Dangerous Critiques can Turn Your WIP into a Jackalope
by Anne R. Allen
One of the most damaging things a new writer can do is try to please everybody who beta-reads or critiques their WIP. I’ve seen a novel turned into a kind of jackalope of unrelated parts.
If you tend to be a “people pleaser” this can be a real problem.
I’ve been swayed by these dangerous critiques a few times myself. One of my Camilla romcom mysteries has suffered the wrath of reviewers because there’s too much realism going on with one character’s tummy tuck. I had made the mistake of taking advice from one of these dangerous critiques: A man told me with great authority what a complicated procedure a tummy tuck is. So in spite of my own experience with tummy-tucked friends who had no such complications, I let his confidence sway me. So I added way too much clinical detail to my breezy romcom.
I learned some things.
- Never let one person’s opinion change your WIP.
- Never make revisions based on advice from someone who doesn’t know your genre.
- Beware the Dunning Kruger effect. (That’s where the most confident people are often the most ignorant on the subject.)
I’m not saying you shouldn’t welcome beta readers and critiques. I think joining a critique group is one of the best things a beginning writer can do. But new writers also have to learn how to weed out the un-useful advice.
And most of it will be not be useful. I wrote about this in my post on Critique Groups: 6 ways they can help your writing and 6 ways the can’t.
And as members of critique groups and writing workshops, ourselves, we need to be careful not to fall into any of these categories ourselves.
Sources of the Most Dangerous Critiques
1) The Realism Brigade
These are the folks who want to know when your characters go to the bathroom, and point out that it really isn’t all that romantic to have your first kiss in front of everybody at work, the window of a department store, or the middle of a snowstorm.
They’ll tell you that gun has too much of a kick for a young women to handle and that nobody could run that fast in high heels.
They must be so miserable in superhero movies.
The truth is that most fiction is not realistic and is not meant to be.
James Patterson said it well “ I don’t do realism. Sometimes people will mention that something I’ve written doesn’t seem realistic and I always picture them looking at a Chagall and thinking the same thing. You can say, “I don’t like what you do, or I don’t like Chagall, or I don’t like Picasso ” but saying that these things are not realistic is irrelevant.”
2) The Detailers
These are the folks who want you to tell us the species of trees that your heroine is running through to escape the giant sabertoothed cave rats. They’ll add, “And bring in all the senses here. What do the trees smell like? What does the pathway feel like under her feet? Are there birds in the forest? Describe their songs.”
By this time the heroine has been eaten by the giant sabertoothed cave rats as we’re buried in irrelevant details.. And your reader is bored to tears.
Details in fiction should be like Chekhov’s Gun. Don’t spent two pages describing trees if those trees don’t end up being an important part of the plot.
3) Grammar Enforcers
These people may write nonfiction, or teach technical or business writing. Every one of their suggestions is correct, and they can tear through your WIP and make it read like a grammar text book.
Not exactly what people read for entertainment..
Fiction requires sentence fragments, one-word paragraphs, and unfinished clauses. Sometimes you even need to use a preposition to end a sentence with.
If you let the Grammar Enforcers get hold of your WIP, the result will send all your readers to sleep.
4) Autobiography Sleuths
Have you ever had a reader assume a first-person narrator is the author? They seem to think every novel is an autobiography, so they try to ferret out the bits that give a revelation about you.
I once went to a workshop where several participants referred to my protagonist as “you.” One told me that my character should not wear orange, because it would look terrible with my coloring.
And at one critique group, a member walked out because my ditzy fashionista heroine made a snarky remark about people who wear Crocs. (I happened to own several pairs of Crocs, but this didn’t matter. That character was ME, as far as she was concerned, and she was permanently offended.)
I heard from a writer of YA fantasy — a tall man – who had a workshopper tell him his story would never work because he was too tall to hide in a wizard’s cupboard. Yup. Because the author is a 12-year-old elf.
The Autobiography Sleuths will try to make that elf into you if you let them. If somebody doesn’t “get” your genre or style, ignore their advice.
5) Dr. Phil Meets the Middle Ages
“There are more appropriate ways to establish boundaries,” one critiquer said of a writer’s lady-in-waiting character in her Tudor-era historical novel. The character had just pulled a knife on a particularly handsy duke. The advice was, “She should assert her rights and report his sexual harassment to the queen. Relationship problems should never be solved with violence.”
These are some of the most dangerous critiques. The suggestions may resonate with your modern sensibilities.
But don’t listen. Women in the Middle Ages (or a Fantasy version of them) did not have Feminist sensibilities. Neither did the men. Yes, their attitudes may be offensive to some people who live in very protected academic bubbles. But you need to ignore those people. They are not your audience.
Historical fiction doesn’t always have to be accurate down to the last rivet in a suit of armor, but the author does not want to let anybody put modern thoughts in a 500 year old head.
