'Dunning-Kruger Effect' just as likely to be housed in the "writer" ...'and you know he said he was a literature professor at Cambridge or Cornell or Carrot College something, what would he know about my genre?'
I rarely ask strangers for critiques b/c I don't like being beholden to strangers, and I absolutely do think that someone giving me a critique is doing me a favour, even if they aren't good at it. If someone clearly goes beyond the bounds of critique and starts making attacks about the writer (this writer is an idiot, etc.) then that person is no longer really giving a critique - he's just being a dick. I don't think that's something I'd want to engage with. But if the person stays focused on the work at hand and is just wrong about it? I thank them for their time and move on. They're wrong, but they tried.
It is still supposed to be consistent with whatever rules the story world has - if it is completely inconsistent with no rules at all you don't get a good story just a confusing mess
There's a truism quotation somewhere out on the web - I got it in a guidelines e-mail - 'a good writer...logic...a great writer totally illogical but still we cling...something...something Mark Twain...'
Yeah a good critique partner is a gem. I think part of it is just finding someone who's willing to help. Speaking of being willing to help, I said yes to 40 pages of beta-reading and it's flaws galore... I don't know where to begin and I don't wanna be mean to her, so I still haven't finished reading...
She's still online though right? I need to send her my book 'cause she promised to beta, but yeah, Antarctica, not sure if she'll be available...
If I feel like I have to comment on prose, I just apologize profusely for having a peculiar taste, then do a hardcore edit of the first few pages or chapter with explanations for the edit, link some resources, and tell them that if they are interested in and able to apply some of that to the prose of the piece, I'd take another look at it. Then I let them beta read one of my short stories so they can shred it, pay it back, and make us even so that I don't get a pipe bomb in the mail.
She only seems to be available once a week or so, so its hard to have the same level of interchange we had when she was in England
That sounds like quite a bit of work you'd put in. See, I don't have that kinda patience haha. Going by your method of allowing the other person to pay it forward, does that mean I should send you my novel for shredding? Editing's almost done. I'm 2/3rds of the way through.
Many years ago, someone I looked up to crushed my ability to write. They were cutting and spiteful... Until I realised... Every point of view and opinion is just that. I'm glad today I'm still working on my favourite habit.
Probably the most painful criticism I got was in an email from a good friend who beta read for me. She started out by praising my use of language . . . then told me I should read a certain very basic and snarky guidebook on How Not to Write. To be fair, when I talked to her about it later she told me it was just that she'd just finished that book herself, it was on her mind, and she thought I'd enjoy it. She hadn't meant to imply I was making the stupid newbie mistakes the authors lampoon in it. But it sure sounded like it at the time. No, it didn't stop me writing. But I expended a lot of time and mental energy being astonished and working through what it all meant for our friendship.
I have many responses about opinions that aren't appropriate for public consumption. I did see this on Facebook, though, and it's priceless! Not always applicable but. . ..
Yes that's true. My first response wasn't fit for public consumption but would've been more appropriate. But hey, it's always good to have Clint Eastwood around for those moments when you need to respond to someone's ill-tempered reaction.
I don't know if you're saying my reaction was ill tempered or that of someone giving critique. I don't think that's a good way to approach critique at all. Even what seems like bad criticism or poorly derived criticism usually has some truth to it or fuels us in a way we wouldn't otherwise be fueled. And I would hope that comment wasn't directed at me.
Oh I apologize. I've bungled this one terribly! I was trying to communicate that people have all sorts of reactions and one shouldn't allow those reactions to dictate one's writing. Taking good criticism to heart is one thing. Allowing someone to hinder you is another matter. When my cyber-friend author and I were emailing about me writing about my life I mentioned that while at the university I tried that. I presented the short story as fiction and received a C on it because the professor didn't think it was believable. Her response to that was, "As I’m sure you know, one person’s favorite author is another’s most disliked. Ignore the professor’s opinion." Again, I apologize for being so unclear.
deadrats, while I was posting I was thinking about a particular executive with whom I loathe working. She inevitably forces me to send out grammatically incorrect documents and that makes me crazy, especially when the documents are going out of the company. It's bad enough for others in-house to see a blatant error with my name on it. You're absolutely correct about constructive criticism. I've sat around enough conference tables to have learned that lesson well. While at the university most of the "criticism" was from other students and half the time it was useless to me. "It stinks" doesn't help me at all! Why does it "stink?" I probably need to decompress before attempting to post. Sorry!
I don't get a lot of eyes on my work, but the worst critique I ever received was actually a vindictive scolding in response to a critique I gave them. I tend not to candy coat my opinions, but I do always try to outline the fact that my opinions are opinions, and I can't say I'm particularly well-read. I'm a bit too precise when it comes to grammar and punctuation, too, despite my own flaws in that exact area, so I suppose they felt hyperscrutinized and their intense emotional arousal gave them the 'bright' idea of pointing out all the ways I was a hypocrite. There was no sense of community there. Made me sad, but for them more so than my work. I tend to give people more than they're due, however, so I can't say it didn't leave any impact.
