[PUBLIC POST] Criticisms of your writing

[ljwrites]

To members: Sorry I completely forgot about this week's midweek Open Chat. I was going to space it out from the last one, and then I got absent-minded, and now it's a bit too late. I'll resume next week, and schedule a post in advance so I don't forget.

To everyone: Let's talk about criticism, specifically criticism of your writing. Some questions to get you started:

- How do you generally respond to negative feedback?
- What's a piece of critical feedback that was painful to you?
- Did criticism help you, and how?
- What was an unhelpful piece of criticism?
- Have you make any changes in response to negative feedback?
- What do you think constitutes helpful negative feedback?
- Giving criticism can be as tricky as receiving it. Do you have any techniques for giving effective criticism?

Feel free to answer one or more of these questions, or to relate any other anecdotes or thoughts about critical feedback.

We'll cheer ourselves up next week with the flip side of this post, positive feedback, so stay tuned for that!

Comments

[dhampyresa]

I think we define "negative feedback" differently. What you're asking about here would for me fall under "constructive criticism" -- imho, "negative feedback" is not constructive, simply an expression of dislike.

[shorti]

I agree. Constructive criticism is the stuff you ask for from friends, family and betas etc. Negative feedback is the stuff you get that isn't trying to help you improve your writing in any way. It's just a general comment or reaction to your writing that isn't positive.

I've had negative feedback on the novel that I self-published last year. I don't generally read negative feedback that's truly scathing because it often comes from someone who wouldn't have enjoyed your story no matter how you wrote it. If it's a comment like "I couldn't get into the story" or "it was badly written" I don't tend to do anything about it. You can't please everybody all the time and there will be people who just don't gel with what you do.

If someone points out a plot hole that is quite evident I would take that on board after I crawl into a hole and stay there for a while though :)

[dhampyresa]

someone who wouldn't have enjoyed your story no matter how you wrote it

Yeah, this. It's super important to get feedback from people who like the kind of story you're writing. Otherwise you end up "solving" problems that aren't there.

[ljwrites]

I guess we do use it differently, since I use "negative feedback" to encompass both constructive and destructive criticism--that is, any comment that is not positive, ranging from "I hated this, never write again" to "This didn't quite work for me, here's how you can improve it." From Googling I think my usage has some support, including this example that also assumes constructive criticism to be a type of negative feedback.

That division raises interesting questions in conjunction with the rest of your comment. If someone phrased a comment more concretely or with suggestions for improvement, for instance describing why it was hard for them to get into the story and how the experience could have been improved for them, would that count as constructive criticism pointing out a fixable problem along the line of a plot hole? Or would it still count as negative feedback as you define it?

[ljwrites]

What you're asking about here would for me fall under "constructive criticism"

I actually used "negative feedback" to encompass both types, constructive criticism and also the unhelpful kind, hence the mention of unhelpful criticism in the post.

imho, "negative feedback" is not constructive, simply an expression of dislike.

Given that "positive" and "negative" are antonyms, though, if constructive criticism is not negative feedback it should be positive or at least neutral feedback. Yet constructive criticism also comes from a starting point of "I didn't like this/this didn't work," which seems to me negative rather than positive or neutral.

(Where's the "pedantry" icon when I need it?)

[dhampyresa]

Yet constructive criticism also comes from a starting point of "I didn't like this/this didn't work," which seems to me negative rather than positive or neutral.

Not for me. For me it comes from a place of "this is good but IT COULD BE EVEN BETTER let me help" -- I guess it's the (perceived) intent that matters.