I picked up some great advice from the Writing Excuses podcast (find the podcast feeds on their website.) If you are in a writing group and someone is giving you feedback:
1. It’s your job to not leap to defend your work. Listen and use their reaction or don’t, but keep your mouth shut.
2. If someone critiques your writing, they aren’t attacking you personally.
3. If they do attack you personally, you then have the pleasure of ignoring them. Forever.
4. If someone is successful in making you feel bad about your work, go to Amazon and find a so-called “great work of literature” you admire, even cherish. Then go to the comments section and read the critiques from the people who hated, hated, hated it. This is art. This is subjective. There is no work with universal appeal.
The Writing Excuses authors broadcast weekly. Listen for real gems on the techniques, frustrations and challenges of writing fiction. It’s fifteen minutes long, and despite their tagline, they’re pretty smart.
Filed under: writing tips, critique groups, writing tips
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