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Craft of Writing

Nannette Croce

The Objective Reader
Making The Most Of A Critique

All of us benefit from getting feedback on our work. Some are lucky enough to have a mentor or a trusted friend who can provide valuable insights. If not, there are people who offer the service for a fee.

I recently interviewed David Ebenbach, an award-winning writer and writing instructor who also has his own critiquing service. In last month's issue, we discussed the value of having your work critiqued, what services are available, and how you can choose the service that is right for you. This month, David and I discuss how to overcome the reluctance to have your work critiqued, what you can and can’t expect a critique to do for your writing, and how you should use the feedback once you get it.

T-Zero: In our last discussion you said that you believe all writers, whether beginner or expert, need to get some feedback on their work, yet many new writers are apprehensive about submitting their work for critique. Why do you think that is?

Ebenbach: I have definitely worked with people who were nervous about their first critiques. It’s a scary thing, because a piece of creative writing is not a grocery list—a writer can’t help but feel passionately invested in it; to turn it over to someone who might turn out to be vicious or misguided or a con artist can be terrifying. However, it doesn’t take much, usually, to convince the client that you’re not vicious, misguided, or a con artist; the bigger fear that many writers have is that the editor might in fact be excellent, and yet not adore the writer’s work. But that, of course, is the chance every writer has to take. You hand your stuff over to some trusted person not to have your ego stroked but because you need honest, smart feedback—and you have to be prepared to hear feedback that’s less than glowing. You have to be prepared to go back to the drawing board. All writing needs revision.

T-Zero: Does the service you provide vary with the experience and /or ability of the writer?

Ebenbach: Absolutely. If a client is at an early stage, struggling at structuring a plot or creating believable characters, I have to focus on those things before worrying about nuances of tone and style. If, on the other hand, the writer has all the fundamentals of fiction down pat, we can move on to any number of subtler issues in the work. I often find that very experienced or talented writers need much more from me than writers who are just beginning—their difficulties are more complicated. 

T-Zero: Overall, then, what can a writer expect to learn from a critique?

Ebenbach: I think the most important thing a writer should expect is a sense of what to do next with the piece. You send a story out for feedback because you know it’s not done, and you’re not sure what to do with it.  The critique should tell you what’s working and what’s not, and give you an idea of how to, in a very immediate way, make it better. If the immediate problem for the story is that it lacks a convincing ending, you should know that after the critique. If, on the other hand, it only needs a few sentences tightened up, the critique should let you know that. Once you’ve read through the feedback, and given yourself time to adjust to it, you should feel you have a plan of action ready to go.

T-Zero: What should writers not expect?

Ebenbach: The writer should not expect the advice, even if followed exactly, to lead to a piece that will immediately be published somewhere. The publishing world is a mysterious one, and while a lot of good writing makes it into print, quality and marketability are not the same thing, and many professional editors—including me—do not especially focus on the publishing aspect when giving a critique.

T-Zero: What do you mean when you talk about taking time to “adjust” to a critique?

Ebenbach: I think that feedback can be a real shock to a writer’s system. What we often experience as we finish first drafts is a rush of exhilaration, a well-deserved feeling of all-is-right-with-the-world. We’ve made something; it’s got a beginning, a middle and an end, and it’s beautiful. This can feel so good it’s almost like a mania. And, so, when we share the work with someone and hear that it could be improved—something true of all early drafts—it can really sting. Many writers are prone to enormous mood swings in these early vulnerable stages, and can go from elation to abject depression upon encountering just a few words of critical feedback. This doesn’t happen to everyone, but it happens to a lot of us.

Yet usually there’s no real cause for depression. The writer who’s sent into a state of panic or defensiveness on receiving a critique probably just needs some time off from the piece in question. Working on something else is a great idea. Going out to dinner and a movie might work, too. The point is to come back to the work when the writer is capable of doing so calmly, and open to seeing the piece in new ways.

Then the writer should look carefully at the feedback—it is almost certainly not saying, as many writers fear, that the piece is worthless. The feedback probably includes comments on things that are working about the piece, as long as you’re getting advice from someone with a heart; following it is only going to make the work better, as long as you’re getting advice from someone who’s competent. In this way, with time and a good attitude, we adjust to hearing the news—possibly painful but also completely normal—that our early drafts, like all early drafts, aren’t 100% perfect.

T-Zero: Finally, David, after reading through the critique and taking the time to adjust, what’s the next step? Should the writer feel compelled to make all the recommended changes?

Ebenbach: The writer must always be the final judge of the work and must be completely in charge of the revision process. What this means is that one should never accept an editor’s suggestions automatically—each one should be run through your own filter, the filter telling you when you are hearing good advice and when you’re not. Often you can feel that, deep down. It’s an instinct a writer absolutely needs to have, and it will usually develop over time, after sharing work with many people—if it isn’t there to begin with. Sooner or later, you learn to evaluate suggestions seriously and openly, and to trust your own reactions to the critique.

The only problem is that some folks, especially early on in their careers, have their filters set wrong—set to automatically accept all or most feedback, regardless of its quality, or to reject all or most feedback, regardless of its quality. Both orientations can hurt you. What I advise all writers, just in case, is to create multiple versions of your work. In some versions, experiment by implementing even more of the critique than might feel natural, and, in others, less—and always save your first drafts, so that no change becomes irreversible. This approach gives you the opportunity to test your instincts under even better conditions—not just in reaction to the feedback, but in reaction to how it plays out on the page. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by what works and what doesn’t. Allow yourself to be surprised. Allow your instincts to be honed by experimenting with how you respond to a critique.

The bottom line: Every writer needs a trustworthy outside opinion, and, at the same time, we also each need a trustworthy inside opinion.


About the Author
Nannette Croce is an Assistant Editor at T-zero, and writes both short stories and articles from her home in Chester Springs. Visit her Web site at homepage.mac.com/nannettecroce.

About the Interviewee
David Ebenbach has an MFA in writing from Vermont College, and is currently teaching at Gotham Writers Workshops. His work has appeared in numerous publications including The Denver Quarterly and Crazyhorse. His novel, My Brother, the Prophet, was a finalist in the Mid-List First Series Awards. He also recently contributed a chapter for the Gotham Writers Workshops’ Books, Writing Fiction. Contact him at ebenbach@world.oberlin.edu or visit his Web site, www.davidebenbach.com.