Jonathan Francis: When I was in writing workshops all the time, we had two rules: (1) The work and the author are separate. Someone critiquing the work should direct all of their criticism at the work, leaving the author out of it. This is a direct effect of the Death of the Author movement in literary criticism, where the author no longer matters in the interpretation of a piece; what matters more is its substance and sociohistorical context. So we should be able to receive criticism openly and without hurt feelings because our work, when we click the "submit" button, is no longer our own. It belongs to the context within which it was created, and its substance and soul are its own. (2) If you don't have something nice to say... Every criticism should start by saying something positive. Nothing in the world exists without some merit. Even the worst, most poorly crafted work of literature has something worthwhile in it. We must assume that our fellow authors are not stupid and that they pushed "submit" because they thought something about what they wrote was worth sharing. We should find THAT thing first, and then we are free to indulge our red pens to whatever extent we choose, so long as we remain CONSTRUCTIVE while we do it. |
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The work and the author are separate So we should be able to receive criticism openly and without hurt feelings because our work, when we click the "submit" button, is no longer our own. We should find THAT thing first (merit), and then we are free to indulge our red pens to whatever extent we choose, so long as we remain CONSTRUCTIVE while we do it. Excellent advice. - | ||
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This site needs more people to embrace this mature attitude and to realize constructive critique is not 'destructive' or mean--that it is helpful, not hurtful. You'll find some of the like-minded members are also active in the reviewing forum located under profile tab and community forums... - | ||
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Alas, there will always be those reviewers who will default. :-/ - | ||
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Thank you all! - | ||
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Jonathan Francis: Right now, I'm working on writing a novel and editing a previous one. I'm also trying to get a short story published. Although I've been writing a long time, I'm only just now getting really serious about it. Wish me luck! |
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Gayle - | ||
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