How to Embrace Constructive Feedback
Nobody ever wants to hear when somebody doesn’t like their work. That is natural. However, instead of fighting back against any and all criticism, you should embrace others’ reactions to your work. This article briefly summarizes the potential benefits and practical uses of criticism at every stage of the publishing process.
Getting the Truth from Friends and Family
On an interpersonal level, you should never shy away from feedback on your work. If you have friends and family who are comfortable enough with you to share honest feedback, that’s great! It means your relationship is close enough where you can use their honesty to grow as a person and as a writer.
Receiving detailed and sincere criticism from people in your life gives you invaluable insight into your relationships. Some people cannot receive any negative feedback on their work because they are insecure. When you are able to accept other people’s opinions, that is a sign that you are confident in yourself.
Understanding Your Own Work Better
After spending weeks, months, or years of your life writing a book, it becomes an extension of you. You know your book’s ins and outs, the characters, the structure, the themes. But, when a fresh set of eyes read your book, they are starting it without the insider knowledge you have.
When your readers give you their feedback, critical or positive, it can open your eyes how others see it. This allows you to understand how others may view your work. Sometimes, what writers envision in their mind is hard to translate to the page. Other’s reactions to your work can help you see where you fell short.
Adjusting Your Approach to Future Writing
All the feedback you receive can help you in any stage of writing. When you share an early draft of your work with trusted confidants, you can directly adjust that work. You can incorporate suggestions from personal friends and professional editors along the way. This will probably make this specific work stronger and more approachable for general audiences.
If your book is already published, however, you can likely not make significant changes to the text. The only situation where you can make changes would be in a new edition of your already-published work. Even then, you shouldn’t make too many changes that alter the meaning of your book. Therefore, you can use the feedback you receive from this book to inform your future writing. Whether covering similar topics or themes or venturing into new avenues, you can incorporate feedback into future works. Gaining an understanding of what aspects of your writing doesn’t connect with readers is invaluable to development as a writer.
Teaching You Valuable Lessons About the Writing Process
Aside from solely teaching you about your own skills and potential limitations, embracing criticism teaches you about writing. The writing process is a uniquely creative endeavor that can only be strengthened by continued practice. Understanding the ongoing process of writing through criticism will allow you to understand the entire industry. It can also allow you to respect other authors who have gone through the same process as you.
People Have Different Tastes
At the end of the day, never shy away from criticism your writing may face. Always keep in mind that just because you may receive criticism, that does mean your work is bad. Everybody has different tastes, and no two people will like the same exact books. When someone criticizes your writing, that is their opinion. What matters most is what you think of your writing. You can take criticism into account, but never lose sight of your book as your creative product. Never let the opinions of others deter you from pursuing your passion.
