READING A CRITIQUE
What it Feels Like to Get Crushed Beneath a Steamroller
Remember those old cartoons when characters got run over by steamrollers? Reading a critique of your work feels something like this. You will feel completely crushed. The story that you thought was going to win a Nebula award has now been completely ripped apart. Remember what happened to those cartoon characters after they were run over? They got up, shook themselves out, and were back to normal. When you read a critique of your work it's important to take in all the criticism, but don't become too discouraged by it. Accept the fact that your critiquer is trying to help you improve your already good story. Hopefully, your critiquer has provided some encouraging comments and has pointed out the things that you did really well. It's going to take time for you to get all the elements just right. The more you write and the more you write and read critiques, the better your work will become. Keep this in mind: it is the best stories that receive the harshest criticism. Why? So, they can go from great to perfect.
How to Make the Most of Critiques
You are going to receive several critiques on your work and none of them are going to read exactly the same. In fact, some of them may be completely opposite. One critiquer might tell you that she loved your tale and thought it was perfect. Another might tell you that he really didn't like the story at all.
The problem is how to weed through all these varying opinions to find the advice you need to improve your story. Sometimes I find that it helps to take notes as I read critiques and keep track of where your critiquers shared opinions. For instance, if several critiquers mention that they thought the ending was weak, then chances are the ending needs some work.
Don't change your entire story based on the information in one critique. See what others had to say on the same point, and of course, listen to your own heart. Writing is very subjective, and so what works for one will not work for all. In evaluating critiques it is best to find the most happy medium possible. There may even be some critiques that have no value to you simply because you can tell that the reader never really understood your story.
The Editing Process
Once you have weeded through all the critiques it is time to go through your story and make some changes. I've found that this process works best with a printed out copy of my story and a red pen. Go through and mark the problem areas and possible revisions. Correct any grammatical errors as you go along. Areas you aren't sure how to fix should be underlined or highlighted for you to go back to later.
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