Defensiveness : You criticise and reject the reviewer and their evaluation. What credentials does the reviewer have, anyway? What do they know? It’s only a personal opinion. It doesn’t mean anything. You tell yourself this to devalue the criticism. You want to be able to ignore it, so you try to prove that the person doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. At this stage you won’t see anything worthwhile about the review, even if it’s staring you in the face.
Depression: You feel terrible, crushed, even devastated. If they are right (despite trying to dismiss the feedback, part of you says that at least some of it must be true), then you’re a terrible writer and you’ll never be any good. (They didn’t say that; it’s what you’re reading into it). You feel like giving up.
Letting go: You give up your defensiveness and seek a way out of your depression. You may give up completely for a time, or you forget the book and do something else. You may decide you’re never going to write again, or that there are more important things in life and you put your focus elsewhere. This isn’t a bad thing. You need to let go to clear your mind so you can start fresh with renewed energy, and giving up is a way to let go, and so is putting your energy and focus elsewhere. I recommend giving up for at least one minute. Totally letting go, even for an instant, is a very refreshing thing to do and it realigns your priorities.
The bare minimum here is letting go of your defensiveness. You have to come to a place where you’re prepared to consider that perhaps the reviewer has a point and that rather than rejecting it, you could learn from it.
Objective evaluation: After a break, you come back and look at the feedback in a more objective light. Okay, you think, what is this person actually saying here, and does it apply? If you don’t let go, you can’t do this. You’ll be stuck in defensiveness or depression.
Acceptance: You recognise the value of the feedback and see where it’s valid. A professional review (i.e. one that evaluates the craftsmanship of a book, not just whether the reviewer likes it or not) has more value than a reader review for evaluating your craftsmanship. Readers’ reviews are the most important thing for indicating potential sales, but not for indicating craftsmanship.
Moving on: You consider how to improve your work in light of the feedback. Then, if you just can’t face working on it again, you put the book aside, and focus on improving your next book, or you do the work and improve the book.
Satisfaction/gratitude: You recognise the improvement in the book, or at least in your knowledge, and are glad you went through this process.
How to remove the pain:
What’s the trick for dealing with criticism without pain? Cultivate a positive way of thinking about it so you can use the feedback as a way to learn. Consider the following:
Call it feedback, not criticism;
Your integrity as an author is not diminished by a less than perfect book;
No book is perfect;
Most books can be improved;
Your work is not you, so don’t take the criticism personally. It’s just a book they’re talking about;
A review by a publishing industry professional is feedback that will help you improve your work. (I’m talking about constructive criticism on craftsmanship by professional reviewers, not reviews with no basis for their comments apart from the reviewers’ dislike);
Recognise the symptoms of defensiveness. Take a deep breath and let it go, so you can go directly to the objective evaluation stage. Drop that defensiveness like a stone thrown into a pool of clear water. Let it sink to the bottom and dissolve.
Does this look familiar to you? Do you automatically become defensive? How able are you to drop it and accept the criticism?
The Good News
As well as support, writers need truthful criticism, but even though we may intellectually know that it’s a good idea to get good solid criticism, our poor little creative ego still just wants to be stroked and cosseted. Will we ever be able to listen to criticism without a little jab of pain or disappointment or disillusionment or self-doubt?
The good news is that handling criticism gets easier:
The longer you’ve worked on a story and the bigger the gap since you last looked at it;
The more objective and self critical you’ve tried to be about it yourself;
The more you’re able to accept that you still have things to learn and that all books, no matter how good, can be improved;
The more you’ve accepted that it’s an integral and necessary part of the process of writing a good book;
The more you read others’ works and review them, and the more you learn about the craft of writing;
The more objectively you can look at your own work and any criticism you may receive. More objective means with less emotional involvement;
The more positive your attitude is towards criticism.
Think: Criticism is to help me make my work better. The more of it I get, the better I can make my writing. Don’t think: If I get negative feedback, I’m a terrible writer.
The less hope or expectation that you have that the criticism is good, the less fearful and disappointed you’ll be if it’s not. Be realistic; there’s going to be something they can pick you up on. Is there such a thing as a perfect book?
When you receive the feedback, look at it objectively, and if it’s a valid point, act on it. The worst criticism, once acted on and fixed, might make the novel into something truly great. That’s the exciting part. Fresh eyes see things clearly that are fuzzy to the authors because they’re just too close. The potential is there for break-throughs.
With this attitude, you might even be disappointed if your beta readers have nothing bad to say.
8
Appendices
Keep in Touch.
If you found any of this helpful, I’d be delighted if you could leave a review at your point of purchase. I really appreciate your time.
If you’d like to keep up with what I’m doing, sign up for my email list on the home page of my website, and I’ll send you a free novel.
Visit my website and blog at http://tahlianewland.com
Follow ‘@TahliaNewland’ on Twitter.
Like ‘TahliaNewland.artist.author.editor’ on Facebook.
Be my fan on Goodreads.
My Fiction
You can see all my books with links to various purchase points on my website on the Book Shop page. Though they span genres and ages, the stories are all heart-warming and inspiring. Take a look at my latest, a metaphysical thriller; it’s a great read for authors:
Prunella Smith: Worlds Within Worlds
‘The barrier between the worlds shatters like the window. The beast is loose. My nightmare has become real. The guy has totally lost it. If he finds us here, we could die. No, I don’t doubt it; we will die.’
Author and editor Prunella Smith inhabits a multilayered reality. Physically, she lives in the Australian bush with her crazy cat Merlin. In her work world, she edits the love story of Kelee, a Magan Lord’s daughter, and in the cyber-world of social media, she’s subjected to slanderous attacks by a disgruntled author. To complicate matters further she sees things through the eyes of a Tibetan Yogi, has strange dreams and relives old memories.
