SICKLING THROUGH THE JUNGLE OF ADVICE

[Sheri Larsen]

Ever feel like....UGH!!....when you receive advice. 

We all know how valuable our blessed critique partners are. They are vital to the growth of our work. But what happens when the advice is conflicting? How much advice it TOO much advice, and how do YOU handle it? 

Let's explore that topic and hopefully compile ways to handle it without pulling out our hair. 

[Jessie Harrell]

There are times when you get advice and it involves a fairly substantial plot rewrite. I like to think on those, mull them over, but I want to hear it more than once (preferably three times at least), before I'm willing to make major overhauls. I heard at a conference that you take every piece of advice you get, your work becomes schizophrenic b/c it'll have some many different pieces of writing.
My rule: remember that you probably won't accept 90% of the advice you get. And that's fine. But I always take notice when someone's confused.

[Nikki Katz]

I agree with Jessie about mulling over the big rewrites and getting other feedback. I often get conflicting feedback actually!

I'll tell you what I don't appreciate ... someone reading your first 30 pages and telling you how they "think" the rest of the book should play out and what your characters should do! Isn't that their book?

[Sheri Larsen]

Me like, Nikki. Great point. As always, being 'fresh eyes' implies 'kind comments'. Some people just don't think.

Nikki Katz said:

I agree with Jessie about mulling over the big rewrites and getting other feedback. I often get conflicting feedback actually!

I'll tell you what I don't appreciate ... someone reading your first 30 pages and telling you how they "think" the rest of the book should play out and what your characters should do! Isn't that their book?

[Nikki Katz]

Yes kindness is critical. They don't need to suck up and tell me they like the book. I always appreciate constructive criticism!! But there's a way to say it. Otherwise the defenses flair up :)

I've always heard that a good critique partner doesn't "rewrite" - and I'm curious to know people's thoughts on that. I sometimes get so stuck with my plot and scenes that it's hard to think outside of it. I've gotten a couple of great ideas for expansion and changes from my local critique partners - but it was more of a round-robin session with them throwing ideas out.

Sheri Larsen said:

Me like, Nikki. Great point. As always, being 'fresh eyes' implies 'kind comments'. Some people just don't think.

Nikki Katz said:

I agree with Jessie about mulling over the big rewrites and getting other feedback. I often get conflicting feedback actually!

I'll tell you what I don't appreciate ... someone reading your first 30 pages and telling you how they "think" the rest of the book should play out and what your characters should do! Isn't that their book?

[Sheri Larsen]

See to me, that's good critiquing--the whole round-robin kind of thing. Helpful suggestions but not pushy. I, too, appreciate constructive criticism but that's what it has to be--constructive. If it's too opinionated or more like a re-write....eh...I'd probably digest as much as I can and ignore the rest.

Nikki Katz said:

Yes kindness is critical. They don't need to suck up and tell me they like the book. I always appreciate constructive criticism!! But there's a way to say it. Otherwise the defenses flair up :)

I've always heard that a good critique partner doesn't "rewrite" - and I'm curious to know people's thoughts on that. I sometimes get so stuck with my plot and scenes that it's hard to think outside of it. I've gotten a couple of great ideas for expansion and changes from my local critique partners - but it was more of a round-robin session with them throwing ideas out.

Sheri Larsen said:

Me like, Nikki. Great point. As always, being 'fresh eyes' implies 'kind comments'. Some people just don't think.

Nikki Katz said:

I agree with Jessie about mulling over the big rewrites and getting other feedback. I often get conflicting feedback actually!

I'll tell you what I don't appreciate ... someone reading your first 30 pages and telling you how they "think" the rest of the book should play out and what your characters should do! Isn't that their book?

[Tammy Burke]

I belong to a pretty awesome critique group and we have several genres represented. What I find sometimes is a problem is reading comprehension. Sometimes one of my critiquers tells me she doesn't understand "where she is" in a chapter because a detail is missing but the detail has been mentioned several pages ago. (I wish I could think of an example off the top of my head). I usually respond with "I'll look into that" and later, I'll look to see if 1) if the detail important and 2) if the detail is lost where it's at. And then, I go from there.

I had one scene, a battle scene, very key to the book, which had a glaring fault to it that I didn't see. Yes, my ego felt a little battered during the session but we all got a big laugh over it. I rewrote the scene and it's much better!

My rule of thumb is if one of my critiquers makes mention of something, I'll look into it. If the majority of my critiquers make the same mention, I'm probably going to change it.