and his view on the critique given was certainly enlightening.

It can be difficult at times to take criticism. To be told that something we have spent time, effort, sweat and maybe even blood on is flawed can be a hefty blow. The tendency in a critique, as displayed in Joanna Young’s post about feedback on her Confident Writing blog, is to be told all the things done correctly. All the positive points. Focus tends to lead away from the negative. As that is what’s expected, so too is it delivered.

But, Jamie expects something different:

To me, a successful critique does three things:

1. Tells me something I don’t know.
2. Hammers me with examples of my failures over and over again
3. Tells me something I know, but have tried desperately to ignore.

These three points got me thinking about what I expect from a critique and what is a suitable balance. And as a part of that balance, I’ll go through each of the three points made by Jamie.

Tells us something we don’t know: Often we already know all the good points of our work. Pride can make us blind to any errors we might see if we look with a purely objective eye.

Hammers out examples of failure over and over again: The same pride that makes us blind to mistakes also wants us to write a perfect piece. The only way to do that is to correct our mistakes, which we can’t do unless we know them.

Tells us something we know but have tried to ignore: We can probably apply this to both of the above. We know something is wrong, but for whatever reason we try and ignore it. Having it pointed out to us by someone else makes it more real so we can’t really ignore it. Allowing us to get as near to perfection as possible.

Of course, however, we need to consider that we write better when confident about our skills. So, how can we keep balance? We need to be told what is wrong with our writing so we can change/improve it, but we need to know what we are doing right so we keep doing it.

Perhaps the way to do it is to have two critiques: One focused solely on the positive, the other focused entirely on the ‘negative.’ That way, we can see clearly how we are performing.

What are your thoughts on this? What would you suggest? After all, without critiques how will we ever grow? They are paramount to developing as a writer.

Reality in Fiction

Browsing through a website designed for fiction writers like myself, I found an interesting article about the use of horses. This got me thinking about my own writing and that of others. Despite writing fiction, we must remember that certain rules still exist.

Whether the world we are writing is full of vampires, demons, elves, magic, or spaceships and laser guns, we must remember that our readers need to be able to suspend disbelief (something that will be covered in upcoming articles) to remain interested in our work.

The use of horses is a brilliant example:

The average reader might not pick up on mistakes like these but horse owners/riders will. They will be quick to point out the mistakes to their friends as well

So, what can we do to ensure that we keep a realism that will ensure our readers continue to read? The most obvious thing to do is research what we will be writing about. This way, we know the constraints available to us, and should we wish to stretch those constraints we can do so with a sure background knowledge. This again will ensure that our readers can maintain that all-important suspension of disbelief.

The lesson to be had here is a simple one: Though writing in some fantastical world, we need to apply basic rules of reality throughout. One other example is the laws of physics.

What other examples can you think of? What do you do/like to see kept ‘real’ as a writer/reader?

Young Writers and Confidence

The past couple of days, I’ve been catching up on the blog archives of Joanna Young’s Confident Writing blog, which centres around developing confidence in writing. This got me thinking about the numerous young writers I see on various roleplaying forums.

It can certainly be intimidating to join a writing community where there are more experienced writers than yoursef. Will you meet the standards people expect? How can you integrate into the community? Will you be shunned? I imagine that these are all questions being asked by new roleplayers and writers in general. In a community setting like a forum (probably one of the major media for roleplaying online), how can we as more experienced writers help build young peoples’ confidences?

• Take an active interest. Of course, within a community, we should take an interest in the person. How much onus should be placed on taking an interest in their actual writing?
• Offer critiques. I’ve always been of the belief that a critique should highlight where something is good, and areas for improvement. We should offer this to new and young writers, but what can be done to ensure that we keep a balance?
• Encourage them. Take the time to say well done, or that you like a particular post or piece of writing. Let them know that people do read their work who are established members of the community and experience writers.

The realm of roleplaying has a massive range of members. The ages can spread from as young as 12 to as old as early/mid 40s. It includes people who have been roleplaying for a decade or more, or have just started to discover the hobby. It also attracts brand new writers and those, like me, who have been writing since childhood.

The younger members of the roleplaying community are still learning how to write yet can be among ‘masters’ of the art. How can we build the confidence of these young people? It can be a difficult task at times. What have you found works for you when dealing with younger writers? What enouraged you when you were young?

The First Step

This is the first step of my journey as a writer. My first blog entry! I’d like to thank primarily Joanna Young over at Confident Writing for inspiring me to actually write a blog.

The purpose of this blog is to document my progresion as a writer. My thoughts, inspirations, problems (writer’s block and what not), and how each step taken helps me to grow as a writer. And, along the way, I hope that you will be able to discuss, learn and teach as I take you along for the ride.