I find that taking notes helps achieve emotional distance so you can appraise their comments more coolly.
Also the readers are much more likely to be right about a problem than about a solution, and much more likely to be right that there is a problem than what the problem is.
Online critiquing may be better because then your feedback is not influenced by other people's feedback.
Also, for those of you reading -- try to keep close to the story. I once got a long critique that identified a problem -- I hadn't made something clear -- and assumed the clear answer was the opposite of what it was. The rest of the critique was based on the wrong assumption and therefore useless.
All good points. My post next week is about editing, I think having that space is important when doing edits, which oftentimes is opposite the mindset needed to do the creative writing piece.
Thank you for this, Kal. I passed this onto the Alpha Mercs writing group. We can always use a reminder to rein in our impulses and biases. 🫡
It was good meeting you in person at LibertyCon. 🙂
It was good seeing you as well. Sorry we didn't have more time to chat, LC is always crazy busy. Glad you liked the post!
I find that taking notes helps achieve emotional distance so you can appraise their comments more coolly.
Also the readers are much more likely to be right about a problem than about a solution, and much more likely to be right that there is a problem than what the problem is.
Online critiquing may be better because then your feedback is not influenced by other people's feedback.
Also, for those of you reading -- try to keep close to the story. I once got a long critique that identified a problem -- I hadn't made something clear -- and assumed the clear answer was the opposite of what it was. The rest of the critique was based on the wrong assumption and therefore useless.
All good points. My post next week is about editing, I think having that space is important when doing edits, which oftentimes is opposite the mindset needed to do the creative writing piece.