6) The Soul-Crushers
These might perpetrate the most dangerous critiques of all. It isn’t always what they say, but the tone of voice and harsh delivery. They’ll start a critique with an exaggerated sigh, perhaps accompanied by a pitying half-smile..
They’ll tell you that your premise is ridiculous and you can never write a whole novel about an elf who has accidentally made himself invisible. Or they will deem your voice “puerile” and suggest you give up novels and learn to write haiku.
They also may deliver ad hominem criticism, calling the writer arrogant and stupid, since they have no qualifications for writing on the subject of elves. They may tell everyone, at great length, how personally, they are much more more qualified than the hapless writer, After all, they once worked as a department store elf at Christmas.
After you leave the workshop in tears, you must erase every word this person said from your memory. They have an agenda that has nothing to do with you or your work. Chocolate helps, as does the company of a good friend who knows the critiquer recently lost is teaching job and is working as a mall cop.
7) Genre Inappropriate Dogmatism
These people have a set of rules in their heads they think apply to all genres.
Your quiet literary domestic novel can be ruined by thriller writers who tell you a novel must have, “more action! Get those people to move. They’re just sitting around talking! Nobody’s going to read that.”
The reverse is true when people trained in literary workshops want to know the psychological motivations of every member of the gang who are trying to whack our hero. And of course they want the hero to be more introspective. “What’s his backstory? Does he have parents? Siblings? Why doesn’t he think about them when he’s chasing the bad guys in the stolen police cruiser?
We all have to remember that specific genres have specific rules that don’t apply to other genres. Don’t let some mystery writer get you to throw a dead body or two into your sweet Romance, or move some terrorists in next door.
Readers turn to genres like Romance and cozy mysteries for escape. Don’t bombard them with stuff they could read in today’s paper.
8) The Writing Rules Police
I’ve devoted whole blogposts to these dangerous critiques. They can ruin any book with their strict adherence to a murky set of rules that may or may not have anything to do with good writing.
I’ve heard from so many writers who have destroyed a WIP by eliminating every example of the word “was” or purged it of every adverb or adjective.
Don’t let anybody ruin your book with silly rules. Some rules make sense to a point, and others are only helpful in certain situations and to solve particular problems.
But anybody who tries to follow all of the rules all of the time is going to end up with a mess.
9) The Morality Judges
Someone in a workshop will often complain that a character’s motivations are less than altruistic, so they find them “unlikeable.” Or they’ll tell you the character’s actions are wrong according to scripture and your book comes across as “Satanic.’
They are shocked and dismayed that your protagonist is planning to murder her abusive husband, when she should go to her pastor for counselling. After all, she made a vow to stay with him in sickness and in health.
These people provide a whole lot of “shoulds” in their advice. The main one is that all fictional characters must be perfect, upright citizens from page one. There should be no room for growth or a character arc.
You can imagine how boring their own conflict-free stories must be. The only “should” here is you should ignore all their advice..
10) The Recappers
“Who are these people? Why are they dressed like pirates? Are they in a broom closet? Tell us where we are we supposed to be.”
If you belong to a critique group that meets weekly or monthly, most members will remember very little of your story from one session to the next. So they will demand a recap of the plot and characters at the beginning of every chapter.
I followed their advice with a novel about to be sent to my publisher. The editor was furious with me for inserting all this redundant material. “We know what happened! This is all in the previous chapter.”
Give a nice oral recap of the story to your critters, but don’t put it in your novel. You’ll drive your readers batty. And your editor will call your book a jackalope. Or worse.
By Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) February 6, 2022
What about you, scriveners? Have you ever received one of these dangerous critiques? What’s the most unhelpful kind of critique you’ve ever received? Can you add to this list?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
No Place Like Home: Camilla Randall Comedy-Mystery #4
Wealthy Doria Windsor discovers her late husband was nothing but a scammer and his business was a Ponzi scheme. She finds herself homeless and accused of a murder she didn’t commit.
But Camilla, with the help of a brave trio of homeless people, the adorable Mr. X, and a little dog named Toto, is determined to unmask the real killer and discover the dark secrets of Doria’s deceased “financial wizard” husband before Doria is killed herself.
And NO PLACE LIKE HOME IS ALSO AN AUDIOBOOK!!
Yeah, those modern-day sensibilities didn’t exist in the Middle Ages. I do see some of that stuff creep into books now and then and it really jerks one out of the story.
Fortunately, no one will ever convince me to add too much detail!
Alex–The problem of modern sensibilities creeping into historical fiction isn’t helped by those TV shows about historical characters like Mary Queen of Scots that have a hip-hop soundtrack. Even an excellent version of Vanity Fair was ruined for me by a Bob Dylan soundtrack. These people have never heard of medieval music? Or 19th century songs? And hey, they’re in the public domain. They’d save money.
