Take It or Leave It

by Julie Coulter Bellon

One of my jobs for the recent LDS Storymakers Conference was to help coordinate judges and comment sheets for the First Chapter Contest. There were some amazing entries in the contest this year and some work that was so incredible, if the rest of the manuscript was as great as the first chapter, it should definitely be published. But the First Chapter contest coordination was a huge job because each entry received in the contest got five critiques from industry professionals.

Five.

Five critiques from authors, editors, and publishing professionals for around $10. That is huge and after hearing some comments about the critiques, I thought I would share some of my feelings here.

Critiques are useful in several ways. They can give an author an objective view of the work that they’ve been doing for so long that they can’t see the forest from the trees. They can point out mistakes that the author hasn’t seen, plot holes, character weaknesses, and where the author needs to concentrate their revisions. Critiques are sometimes hard to take for an author, though, because if they’re done right, they will point out the flaws in the writing, but at times, they aren’t balanced with praise and sensitive authors can be hurt. All in all, a good critique is generally constructive criticism.

As authors, however, we can look at critiques and say to ourselves, “well, they obviously didn’t read the work I did or they would understand it better.” Or, “maybe they are just mean people in real life and never have a kind word to say.” Another thing I think authors say is, “well, one critique said one thing and one said another, what should I do?”

An author is not obligated to do anything with a critique. You can throw it away if you want. But I wouldn’t recommend it. Critiques are often your keys to fixing your manuscript and making it publishable. But only you, as the author, can decide which criticism you are going to accept and change. You don’t have to change anything, but it’s generally in your manuscript’s best interest to at least consider what others have said, especially if more than one critique is saying the same thing and pointing out the same mistakes. But the most frustrating thing for me as an author is when two people say exactly opposite things about my manuscript. For example, I had one critique that said, “I hate the character of Pepper,” while another critique said they thought Pepper was a fresh and interesting character. As an author, I had to step back and see that that was opinion. The person who said they hated Pepper didn’t offer any specifics, “I hate how Pepper is indecisive and cliché,” or anything like that. It was just a flat opinion, so I didn’t change anything, and I concentrated on other areas. But did I throw away all the rest of the comments from that critique because of one opinion? No. I looked at everything brought up, decided what I could fix or find useful, then I changed that and left the rest alone. I also keep every critique I’ve ever gotten for a manuscript, and before I go to final edit, I go through them all again and make sure I’ve fixed or addressed everything I wanted to do.

I also think that authors put different weight on critiques depending on who they are from. If you knew that that harsh critique was from a publishing house, would you put more weight on fixing it if they were someone you wanted to publish with? If it’s an author that you don’t even like, do you look at their criticisms differently? Yet each criticism is legitimate and, in my opinion, should be looked at and given consideration no matter who they are from.

The judges in the First Chapter Contest worked hard. One judge spent over forty hours trying to give critiques that would help each author (and these are pretty much volunteer hours since the judges only get a small honorarium for their work). I can’t think of any other scenario where an author would get five critiques of a work by professionals for such a low price. Yet, some seemed disappointed that all the critiques weren’t gushing and praising them and sounded like they were going to disregard all the comments outright. That made me sad, because I think those authors have missed the point of a critique. If you don’t agree with the criticism, that is your right, but don’t discard it. Really look at what they’ve said, and take it for how it was meant---to help you as an author. I know it can be hard sometimes and it’s easy to just shrug and say, “well, I don’t agree with what they said.” That’s fine, but at least look at the comments. Really look. See if there is merit there. I hate to see all that work thrown out because I know how valuable it truly is and how hard the judges were trying to help the authors.

I also know that when you become a published author, you will get a lot of critiques both before and after your book is published and they aren’t all gushing and praising then, either. Learning how to handle critiques is essential for an author. Take a deep breath, then plunge in and read all the comments. You don’t have to take them all to heart, but at least consider them. Look at every issue brought up to see if there is anything that needs to change or not. More often than not, changes have made my manuscripts stronger, even if I was discouraged or hated it in the moment. Or if someone is standing in front of you telling you something about your manuscript, take a deep breath, and thank them for their comments. Because even if you don’t take their comments and use them to change your work, that person still took the time to tell you something they thought would help you. You may have to grit your teeth, smile, and thank them, but still thank them.

Of course, that’s just my advice. In the end, it’s all up to you, the author. Take it or leave it. But I hope you take it.