| Calling All Authors! |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|11:08 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
I am a new writer. I have written a few drabbles and one ficlet. Mostly well received, but I have gotten a few comments that let me know that the reader wasn't quite in sync with the story, and it threw me into a quandary.
How do you respond to constructive criticism in feedback? (This is not about corrections, which I have been given.)
The concrit I have received was given in a VERY positive manner, and I was not AT ALL upset or offended by it, but I simply did not know how to respond to it without coming off defensive. I rely very heavily on physical cues when I talk and often worry about being taken the wrong way in computer conversations.
My first instinct was to try to explain where I was coming from in the story and to let the reader know the mindset of the character, as I saw it, and why I felt they would have done what they did, like I would do with a beta, but I was afraid of sounding defensive (which I wasn’t). I also thought, well if my story doesn't say it for itself, and I have to explain it, I really haven't done as good a job as I should have. And too, I certainly didn't want to come across as bitchy with someone who was not only, kind enough to read my writing, but also thoughtful enough to give me good solid feedback that I can learn from. And then too I thought, does this little bit of fluff writing warrant more debate than there are words in the actually story? Not at the risk of upsetting someone.
So what did I do? I erred on the side of not opening a can of worms that I wasn't sure I knew how to handle, and simply thanked them for commenting and giving feedback. When what I really wanted to do was pick their brains about where it went wrong for them. So in the end, I ended up not learning as much as I could have and will probably make the same mistake again.
I have since tried giving my perspective to a reader about a story, but I still don't know if I am doing the right thing. Don't get me wrong! I'm sure I would be crushed if someone told me they hated one of my stories, and no one wants to get flamed, but I also don't want to miss out on opportunities to learn and improve.
So what do I do now? Did I do the right thing? What would you have done? What have you done? If you wanted to hash out something with a reader, whose opinion you really respected, is the comments to your fic the place to do it? Is there a better forum? Should I have asked them to PM me? Should I PM them? As a reader what do you expect when you give feedback? Ack, it's so hard to know!
Okay, SUN! But, seriously, help a newbie writer out! |
|
|