A bit of Jethro Tull would go a long way ????
“Lend me your ear, while I call you a fool”? An accurate quote for this piece. And yes, Jethro Tull would help.
I ran into the soul crusher type once. In public. Your blog makes me think about searching my back shelf for that story.
Mark–The Soul Crushers are the worst. I saw one in action at the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference and I had fun killing him off in a mystery novel. 🙂
This is so good, Anne. I learned some of these things along the way like going through my entire WIP to extricate certain words such as “was”. I also had someone tell me that absolutely no one used landlines so take that out. Hello! I have a landline AND a cell phone. And there are always going to be readers who hate my work and others who can’t wait until they can read my next one. I just try to write the best book I can, then have a women’s fiction editor critique it and go from there. But we were all beginners once which is why your advice is so helpful. Thank you.
Patricia–(Raises hand) I have a landline too! And a cell phone. Landline phones are more reliable and you can hear better. I’m sorry to hear you were a victim of the “was” police. They can ruin any novel.
Without critique groups we cannot grow, but we should be careful what criticism to take.
This is another reason why it is so important to read current stuff in your genre and like you said, knowing your audience.
Otherwise, we would be open to critiques that will damage our work in progress and turn off our readers.
Dangerous critiques, indeed.
Thank you, Anne. Another insightful and hilarious post.
Ingmar–That’s the part all beginners need to learn: How to weed out the useless information and only take the nuggets that are relevant to your WIP. And you’re right that reading contemporary work in your genre will help with the weeding.
Good morning Anne and Ruth. I gave up working with beta readers because i found them rather unreliable – maybe 20 percent ever came through and the feedback wasn’t particularly helpful. But I do get critiques from time to time in personal emails after someone has finished one of my books.
I’ll never forget this one. I’ve written an 8-part series based on true crime cases I worked on. One book is titled “Beside The Road” which is about a shot body found dumped beside a rural road and it follows the in-depth investigation to identify him and figure out what happened. Turns out, it was an accidental shooting and an elaborate cover-up which, I thought, made for an interesting story.
These are hard-core, detailed police procedurals and not everybody’s cup of tea. But they do have a following, and one follower emailed me to tell me how terribly disappointed she was that the killing was an accident and not a murder. “If you’re going to write murder mysteries,” she said. “then they bloody well better be about murders!”
Garry–Oh dear. God bless the clueless. I guess we have to learn to tolerate them. That woman seems entirely unaware of the genre of true crime. And oh, my goodness you don’t want to take their advice.
If you get too many opinions, your the story becomes their quilt. I use one editor.
Marta–I agree that too many cooks definitely spoil the soup. But most people find running things by a critique group or a couple of beta readers saves editing time. But that depends so much on finding reliable critiques and beta reads.
I had one critiquer who critiqued a chapter of my novel (an online critique group). I rewrote it after several critiques and reposted it, and said critiquer left a note to say that she began to do the second crit, but found I’d not used her suggestions, so she stopped.
When I do crit, especially if it’s a new writer, I always say something like, ‘Don’t forget this is your work. Use what you think is useful and ignore the rest.’
VM–OOooh Red Flag! Anybody who wants to control you and your work is NOT a helpful critiquer. Your advice is spot on.
Excellent advice, Anne! As a fiction editor, I sometimes have to talk clients out of following misguided advice from their beta readers. Too many beta readers have rigid, narrow agendas, I think, or don’t read in the genre or pay attention to ratings and trends. I only edit genres I read myself. I don’t feel qualified to edit other genres and would be doing the author a disservice by trying. Off to share this great post!
Jodie–You probably see a lot of this. Beta readers can be very dogmatic and insist the writer change something according to their taste instead of the taste of the target readership. That makes the editor’s job harder.
Love this post — well — all your posts on writing groups, Anne. Thanks for sharing these warnings!
I always ask my author clients if they’ve been involved in a writer’s group because I want to know if they’ve had any experience with having their work critiqued and have the confidence of exposing it to strangers. Too many groups take on bizarre roles, with too much judgement and opinion posing as iron-clad rules.
Over the years, feedback from my author clients is often along this line: ‘No one in my writer’s group has ever mentioned any of this…’, referencing my notes. Obviously, I’m not a genius and my critiques aren’t going to catch the world on fire, but I take this comment to mean they’ve not had genre-specific, culture-specific, writing educated comments from their writing group.
No sure what every writer’s expectations are as far as critique groups go, but I’m guessing they may be a bit skewed. The critique group is no replacement for a lack of writing education. As with all things, if we enter a new field of endeavor poorly prepared, not knowing what to expect, we can be more likely to fall into one or many of the warnings you’ve listed.
