Managing Constructive Criticism and Self Criticism of Your Writing

Traps with Self Criticism
Personally, I have found the critical self to be the most difficult obstacle to overcome in beginning a piece of writing. While it is important to develop the ability to critique our own writing, it can work against us unless we learn how to use it correctly. In the past I have been so self critical of my own writing that it has prevented me from beginning because I felt that nothing that entered my head was worth committing to paper. As a result I either never started or destroyed what I wrote. Yet, I am always happy to be supportive of the writing of others. Why can't I adopt this attitude towards myself?

After years of having my scientific writing critiqued by myself and others, you'd think I would be over it. However it is a lot easier to distance oneself from writing that is more objective rather than the personal thoughts and ideas that form more creative writing. Two years ago I started a short story however my critical self took over and told me it was rubbish so I stopped. I almost deleted it from my computer but something stopped me. This week I remembered it and took another look. Now I find that after the passage of time I can look at the writing with more objectivity. What I found was that some of my thoughts were quite interesting although underdeveloped. In fact, if I had deleted it and were to attempt to write the same story now, I would have lost some of those thoughts and ideas because I would never have thought about things in the same way. Now I can keep what I had and add to it, expand the ideas and start to build the layers.

The first step of getting our ideas in writing is to confront the blank page before our critical self emerges. The best way is to make time and just start by writing anything and everything that comes to mind. Then allow some time and stand back to look at it again. The first draft doesn't have to be good and it doesn't even have to be good enough to ask a critical friend for their first thoughts. Then with their feedback combined with our own self critique the work can start to evolve.

Process of Critiquing Writing
A good way to learn the process of critiquing and receiving constructive criticism is to do a broad based writing course. An online writing degree is ideal for obtaining the necessary skills. My plan for critiquing my own writing and the work of others has always been (in non-fiction writing):

1. What points do I want to make?
2. Are the points clear?
3. Will the way I have presented the points appeal to the target audience?
4. What can I add, or subtract, to strengthen the arguments, entertain or engage the reader?

These first questions remain the same for creative and any style of writing. The way our critical friends respond to these questions can be very different to the way we answer these questions for ourselves thereby enriching the analysis. While I think it is important to deal with each question individually in one sitting, I also see that it is valuable to note quickly any other thoughts that intrude during this time, even if unrelated to the current writing. To note them quickly in writing within a document created specifically for that purpose. As Ursula Le Guin has stated, "listen for ideas then do something with them".

Individual Imagination and Creativity
Reading widely to inspire and motivate our own creative thoughts and imagination is important as Ursula Le Guin has demonstrated. However reading everybody is just not possible so I find it curious that she seems upset when people tell her they have not read her work. She does recognize however that her earlier unsuccessful efforts to publish were a result of her writing not being in step with the market. Yet she stuck to her own style and beliefs and persevered. This is what we all have to do to really succeed I think. We have to be ourselves because writing, like any form of art, is a form of self expression and we should not be molded by society into being like anyone else. It is we who should mold society, and this is a gradual process. Overnight success can mean we are giving in to pressure and producing bland, repetitive writing. As she says herself, "capitalism is running us and it's awfully scary".

Mechanisms to help us to define our own thoughts in relation to others, and help us to begin writing immediately are useful. Here are some of mine.

1. Pick 10 people and write a sentence or paragraph to describe them.
2. Then interview them. Write the dialogue.
3. Start a diary for each one of them based on what I've learned from the interview. This changes their story from the third into the first person.
4. Write about my own childhood memories from the child's perspective.
5. Then compare to interview information about the childhood memories of others.
6. Write on the difference in points of view and analyze how those have translated into the belief systems we have today.
7. Also dreams are good. They add an element of the unexpected and bizarre.
8. Write a Mystory.

The secret is to welcome constructive criticism but not to the point where we lose our uniqueness. Take the criticism on board, whether it is self criticism or that from others, and then analyze it to see what we can learn from it and discard the unnecessary noise. Use the points learned to improve and expand on our unique ideas to produce an individual contribution to the particular writing genre. Keep your own inner voice active, and do not take on the voice of your critics, not even the self critic.