Manuscript Critique: a Comprehensive Guide

ADVICE: How to Process Feedback

If I say I've been beaten with the 'your writing sucks' mean stick so often that it's got my initials engraved, that would be no understatement.

But what is feedback and how do we properly process it?

Before I can adequately explain that, allow me to share a story about my mother and the start of the COVID panic. The Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020 struck my part of the world first. So by the time it reached America, I was fearful of other things, such as my aging mother's vulnerability to looters.

I called her and said, "Mah, make sure and go buy a baseball bat so you can take out a few kneecaps should the need arise."

She got quiet then asked me, "What? Why?"

How was I going to break this to her? She was from a small island country and grew up in a rural area. She didn't know about mobs and I didn't want to frighten her. Caribbean hospitality didn't carry over to America.

I drew in a deep breath and confessed, "Because you live in a Meth-rich area and I'm worried about you."

She made a sound with her teeth and informed me, "Don't fret. I have a couple of cutlasses by the door ready for any idiot that unlucky."

Now it was my time to get quiet. Understand, I'm not begrudging her the machetes. Only...I, myself, have no idea how to wield one well. And depending on the shape, I'd be likely to lose a toe by my own hands.

When I called my brother to share this ridiculous story, he dead-panned, "Yeah, all the stores are out of ammo but I'm okay for now."

What in the world was going on? Why was I suddenly in a Mad Max meets The Mighty Quinn movie?

Here's the thing, gun or cutlass, or...piddly baseball bat, these are tools. And these tools are only useful to those who know how to use them.

Feedback...is a tool.

In the right hands, ANY type of feedback can be utilized. Even feedback from a troll. But to someone who doesn't know what they need or what is useful, any type of feedback, no matter HOW GOOD can also be ultimately useless.

So what do you do?

Firstly, stop crying. And I'm not saying that because you aren't justified. We all cry. ALL of us cry when we get that scathing "I don't like what you wrote" feedback. Even if it's said that nicely, which it rarely is.

But the truth of the matter is, without knowing what to use, what to throw away, what to ignore, or what to take to heart, it doesn't matter how polite or how rude the feedback is, it would be as useful to you in your writing as a baseball bat would be to my mom cutting sugarcane.

To process the feedback well, you NEED to study the rules of writing and then you NEED to start low-key critiquing others as well. You don't have to give it to the author, you can keep it to yourself, but you must read something you like or hate and determine WHY.

"This is great!" is garbage feedback.

"This sucks!" is garbage feedback.

And it is garbage because there is no WHY. WHAT is good about it? What is bad?

The best way to understand how to use feedback, is by giving both positive and negative feedback to others. And you are REQUIRED to find both in each attempt you make. The day you can do both in a balanced way will be the day you've gained a skill that you can utilize when you get even the crudest of roasts.

"This book sucked. It was boring. The characters did stupid things. Nobody was moving around. It was just dialogue and nothing more. But not before we got info dump after info dump."

That might be what you receive, but what you'll understand and process is:

"This book has some pacing issues to address. The characters act in ways that contradict their profile or they do unexpected things that aren't properly foreshadowed. There is too much time spent in one place with little to no movement. The balance of information is also off as it is dialogue heavy one minute then exposition heavy the next. Consider mixing them together for a more seamless narrative. Be sure the plot is advancing."

Also, remember one VERY important thing: no feedback is worth your enjoyment. You write because you want to and I personally no longer have sympathy for anyone who decides to quit because of a bad review. My brother didn't stomp off and cry when he missed his target at the firing range. My mother certainly didn't give up on her cutlass when she couldn't clear her yard well the first time (seriously, this woman's dangerous!) Then why do you think you'll hit the ground running? In reality, there are popular books that you hate as well as great books you love that nobody knows about. A story is something different for each reader. Your job is to STRUCTURE it well so that it has the best chance to reach the right people. So start reading and start secretly critiquing works and keeping notes as what works and what doesn't.

I may never be comfortable juggling machetes or assembling a gun, but rest assured, there'll be more than few kneecaps in the end of days that won't forget Ms. Forge!