I guess expectations would be reliant on what the writer wants/needs to accomplish with their WIP, and that might allow them to misgauge what’s truly useful and what isn’t. Good thing you’re around, eh?!
Thanks again, Anne.
Maria–You bring up an important point. The rank beginner can’t be helped by a critique group. Taking a class in basic creative writing skills is the best way to start. They’re available online for not a lot of money. I’ve been in a great critique group for many years, and every so often we host a prospective member who is such a beginner that we find ourselves being overly kind, so as not to crush him, but we’re not helping either. It’s really sad when the writer has already published the book on Amazon, so it’s out there with all its amateur mistakes for all to see (and give scathing reviews.)
This is why I don’t trust critques by most people. I listen to what members of a book club I belong to say about the books we read, then compare their comments with what I think about the book. I pick up all kinds of insights without feeling beaten up. Thanks for the great list of what to avoid in critiques.
Dorine–You bring up something new I hadn’t thought of. A book club may be a great place to learn writing skills. When you see what real readers like and dislike, you can discount a lot of the “writing rules” advice.
So many great points here. In epic fantasy, of course, we run into quite a bit of #1 and 5. I mean, the whole point is suspension of disbelief, isn’t it? Escape, in a single word– and yet they carp that it could never have happened. Oh, you think?
Tell you what I want to see. An alternate earth where EVERYTHING Anne Allen dreams up actually happens. The Manners lady always comes through, and the soul crusher really does have to take that mall cop job. May God hear every word you wrote today.
Will–Haha! 🙂 Yes, it’s difficult to know how to react when somebody says “a house could never be picked up by a tornado. It would break to pieces before it reached Oz. And I don’t believe the Wicked Witch of the West would miss her sister that much. After all, they live on opposite sides of Oz.” Oooookay. Thank you very much.
I do hope that guy is working as a mall cop!
Anne—This is such helpful guidance. You’ve pointed out traps that await the beginning writer.
Uninformed advice (which is certainly some of what crit groups dole out as you explain so well) can end up paralyzing, overwhelming, or even blocking a new writer.
Besides, even if the writer agrees with the comment, s/he might not yet have developed the skills or craft to be able to follow through effectively.
Ruth–You bring up a great point. If the writer is a true beginner, they may not have a clue how to fix a problem pointed out by the group. That’s when they need a creative writing class.
I have to disagree on the details one. You get up into the best seller area, and those authors are working the details and five senses to draw the reader down into the story. You don’t notice the amount of them because the author has drawn you deep into the characterization and story with those details. If a heroine is fleeing from the bad guy through the woods, I would find the coppery tang of fear and the skeletal limbs of winter barren trees adding to the emotions of the scene, making the reader turn the pages. Just having her run isn’t particularly exciting. It’s all those other things that ramp it up and make it more dangerous.
And this one is actually one of those writing rules you talk about below it. If you don’t pay attention to the description and five senses, you just undercut your characterization in a major way.
Linda–Your details are great, and they’re exactly what a good writer will include in a story. In this piece, I’m talking about irrelevant details. Things that don’t advance the story or tell us anything about the character. Details for their own sake can really ruin a story. As I say, details are like Chekhov’s Gun–they need to have a purpose in the story.
Constructive criticism is great, as long as it’s constructive.
I have the opposite problem with my beta readers. They are *too* nice. They insist the books are wonderful, etc. I goad them to come up with some solid criticism that I can act on. Sometimes I get a small suggestion about a character or level of description, but I can’t remember ever getting a sledge hammer.
On the other hand, let me tell you about my editor…
Kay–You point out another problem I didn’t include in this piece. The extravagant praise people aren’t dangerous, but they don’t help you much either. You need somebody who knows how to give a helpful critique–with constructive criticism, as you say.
Ruth, Amen to the last paragraph!!
Thanks, Maria. So important to know who to listen to — and who to ignore. Not at all easy to differentiate for inexperienced writers.
Great advice. #2, 3, and 7 drive me wacko. I have far better results from beta readers/critiques by readers who read in the genre or are well-read in several genres, not only one.
Mona–I agree that well read beta readers are often the most helpful. As long as they’re well-read in your genre as well.
I don’t hear of the modern sensibility one much when it comes to my writing (or anyone else’s for that matter) but it is a personal pet peeve of mine better left unexplored here. I haven’t had the luxury of doing a critique group (too many horror stores and I’m not a big fan of nonconstructive criticism of any kimd, among other things), but I have been able to pick brains of fellow writers who have serious writing chops and the multiple published books ot back itt up (such as you)
About the only serious critique I have gotten is from my 21 year old daughter who has told me point blank that my stuff makes her very uncomfortable. She’s very proud of me, but that’s about as far as her praise go.
