Someone commented that I was brave, asking for comments on my work. Some writers get annoyed or hurt when others critique or edit their work, but I've learned that it is really worth listening to other people's opinions. We writers get too close to our work and cannot see the wood for the trees at times. Other people's perspectives are so useful, thank you for yours.
Actually I was totally stoked at the response. Sometimes blogging and writing can be a lonely process, a one-way process. To have some community happening over here in this little corner of blogdom was really fun.
Some writers get annoyed or hurt when others critique or edit their work, but I've learned that it is really worth listening to other people's opinions. We writers get too close to our work and cannot see the wood for the trees at times. Other people's perspectives are so useful
ReplyDeleteI agree. I've finished writing my first novel and asked some friends to help me edit it last year (I'm hopeless at picking up my own typos for a start). I think yes writers can be too sensitive, but I also think that editors (and I mean editors who are friends - not professional editors) need to be a bit tactful as well. I had a family friend edit my book last year and I got my manuscript back from her with comments like 'I hated this...' and 'Couldn't stand that...' with quite a few exclamation marks after it. It looked like she was angry and shouting. I know when I've been asked to edit friends' work, I try to use 'constructive criticism' like 'I found this bit quite hard to understand...could you simplify it a bit....have you thought about rephrasing it this way?' etc. It's so much more positive and makes me think 'Yeah that's a really good suggestion' rather than having someone you know well just tear your work to shreds and give no alternative.
I'm planning to do a blog post on me editing experiences actually. :)