Ever been scared of having another person critique your MS?

That's only natural. Your writing reflects all that time and care you put into it; of course you want folks to like it.

I get pretty tense when my betas come back to me with their thoughts, but I know they have my best interests at heart, even if I pout about their suggestions for a day or two. One of my betas just HATES first-person present, which is what my current project is written in, but that, for example, is something I won't change, no matter what she says.

I think it boils down to finding betas who care about your work and want you to succeed. That way, whatever criticism they dish out to you is only to make you a better writer. So don't worry too much!

Scared, terrified, stomach twists before dropping...basically all of the above lol Even to this day I can't have someone I actually know read my writing, I only share it with my online friends. But unfortunately, it's just something we have to go through to polish our manuscript.

Just think, perhaps in the future there will be millions of people who read your novel Then letting someone read it now won't seem as bad!

Yeah, but it's usually just minor twinges of self-doubt and sometimes embarassment: "How could anyone ever like THIS?????" sort of thing.

It's best to get it over and done with and just send the manuscript out to betas or post in SYW. Think of it this way, whatever you have now is good or okay or decent (whatever term you like to think of your writing as). But by the time you're done dealing with whatever criticism you get that you think is valid, it's going to be that much better

It's worth putting yourself on the line to make your work better, imo.

I understand the feeling. The first time I ever sent my work to someone to look over, I was a bit nervous and as I got more serious about writing, I grew even more nervous. But now I've done it enough times that it doesn't bother me to send it out. What makes me want to bite my nails is when I get the results back. I'm not thinking whether the person will like it. My first (and sometimes only) thought is, "Where did I screw up?" I hate when I feel really confident in something only to have the person send it back and say, "I didn't like this and this and that over there." But it helps with thickening your skin and a thick skin is important to have, methinks.

Of course! I haven't sent a full MS to anyone yet, but I did post in SYW and I was nervous as hell. Although people had a few nitpicks they generally liked the piece and it gave me a real boost to know that people would read on.

Whilst that won't be the case with every project, it's really worth diving in and posting even a short snippet. A range of feedback can be very helpful and you don't have to use every bit of advice if you don't want to.

I guess the first thing to remember is that when people are critiquing your writing they are NOT critiquing you as a person. So if they say "I don't really like that bit" and it was one of your favourite bits in the story, don't feel hurt or upset. They just have different likes and dislikes to you, that's all. You wouldn't expect that your best friend would like all the same food/clothes/music as you, would you? Just because they don't like P!nk doesn't make them any less of a friend!

Because it's your story it's natural to become attached to it. You've probably put a lot of yourself in there and it can be a little scary letting other people see that side of who you are. But in order to grow as a writer you need to show your work to people. To a certain extent you do have to put a bit of distance between you and your story in order to remain objective. Maybe start with people who you know will be gentle with their criticism (like friends and family) then move on to people who will give you more in depth feedback (like the people on this forum). It does become less painful. I remember I was almost in tears after my first critique, now I just shrug my shoulders and say "Hmm, how can I make that better?"

That's all you should care about - making your story really shine! Getting feedback from people who can look at it objectively really is the best way to start improving your story and writing ability. Also, investigate writing classes or courses that give you the chance to have someone sit down and help you with your story. Improving your writing ability is a solid investment if you want to be an author, and having someone experienced go through everything with you face to face can be a huge help!

No. I'm not frightened of anything.



Except geese. And Santa. And Captain Birdseye. And sweetcorn.

But they are all legitimate fears.

It can definitely be scary, because your writing can be very personal. I know I was very nervous the first time I ever sent something to betas. And sometimes even still, even though I know my betas are amazing and will give me insightful feedback without making me want to slowly die.

Putting yourself out there is hard, but you will feel so rewarded when your ms is better for it, I promise you.

I write to tell stories, so I've never been worried about it. However...

I'm terrified to let my husband read anything I write, because his opinion matters so much to me. The first time he ever read anything I'd written was after I'd gotten my agent, because then I had professional verification I didn't suck, so if he didn't like the book, it wouldn't be so devastating.

Sharing something we worked hard on can be rough. Writing is personal, we put a lot of ourselves into it and a rejection of any type (even "I didn't like it" from a friend) feels personal because of that. There's nothing wrong with being nervous about showing your work to others. But if you want to publish one day, you will have to share.

Start small, share with folks you know won't be cruel or who will like it. Build up your confidence and start thickening your skin so you can get some objectivity about your work. Eventually you'll be okay showing it to strangers.

When I wrote my first book I was a little shy. Now, I crave the good and the bad. It makes my overall work much better.

I can't even imagine not being scared by it.

I have to admit that I'm not really worried about whether those close to me like my writing. I was worried about how my folks might react to the sex and violence in my first novel, but given their complete non-reaction to it I figured that nothing I did was going to shock them.

Equally, with my beta is amazing, she will tell me in no uncertain terms how much I suck, my friends too. I'm not scared of thier reaction or comments, because at the end of the day, if you want to do this for a living then you will have to face the fact that ALOT of people are going to read your stuff, and some of them are going to really hate it.

At the end of the day if someone's opinion matters to you then that can complicate things in terms of separating personal from professional, but that's something people as a individuals will have to deal with.

Y'know, I never really was. Mostly I wanted people to read it and beat it up. It's sort of like cooking something you've never tried and then sharing a spoonful to see if it tastes the same to someone else. "Do the pine nuts with Dover sole taste as good to you as they do to me? No? Okay, then. What would you do?"

But of course, I also like ketchup on bologna . . . so what do I know?

One of the first reviews on our first book wanted to "throw the heroine face first into a wood chipper." Seriously.