GB–It’s hard to know if your daughter’s discomfort comes from the fact her Dad wrote it or the fact you have uncomfortable subject matter. I would ignore that unless you hear it from non-related readers. 🙂
Thanks for another fine post. I think I’ve met most the folks you’ve described here.
CS–I think you do indeed know most of these people. You also know why the pirates are in the broom closet. (Sorry I stole that from your pirate book, but it was too good to leave out.)
Great article. I wish I could see myself in one of these critters – but I didn’t. Those poor people I critique will have to live on with my flaws.
Anna–You should be happy you don’t give dangerous critiques. Helpful critiquers are the only ones who matter.
The realism brigade! Love it. Especially when a beta reader tells you that they don’t know anyone like your protagonist. Well, if they did, they wouldn’t need to buy the novel.
Brad–They don’t know anybody like your hero? 🙂 Do they know anybody like Jack Reacher? Bilbo Baggins? Miss Marple? If they do, they live very full and exciting lives. You’re right. People read about people they don’t know, and probably don’t want to. A fictional hero rarely makes a good BFF.
Excellent points. I take all critiques seriously. But after considering what everyone had to say, it’s my responsibility as a writer to choose what advice to take or ignore.
Mike–That is the key here–learning what to take and what to leave when you hear a critique.
Anne, that struck me as well — and gave me a ‘lightbulb moment’ that I can add when advising first-book clients — put together or join a book club!
Thanks, Dorine!
I’ve been through the “was” police, the soul crusher who felt only he could write a novel and no one else, as well as others on this list. I nearly gave up writing all together because of these. Thankfully, I realize now to listen to trustworthy critiquers not those out to drown your spirit. Reading helps tremendously!
Traci–I’m sorry you had to go through that! Thank goodness for good critiquers who got you writing again. Those Soul Crushers do tend to be narcissists. Their work is the best and everybody else is inferior. They have no empathy, so they don’t care how hurtful their comments are.
As far as the “Was” Police, I wrote a whole post on them. https://selfpublishingsites.com/2012/08/should-you-eliminate-was-from-your/ Don’t listen to them.
As far as I’m concerned, they’re all soul crushers. After reading this, I’m even less interested than I was before in joining a critique group. They sound like every moron I’ve ever run across on the internet.
Gigi–Don’t let these bad apples deter you from joining a critique group. Most are very helpful and supportive. But before you join, it’s good to know which critiques to listen to and which ones to ignore. That’s why I wrote this post.
Is it just me, or does a cozy romance interjected with a neighborly terrorist sound kind of fun?
Yes! It’s the kind of stuff I write. actually. I call them funny mysteries–not to be confused with cozies, because I have lots of unexpected stuff happen.
Ahhh, if only I read this five months ago… combining people-pleasing, #7, and relying completely on one person’s opinion cost me two friendships and one book. Needless to say, nothing and nobody benefitted from this.
Lesson, hopefully, learned. Thank you for this post, so I have fewer left.
Bjorn–I’m so sorry you went through that! I lost a friend because of a bad critique, and I’ve always regretted it.I should never have shown him a rough draft. He did a little writing himself, but he didn’t seem to have any concept of a rough draft. Instead of making suggestions, he completely trashed the book, saying I should just drop it and never write another novel. I was so hurt I stopped returning his emails. I still don’t know why he did it. I couldn’t get back to the book for months.
You will recover, and you’ll be stronger for it, but stuff like that leaves wounds.
I believe it’s the former. I’ve had people give me strange looks while trying to reconcile me the person with me the writer. She can handle the stuff I write if it came from another writer, but with me, completely different issue.
Starting the writing journey can be a magical time, but when new writers encounter any of these types, their comments can be downright crippling. Ever notice the harshest remarks come from the unpublished? They have ALL the answers.
Readers can be Autobiography Sleuths, too. I was working my booth at a fair and this lady charged me, wrapped me in a bear hug, and said, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” I’m like, huh? She had convinced herself I was writing about my own experiences. Since she apparently cared about me, it was sweet. I let her down easy. 🙂
Sue–Oh, that poor woman! Your books are pretty dark. If she thought you went through it, she’d be pretty amazed to see you alive.
“Ever notice the harshest critiques come from the unpublished?” Yes! The people who have been dragging their WIP around to workshops for years. I’ve met some of them.
But you’re right. Beginning to write can be a magical time. It’s sad when these people ruin it.
1
James Patterson equating what he does to the works of Chagall and Picasso is unrealistic.
Kathryn–He is being a little arrogant here, isn’t he. But he is kind of the Picasso of marketing.
