The Value of Critique Partners
My critique partners have done marvelous things for me. They’ve told me where scenes are dragging, have given me advice about my POV, have commented on my main characters and the supporting cast, have told me where my plot is falling flat on its face, have helped me cut words by pointing to scenes and even words that are unnecessary, have opined as to why a particular conclusion is implausible, pointed out to me when my rhymes aren’t working, have helped me fix my titles even suggesting new ones, and have informed me when my story wasn’t a story – yet. The list goes on and on. All of this has been done with careful and considerate comments. It’s kind of an unwritten rule - when you’ve been entrusted to critique someone’s work, you don’t want to discourage anyone, or cause them to lose heart, so exercising tact is essential.
Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com
I have been very lucky over the years. Unilaterally, my critique partners have been generous – kind – supportive. I haven't had any critique partners make me cry unlike an incident I witnessed at a writing conference years ago - the first one I ever attended. Like a couple of hundred other writers at this event, I had signed up for a professional critique by an industry professional. So, at the assigned time on the second day of the conference, I found my way to the ballroom where these private one-on-ones were being given. It was very exciting and very scary. There were easily two dozen people sitting outside the ballroom waiting to be called, which was done in groups. The double doors would open to disgorge the prior group of freshly critiqued writers before admitting the next group. The moderators of the conference who were working the event opened the doors frequently to come and go, and I recall attempting to sneak a peek into the inner sanctum, which was reminiscent of the scene from The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and the gang deliver the broom to the Wizard. The suspense was tangible. And heightened by what happened next.
It seemed that the group ahead of mine had just gotten seated when a woman came bursting through one of the doors – running. And sobbing. She fled to the landing and ran up the escalator two steps at a time. Then, within moments, a conference moderator burst out of the door, running also, and proceeded to chase her. Those of us sitting there, already nerve-wracked with our own apprehensions, looked at one another, mouths agape. What had just happened?
I remember some nervous laughter, some furrowed brows, some head-shaking, but we didn’t have much time to wonder because before we knew it, it was our turn. The doors opened and a stream of people flooded out, and we were instructed to enter. And that was that. Until much later that day when I was returning to my room in the hotel, and I ran into this distraught woman. She was composed now, but it was obvious she had spent hours crying. We made eye contact. I remember wanting to reach out and hug her, but I didn’t. We passed each other in the hall, and I never saw her again.
So what had happened? It’s anyone’s guess. Was this writer’s work not ready to be critiqued by a professional? Was the agent or editor exhausted and unable to curb his or her comments? Was the manuscript that terrible? If there is a lesson that can be derived from this incident while not having all of the facts, it might be this – this writer’s experience might be a reflection that she wasn’t far enough along on her journey to submit her work to a professional yet. This is why critique partners are so valuable. They perform the formative, integral work of providing feedback for a beginning writer and also for the more seasoned writer who’s working on a new project. They act as a writer’s “starting blocks” and are critical to a writer’s growth. I’ve often thought about that woman in the years since. I’ve wondered what happened to her; did she let that experience completely derail her dreams or was she able to rise above it and continue writing. I wish I could have helped her like the many critique partners I’ve had in my life. All smart and gifted writers, they’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. They haven’t always agreed with me or liked my manuscripts, but they’ve always been thoughtful and kind.
Related Posts:
A Writers Life: Critique Partner Relationships