It could have hurt me, or made me mad. But it didn't. I cheered! Why? Because the heroine was a train wreck, and I'd conveyed that to the reader. You either loved her or hated her, but she was well drawn enough---as a person, that someone reacted to her emotionally.

That's success. And without people reading it, you'll never know whether what you're seeing is what others are seeing. I find the process of critique quite a lot of fun. I learn all sorts of things. I like to learn. It helps me grow as a writer.

Might I suggest saying something to this effect to your betas when you're ready to send out your work?

Because that's totally fair. I have never had anyone viciously put down my writing like that, and I think it's 100% valid to want a critique rather than an analysis of your chances as a writer.

Yes, yes YES! If I could stand on top of Louisiana's State Capitol and scream i'm afraid of critique I would. Wait...I can. Thats a great idea. I'm so afraid of critique that I have nightmares about it. This may be why I haven't posted my query letter in SYW yet.

I guess it's more of how people will critique that I'm scared of. I've never really had a proper critique and I don't know if it's because someone found it boring or not. I'm still really nervous to show my work because of what happened a couple of years back, when someone just told me, "Don't quit your day job."

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I don't think you're likely to get that type of a response on this forum. It is very rare to find someone who's such a jerk on AW. Most people here are writers and they will critique you on your writing and not try to discourage you. Besides, you know what? Even the majority of published writers don't quit their day jobs, so that just tells you how much your friend knows!

So that put me down. I have thick skin, but it's a thick skin for critiquing. I want people to point something out that I might be missing. That might help me. I don't want someone to say, "Oh, don't quit your day job." That's not helpful. That's not helpful at all.

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You're absolutely right. Sadly when you ask someone who is not a writer to tell you what they think, you may get a response like this. Or they might tell you they never finished the novel at all (my sister did this to me!!!). If you want honest feedback on your writing don't ask someone who's not a writer. It just makes sense. For instance, if I wanted to improve my tennis game, I surely wouldn't ask my husband. he doesn't play tennis, he only watches it on tv. What would he know? If your friend is an architect and has never written anything in his life, then how is he going to help you become a better writer? The caveat to this is that eventually if you intend to publish then you do have to ask the layman what he/she thinks, BUT you probably wouldn't want to get the general public's opinion until you've torn that manuscript inside and out and gotten some good feedback from people who know what they're talking about. And you'd want to pick your audience carefully - someone who likes the genre that you're writing for. Bottom line, if you're just starting out and looking to improve your writing, ask a writer and save everyone else for when you're ready to query.

And someone else did that on my blog when I showed a rough draft of the first chapter way back last year (and I have changed that chapter a lot ever since).

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Blogs are tricky. If you like blogging, I'd start a blog specifically for writing (if you don't already have one), and only advertise it on writing sites. That way you'll be sort of filtering who's going to be reading your stuff and you can avoid jerks who would put you down without reason.

Maybe I should first finish up my novel and then take a big breath and get a beta reader, maybe. Just go from there and not try to rush things. Thanks everyone.

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This is one way to approach it, but I know a lot of people who get feedback while they're in the middle of their WIP, and it can help a lot because it'll let you know what sorts of things you should be looking for. If you post here on the SYW forum, you can inform people to be gentle with you or ask for specific feedback (is this good showing vs telling? how can I improve my descriptions?). A few words of advice and encouragement can go a long way. I think that everyone who posts on SYW improves many fold in a short period of time, so don't completely rule it out. And, the more you post the easier it gets. I was scared to death the first time, but not so much anymore. I do get a little anxious, everybody does (except for Shaldna ) but it's worth it because the feedback here is really great. Also you might want to just wade through some of the posts in SYW and see what sorts of things others pick out in someone else's writing. Maybe it'll help you see what you need to do in yours - without posting.

Good luck to you.

Unbelievable!!!

Okay, I'm going to say it... WHAT AN ARROGANT JERK! What makes him the leading authority on who is going to be the next best selling author? You said it yourself - he's an ARCHITECT! Not an author, not an editor, not a literary agent... an architect! Gawd that just makes me so mad! What he gave you wasn't a critique, it was a thinly veiled attack on your self esteem (probably to make himself feel more important). Ignore it. People like that aren't worth listening to.

Of course a rough draft is going to be, well, rough. I look over some of my old work and cringe, but you have to remember that it's not the finished product. Just about all writers do several re-writes and drafts before settling on a final draft to sumbit to a publisher. Don't think that one nasty, spiteful comment is going to spell the end of your writing career!

Find yourself a good beta reader, or even post your story (or part of your story) on this forum. The people on here will be able to give you CONSTRUCTIVE criticism that will actually help you improve your story. It's all well and good to point out every tiny flaw in someone's work, but it takes a lot more experience and insight to offer suggestions on how to improve it! My guess is Mr Achitect wouldn't have a clue how to write a good story. Don't spend another second worrying about what he said, just pick up your dignity & self esteem and move on!

But hey, once/if I'm published, there's going to be more people doing it, anyway. Might as well get used to it.

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Truer words were never spoken. You've got the right attitude! You'll do fine in the critique community. But you've got to be outspoken. Let people know it's your first critique and to be gentle. People (at least people here) will respect that. It's part of the governing rules at AW--"Respect Your Fellow Writer".

I was terrified when I submitted my query letter on SYW but realized pretty quickly that the people who were hacking it up were doing it out of a love for writing. Specifically, good writing. I had a critique partner throughout my entire YA novel and because I trusted and respected her, I wasn't nearly as nervous when I saw her emails pop up in response to whatever section I had just sent her. Good luck and don't let the criticism get you worried...the agents are the ones that worry me