This is the third post in a series I’ve been writing on What My Beta Readers Have Taught Me—now abbreviated to Beta Lessons. Links to the first two posts in the series are at the bottom of this post.
During my research into fiction writing, I routinely encountered the advice that writers should get feedback from other people on their work before sending it to an agent or self-publishing it. A common way to get that feedback is to find critique partners to evaluate your work, often in trade for you evaluating theirs.
I live in the middle of nowhere, so working with a local group was not practical. I also had little luck finding critique partners online. Instead, I announced to my friends and family that I had finished the first draft of a fiction book and I was looking for volunteers to beta read or do a critique. I got five volunteers!
Even though I trusted the readers, I had some apprehension about turning my brainchild over to them for critique. Could I handle negative feedback? I didn’t want to be defensive about my work, but emotions are not always logical or suppressible.
When the feedback started to come in, I discovered with some relief that I welcomed it and appreciated it. But I also started learning some things about critique:
- Not everyone has the same opinion: what one person loves, another may hate.
- When it comes to evaluating the entertainment value of a scene, an educated opinion is not necessarily better than an uneducated one.
- The writer’s opinion is the one that matters most.
I believe that the last one is the key to working with critique partners.
I’ve been very careful about how I accept and evaluate the critique I’ve received. For one thing, I believe you must agree with the reviewer. Sometimes critique partners miss the point or make incorrect assumptions. Their observations may still point to an issue that should be corrected, but any suggestions they make for fixing it are rarely appropriate.
In general, I don’t accept the suggestions of critique partners as they stand. The only time I do is when their suggestions fit well within my vision for the story and my deeper understanding of the plot and characters. The story they read is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, so all of their suggestions must be considered within the context of the big picture. This is particularly true in my case, where the book is the first in a series.
My advice would be to take it seriously when your critique partners point out a problem, but remember that it is your problem to solve. If they make a suggestion that fits well with your vision for the story and your understanding of the plot and characters, then you have a winner. Otherwise, look closely at the problem area and devise your own solution.
“People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.”
~ Somerset Maugham
In my first Beta Lessons post, I made the point that you need to brace yourself when you hand your work over to others for critique. If the goal of the critique is to help you improve your work, your reviewer must point out areas that can be improved. Don’t think of those suggestions as negative feedback, think of them as opportunities. If your only goal is to receive praise for your work, you are wasting everyone’s time.
On the other hand, I’ve also heard horror stories about authors who reworked their novel using feedback from a critique group, only to find they had created a novel that didn’t work or that they didn’t like anymore.
Don’t let that happen to you. Remember that the suggestions you get are only indicators of a problem, not necessarily good solutions. Retain control of your own work, and solve problems in a way that makes sense in the context of your story.
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Have you worked with critique partners? Was the experience wonderful or dreadful? Maybe something in between? Tell me in the comments!
