Yay, third week of Writer Words Wednesday!
Each Wednesday I’ll share a bit of hand lettering related to writing.
And if the words help you,
you can download them, print them out,
and put them up somewhere where you’ll be reminded/inspired by them.
This week it’s this one:
Attacking the project is not the same as attacking the person.
This one comes from a close reading of
Creativity, Inc,
an AMAZING book about the creative culture surrounding Pixar.
Most likely I will do an entire post on it in the future,
but just know that it is full of gems.
They have meetings where they discuss the projects they’re working on, and they give HARSH feedback if need be.
I think we writers can relate to that!
This is a good one to remember when we are the people critiquing, and when we are the people being critiqued.
There are many good reasons to attack a project. Maybe when you read it something jumps out as not being clear, or something just doesn’t make sense. You don’t want people who will just grin and say, “It’s great!” and you don’t want to be those people.
You need people who will give you constructive feedback to help your story grow. Sometimes that feedback may be: “We need to go back to the beginning and start all over with this one.” This happened a little while ago with a revision I’m working on. The new story went in too many directions. All that work was erased. Yeah, it sucked. But if it serves the story, I’ll do it.
Now, I’m not saying don’t say anything positive. That’s impossible! Say the positive things too! I’ve been known to just underline sentences I like and draw hearts to show how I feel. But I want people to tell me, honestly, what’s working for them and what isn’t. That’s what awesome critique partners are for. I’ve got some great ones! (Hi Priscilla, Angela, and Heather!)
Tearing a project down is sometimes necessary to build up a better one. Getting eyes on your stuff is a needed step. When your story goes out into the world, hoping to be picked up by an agent or editor, you’re not going to be there. It will just be the words on the page, so why not work with people who are doing the best they can to make your story a hit? And make sure you’re being that type of critique partner as well.
What about when you’re on the other side, receiving that criticism?
That’s hard.
That’s SO HARD.
You think you’ve got the story down and you send it out and BAM!
Something’s not working.
Something’s not clear.
The turn is weird. No one likes the character.
What do you do?
Do you instantly go to: “I’m a horrible writer?”
You know what, for a second, yes, I do.
I get angry at first, again, for a second,
and then I realize these people are just trying to help me.
This version of my story needs work. Some parts may even be bad.
Yeah, that could mean that I need work as a writer. But it does NOT mean that I’m a bad writer with no hope of ever getting better.
It’s a constant battle with self doubt.
Self doubt will sneak in, asking these questions to stop you in your tracks:
“What if I can’t make this any better?”
“What if this is the best idea I’ll ever have?”
“What if they HATE my story and just want to completely change it?”
I’ve had conversations about my stories with critique partners, friends, my agent, and now getting my first deal, with my editor, and I hate to say that the last question comes up often. It’s ridiculous. None of these people hate my stories.
And if they do, they would tell me!
That last question was the thing that was making me the most nervous when I went to talk to my editor.
Rational brain said:
“They bought your book.
They cannot POSSIBLY hate your story.
They only want to make it better.”
Irrational brain played said, “What if they hate your story and want to completely change it?”
It’s really hard to pull yourself away from something you’ve been working on for such a long time and see it as something separate from you, but isn’t that the ultimate goal? The book is going to live out in the world without you. So the book cannot possibly equal you. You’re WAY MORE than any story you write.
I have to remind myself of this sometimes.
Often I’ll just say things aloud.
“This story isn’t working?
Well, that doesn’t mean I’m NOT working as a writer.
It just means I have to try something new.”
“This part isn’t funny?”
Well, that doesn’t mean I’m not a funny person.
It just means I need to find a better way to show that humor.”
“No one likes a story about cats using chainsaws?
Well, that doesn’t mean that no one likes me.
It just means…well, maybe not so much with the cats using chainsaws.”
You see what I’m saying, right?
The part I haven’t even thought about until right now (832 words in to be precise) is how this will apply if I ever read reviews of my work.
I know that readers,
critics,
reviewers,
everyone,
is not going to only have nice things to say.
Will I be able to separate myself from the book then?
Or will I feel attacked?
I don’t know.
I’m not there yet.
Are you there?
How have you dealt with it?
I think I will keep this quote close though.
That will help.
Alright writers, see ya next week!
KE