I’ve had all this happen to me. Beta readers from online ‘matching’ services tend to be overly critical like it’s their mission in life to reform your book, or just ghost you halfway through. They think critique means lower the hammer. Many times I ask for character or story arc critiques and get nitpicks. – My favorite “I don’t think the character would act like this. You should do this instead…” My husband is my best critiquer. He is very analytical, spots problems, and is able to keep both story, character arcs, and grammar in his head as he reads. He is spot on but kind, dishing out praise at the good stuff also. Every writer needs that too. Which is why we’re still together. 🙂
Constance–From what I’m hearing about meeting online beta readers, it seems to be a crapshoot. Some are excellent, but others don’t know the difference between “critique” and “criticize.” The comment “A ___ would never do that” makes me crazy. I had a woman tell me that nobody would eat all the icing meant for a birthday cake right out of the bowl because she was so nervous. I wanted to suggest she go to a Weight Watchers meeting. 🙂 It’s good you have a beta reader at home who does a better job.
I loved this! It’s so accurate it made me laugh out loud in places!
Alex–Oh good. I wanted to make people laugh. It’s the best way to fight this kind of negativity.
Wise advice! I take critiques with a sack of salt and I’m on a low-salt diet!! If it resonates and if I hear it from several sources, I will give it some consideration. Thanks for this.
A good beta reader will find your plot holes, tell you that you said something before, catch any continuity issues, and give suggestions on if there seems to be any confusing parts.
In the end it’s your story and you should be happy with it (after you fix those inconsistencies and gaping plot holes, of course), if it is at the beta reading stage.
Leon–A good beta reader will do all those things. A critique group can’t catch the continuity issues and other big picture things, but they can help with other things. The problem I’m talking about here is bad beta readers and critiquers. They don’t help at all, and can leave you feeling battered.
Anne: This is terrific. I have met most of these people and found it hard to winnow out good from bad. (Could they possibly be right?)
There was one reader who was a great fan (crocheted a bookworm for me) until she started taking over my characters and imposing Puritan ethics on all behavior. Said she would stop reading me if they kissed like that.
I’ve also met the “was” people and was surprised how often I used it, but sometimes it was…necessary.
Great insight for all writers.
Thank you, Sheron
Sheron–God save us from controlling fans! (The bookworm sounds cute though) Stephen King’s “Misery” didn’t come out of thin air. I’m sure he had (still has) fans who want to control his work. I guess it comes with the territory, but it can be so disorienting. You start questioning whether you do need to clean up this scene or change the language there.
As far as the “Was” police, we have to ignore them. Yes, looking for “was” is a good tool when you’re editing to weed out awkward or lazy construction, but the verb “to be” is kind of necessary to the English language.
Rules brigade and grammar police are the two I’ve seen most. Tortuous sentences suggested to eliminate “is” “are” “was” “were”. Get rid of all adverbs, or this: not more than one adverb/adjective per page. Never never never tell, no matter how many words it takes to show.
David–All those are some of my favorite stupid writing rules. I wrote about it here https://selfpublishingsites.com/2018/11/stupid-writing-rules/ It’s so sad when writers listen to all of this and end up writing something so slow and convoluted nobody would choose to read it.
Well said, both!
I’ve been on the receiving end of many of these critiques and know how it feels. I’ve also been the deliverer of a few, since my day job is an editor of indie novels. I’m the reality geek who will point out stuff like “nobody could run that fast in high heels” (because I used to sprint for a bus on ice in 3-inchers, and there are definitely limits!) or the kick of a gun might knock the heroine on her keister (what is the gun, how large/small/heavy/light is the heroine, etc., such that nobody who knows anything about guns is going to buy the scene). HOWEVER, I consider it my job to point out such things then leave it to the author to decide what they want to do about it. I therefore disagree with the above quotes — “The truth is that most fiction is not realistic and is not meant to be” and “James Patterson said it well ‘I don’t do realism. … but saying that these things are not realistic is irrelevant.'” The point is not about realism, it’s about plausibility. Every story has its own realism. But if you step outside the rules of that reality, then you’ve got a plausibility problem that might incite the reader to toss the book over their shoulder.
Documania–Realism depends so much on genre. A thriller needs lots of accuracy with guns and action. Not so a cozy mystery or Romance or comedy. Comedies are ruined by too much realism. That’s what happened to me with the tummy tuck.
But as you say plausibility is necessary in all genres. Is it plausible that the duke would suddenly get an urge to leave the sick queen’s side to go to a tavern where he’ll be shot so our heroine can nurse him? If doing odd things on a whim is his personality, maybe, but if he’s not, your readers will be shoved out of the story.
I’d also not thought about this. A good point.
Comment for Dorine Andrews comment. Somehow it became separated.
Funny because true. I write fantasy and sci-fi, and once had a member of a critique group I used to run insist that I needed to add romantic elements to a scene in the forest where the protagonist was spying on an enemy. And she thought it was too dark, that I should make it a sunny day.
