Don’t tune out others’ critiques.
For decades, I attended writers conferences and reviewed people’s writing. Only once did I ever find a story without places I thought the writer could improve.
Fortunately, I offered these critiques in a teaching environment. In theory, people had come to learn how to make their writing better.
But human nature also played a part. What they hoped to hear was that they’d done well. So I tried to present my coaching in ways the writers could accept.
That included citing specifics. Rather than speak of problems in general terms, I’d point to a specific instance and show how another approach could work better.
But there remained the question of the writer’s response. Would they reject the critique or would they listen, consider, and apply the advice?
Would they reject the critique or would they listen, consider, and apply the advice?
It’s not easy being on the receiving end. I got a reminder of that yesterday.
I’d sent a writer a draft layout of her magazine article. I thought I’d done well in polishing her text and integrating her photos into attractive spreads.
I expected she’d say everything was fine … or perhaps ask that I change a few words. Instead, she pointed to a bigger problem. She started with the general: Some photos appeared too far from their associated text. Then she offered specific suggestions: Move these three photos so they’d appear one page later.
I wasn’t happy. I thought the layout worked. But I reviewed her concerns and suggestions.
She was right.
Thanks to her specifics, each change was easy. They improved the presentation. Fixing everything took less than an hour. The only hard part was swallowing my pride.