Separate worlds, interconnected and complementary, but can they help when Prunella becomes victim to a real life stalker and her sanity is threatened?
Worlds Within Worlds has a unique perspective on the nature of creativity. Its touch is light, its humour distinctive but it reaches deep into the nature of human experience.
What readers are saying:
‘This is riveting stuff, part magical realism dreamscape, part taut psychological thriller, and I was literally on the edge of my seat when the final twist – and what a twist it is – came around. Phew, what a ride! I can honestly say this is the best book I have read this year.’ Frank Kusy, author of Rupee Millionaire.
‘One of the most innovative and original works I have read in a long time. The
book is compulsive enough to collapse time.’ Richard Bunning Reviews.
‘A contemplative story about the creative process that's also, amazingly, a page-turner. I put everything else aside and read it in a single afternoon.’ Amazon Vine reviewer Dream Beast.
Buy it now. I’ll be delighted if you do!
Other books
You can see all my books with links to various purchase points in the bookshop on my website at http://tahlianewland.com. Though they span genres and ages, all my books are heart-warming and inspiring magical realism or fantasy with a touch of romance.
Young Adult Titles:
The award-winning Diamond Peak Series—young adult/new adult contemporary fantasy/magical realism. This visionary tale is an analogy for the journey to enlightenment. In book two you’ll meet Kestril, Kelee and Mirrimar.
You Can’t Shatter Me—an inspiring and empowering young adult magical realism novel on the topic of how to handle a bully. Like Lethal Inheritance, the first book in the Diamond Peak Series, this book has also won two awards, a BRAG Medallion for Outstanding Fiction and the AIA Seal of Excellent in Fiction.
Adult Titles:
Prunella Smith: Worlds Within Worlds—a short adult metaphysical thriller on cyberbullying and the nature of creativity and identity. This book has won two awards, a BRAG Medallion for Outstanding Fiction and the AIA Seal of Excellent in Fiction.
A Matter of Perception—a collection of magical realism and urban fantasy stories exploring the nature of perception.
A Hole in the Pavement—heart-warming ebook-only magical realism short story from the above collection.
You’ll also find a range of quality books in a variety of genres on the Awesome Indies website: http://awesomeindies.net
About the Author
Tahlia Newland, author of the multi-award-winning Diamond Peak series, writes heart-warming magical realism. She has published six novels, one book of short stories and over 450 book reviews.
In 2012, she set up Awesome Indies Books to showcase quality independent fiction, and is now merely part of a team that keeps it running. Tahlia has a Certificate in Editing and Proof-reading and is a full time freelance editor specialising in structural editing and line editing. She also runs AIA Publishing, a selective author-funded publishing company.
Before turning to full time writing and editing, she had over twenty years’ experience in scripting and performing in Visual Theatre and Theatre in Education. She is also a trained teacher with five years experience in teaching high school creative and performing arts.
Tahlia is also a mask-maker and has had extensive training in meditation and Buddhist philosophy. She lives in Australia with a husband and a cheeky Burmese cat called George. Her adult daughter is a talented cover designer and film maker.
What the Awesome Indies Offers Authors.
Awesome Indies Books (#AIbk) is an indie accreditation, review and book listing site. The books listed on the website have passed a stringent review process and have been Awesome Indies approved (AIA) by highly qualified reviewers as being the same, or of a higher, standard of craftsmanship as a mainstream published book. Only around 40% of books submitted to the Awesome Indies for accreditation meet the criteria. Another 10% meet it after revising their books to some degree; usually this involves another proof-read and sometimes a line edit.
Even books where their authors say they have been professionally edited do not always meet the criteria because the assessors look at all levels of editing. It’s isn’t a matter of having no typos; AI approval requires a high level of editing at all levels—developmental/structural editing, line editing, copyediting and proof-reading. Although the reviewers try to review submissions as objectively as possible—like a tutor marking an assignment or a publisher looking for their next book—where it isn’t clear which side of the accreditation line a certain book lies, subjectivity does, of course, enter in to some degree. At this point you could say that the Awesome Indies has a ‘house style’, one that favours books that hold attention and have a strong voice and good craftsmanship—you could call it accessible literary fiction, or genre fiction with literary sensibilities.
What does the Awesome Indies offer authors? Those whose books pass the scrutiny of our reviewers gain the confidence of knowing that their book is top quality—it’s the same kind of validation that you get from a publishing deal. Those whose books just miss out, get advice for what they need to do to bring their work up to the required standard and, where desired, assistance in doing so. Authors who are prepared to look at their work again in light of the feedback get the most out of the submission process. If your book doesn’t make the grade and the issues are too many for a quick fix, the aim is to give you enough feedback to help you to avoid the same problems in future books. Once authors have a book approved, it is listed on the Awesome Indies website, and the authors can join other Awesome Indies authors for marketing and general support.
Probably the best service is the One Stop Submission, where authors get the opinions of two highly qualified assessors for a minimal fee. The reviews are not published unless the author requests it, and the service can be used on unpublished books so long as the publication date is set. Many authors make a One Stop Submission part of their publication process. Whether used before or just after publication, you can tweak the book before it goes out to large numbers of people.
The Awesome Indies is always looking for qualified reviewers to join their team, so if you have qualifications in Creative Writing, English Literature, Journalism or editing and are interested in becoming an assessor for Awesome Indies approval, take a look at this blog post or follow the relevant link on the front page of the website.
The Elements of Active Prose Page 11