Another critiquer told me that I should physically describe a character much more fully despite the fact she was invisible. Another insisted that it wasn’t realistic for space explorers to find a planet that was habitable by humans because the chances were too low. I could go on…
Thanks for a terrific post. I enjoyed every word and recognized the critiquers. I’ll be posting the link on my blog.
Rosi–Thanks for spreading the word to your blog readers!
I sent a link to this post to my writing group – even though I could see my own advice in one or two of these paragraphs. I shall have to be particularly careful while editing their stories for our next anthology.
Cathy–Thanks for sharing this with your group. I hope it helps critiquers avoid some of these pitfalls. When editing an anthology, sometimes you have to be ruthless. Not the same as working with a WIP. Good luck!
Love, love, LOVE this post, especially Point 8. There’s a lot of this silly advice floating around the Web. It can infect you like a psychic virus and turn off your creative flow, particularly when writing a first draft.
Annabelle–The writing rules police can be dangerous. “A psychic virus” indeed. Very well put. All of these types can block your creative flow. In fact I think you should avoid all writing rules when writing the first draft. All that can be fixed later.
Reading all these warmings re ‘critiquers, I realize how lucky I am! I’ve belonged to a memoir writing group for 10 years–they”re like family now–yet their gentle but accurate critiques continue to improve my writing.
Your advice is excellent!: Run from inhelpful advice! And yes, suggestions are just that, author’s judgement prevails.
Thanks to all for giving me this moment of thankfulness.
PS I have no website, but have authored a self-published book called Astonishments, and have had stories accepted for online publications.—
I’m just terrible at IT promotion.
Marian–I have a fantastic critique group myself. We’ve been together almost 20 years. We support each other through bad times and good. I don’t know where I’d be without them.
I know how hard it is for introverted writers to promote their work. But you do need that website. It’s pretty easy to set one up for yourself with Wix. You might want to play around with it and see if you can do it yourself or need a handy young person to help. It is important.
A terrific list of rules, Anne. Critiquers with pet peeves about “was” and other components of the way people actually talk can be maddening if you let yourself take their rules too rigidly. I ran into a critiquer who attacked every construction using “it” so that one couldn’t say, for example, “It wasn’t that I didn’t like the bloody entrails the vampire served me, it was just that he always served them cold.” My long-time f2f critique group is on hold due to COVID, and I dropped out of the very active online group because I didn’t feel I could give responsible feedback to the ten or so lovely people reading for me and make any progress on a new WIP I had started. I miss sharing my work with both groups.
A couple of thoughts about feedback processes in general: First, monthly or even weekly critique groups can’t help as much as I need with issues like story arc or continuity because members come and go and no one can remember what happened from month to month; only full-on beta reads can really address those kinds of global issues. Second, I’ve quit asking even my most well-read and generous colleagues and acquaintances to serve as beta readers. People’s lives are so complex; when someone is offering their time to read for you, it’s a huge favor–and quite often they just can’t deliver in a timely fashion or at all. Then they feel guilty and you feel you can’t email or call lest they think you’re wondering why they haven’t gotten back to you about the book. That may be just me, but it has been a real problem in the past.
I’ve had two excellent experiences with The Spun Yarn–three readers who are chosen because they read your genre and who deliver lengthy written feedback that I have found very even-handed and insightful. And they deliver in three weeks! This service is certainly pricey compared to free, but it is so good to be able to compare three readers’ views and see what they agree on, and to get a sense of whether the book even works at all. On my new book, I’m following up these beta reads with professional editing, and finding that a great experience as well.
Sorry for this long post, but I’ve thought about this subject a lot in the past couple of years.
Virginia–I hadn’t heard of Spun Yarn, but I know there are paid beta readers services. If you can’t find a good beta reader in other ways, that’s probably a good route. For me, the best beta readers are other authors. We can trade reads, so there’s an incentive to be timely about it. Writers groups can help in other ways, with the nitty-gritty of each scene. I use both a group and betas. Then I send it to my editor and he hates everything. 🙂
Hi Anne,
It was great advice! I am in the process of writing my book, and I give some chapters to my friends and family to read. They have provided me with some great insights and have helped my writing process, but I think in the beginning I was only trying to please them. I have tackled this issue, and now I am focusing on getting better. But I can understand how it can affect your writing. Thanks a lot, for sharing about this through your blog, it will be very helpful for many writers.
John–You bring up one of the pitfalls of critique groups and beta reads. Authors can start writing to please those people instead of the readers out in the marketplace. I found myself writing chapters that were all exactly 6 pages long, because that’s what we read in the group. Sometimes that people-pleasing is benign, but it can cause problems.
Ugh! I’m guilty of at least 11 of these. Thanks for the heads-up. I can’t wait to share for Writer Wedneday.
Elias–Uh-oh. It sounds as if you need to go back and remember what it felt like to be an extreme newbie. Then make sure the advice you give is delivered with kindness and a genuine desire to improve their work.
To be fair, the Mary Stuart series was highly fictionalized history, and perhaps the music helps to signal that.
Sorry–this comment was meant as a reply to the thread started by alexjcavanaugh, but it ended up orphaned.
When I critique someones writing I always back it up with an explanation of why I’ve said what I’ve said – makes it easier for the writer to accept of reject.
Great article – but its late here in the UK, I’m going to have to come back and read through all the comments. 🙂
Lindsey–There’s an art to giving a good critique, and it sounds as if you’ve learned how to do it right. A lot of bad critiques come from beginners who don’t know what they’re doing.
Great advice, as always, and perfect timing for me as an advance reader just said he couldn’t get past the first few chapters of my recently contracted work. Trying to forget about him and focus on the ~20 other beta and advance readers who thought it moved along at an appropriate pace and they were intrigued from the start…
S. M. –It’s sad how we focus on that one bad review or critique instead of the dozens who love our work, isn’t it? But we need to fight that urge. That one advance reader must have been having a bad day. Or maybe bad digestion.
We still have two, yep, TWO, landlines, and will have them until ATT pries them out by force. Why? Retiree pricing for one, but for another, they work. Period. Granted, we rarely even answer the main one. If someone really wants us, they can leave a message. Otherwise, it’s junk.
The Morality Judges are the worst. I’ve started writing crime thrillers. I can already imagine the comments. My retort is that if you don’t want to read about some of the nasty stuff criminals do, don’t read my book. But keep your moral nose out of my writing.
Jeanne–I once visited a workshop where one woman had a fit because my heroine was dating a married man. “But that’s adultery! You can’t put that in a novel,” she said. Needless to say, I didn’t pay much attention to anything she said after that.
You know, the point number 2 has been a thorn on my side. I’m blind, so I often feel I don’t provide enough details for my readers, and these people make the whole experience worse.
I do agree that in the fiction, realism has no place, grammar shouldn’t be enforced, especially during dialogs and conversations. How many people have you heard, who speak grammatically correct sentences?
I remember reading Stephen King’s biography, where he described how he received letters from parents just because characters in his books cursed. He also said that you should ignore these people.
As for the recap? Maybe once a book, especially if the book is published under gaps worth several years of time. Otherwise, no need to recap every single chapter.
Thanks for the good advice.
Tanisha–As a blind person, you are probably more acutely aware of other senses, so you can provide plenty of detail if you want to. The question is–how much detail do you want to add? The answer is, enough to keep the story going. If you need a visual, you can ask for help. (I just had eye surgery this week, so I’ve had a short cource in what seeing people experience vs. non-seeing people.) But you have a unique perspective you can offer your readers. But keep it brief.
Stephen King has such good advice on so many aspects of writing! Ignore the whiners is a good one. 🙂
As a still learning writer who has yet to finish her apprenticeship, this was a really great reminder. My main critics have been my friends and I’m pretty blessed that they’re good and understanding when they give me critique.
Nevertheless, I do remember one of my friends telling me that I should use “said” less, and while I do agree in trying to make sentences less redundant, I also don’t believe it’s a forbidden, ugly, overused word that ruins the prose, and I’m grateful I realized that so I could use it again.
I also remember discussing with one of my friends how there are so many of “The Writing Rules Police” posts in places like tumblr, and we’ve always agreed that they should really stop talking about it like it’s ALWAYS fact, like they don’t realize that opinion is a thing and that not everyone is meant to write the same. It really could mess with writers, especially beginning ones. I also remember a time I was showing someone a script, and they told me off for starting it with the character waking up (she was being woken by her grandpa, and I meant to portray their relationship using that scene before it got into everything else. But instead they told me that morning routine openings aren’t good unless they’re more like Shang-Chi’s opening. Not every movie is a quick-paced superhero movie!). I do get what they meant, but also, yeah… they didn’t even know the genre of the story or what I was trying to get across with that opening. So this was a really good reminder 🙂
I have yet to meet more of these dangerous critics, but I’ll definitely keep these in mind as I grow in my craft and meet more people. Thank you very much for writing this.
Ms. Write–Don’t listen to that friend who told you to use words other than said. That leads to hilariously bad writing. “That’s my dog,” Tom barked” kind of stuff. “Said” is invisible unless you use it in every sentence. Vary things by using action, not silly verbs. “That’s my dog!” Tom ran to hug Rover. The worst critiques come from workshops and critique circles with lax moderation.
The many agendas that readers bring to a manuscript–agendas that the readers aren’t aware of–is why I don’t ask friends or family members to beta read what I write. For me, the only reliable source of feedback is a professional freelance editor–and finding the right ones for this or that book isn’t always easy.