Writers. Those who can do, those who can't--critique.

[Momo_mana_mu]

Okay, so I'm in this online writing group and I posted my work for the first time for review. Most of the comments I got back were really positive, but there was this one guy (or gal) who was really harsh. And what bugs me isn't that I got a bad review (okay part of it is because i got a bad review) it's that almost all of the things this person said were wrong. #1 I asked that my work be reviewed on the basis of story development not grammar--- and (s)he reviewed it completely on the basis of grammar. #2 After reading the review I went back through my piece with my college grammar manual and checked the areas that the person marked, and they were grammatically correct. If I followed the reviewer's suggestions I would change them to be incorrect and they would sound awkward. #3 After 11 paragraphs of saying how much they hated my work, the last sentence they wrote was "Good work, can't wait to read more from you." At that point, why did they even bother with the pretense of being nice?

Yeah, I know, I'm ranting.

So my question is, after you get a bad/unfair review, how do you just let it go and move on? I've been telling myself to just drop it and move on for days now, but my brain keeps going back to what they said in the review over and over again. Blarg, it's driving me crazy! Please help!

[terradi]

Talk with the other writers in your group, find out if this is how they react to everyone, and how others have dealt with it in the past.

They spent time talking about how they didn't like your story, you said. Which doesn't sound like a grammar issue really. Did they point out issues or flaws with the characters or story that needed to be worked through there, even if they offered no ideas on how to fix it?

[I am The Compendium]

That doesn't sound harsh at all. What she learned was grammatically correct and she told you so.

Did she call you stupid over it? Did you politely point out evidence and reconcile with her?

I'm a fantasy writer and I learned copyediting and proofreading. I've tutored and edited for those who didn't speak or write English as a second language and none of them called me mean over it (in fact, they asked BECAUSE I was good at pointing out grammar mistakes).

I'm not seeing where anything mean happened or why writers can't critique based on grammar.

[Sir Icehawk]

11 paragraphs of what exactly? 11 of pure gramatical stuff or was there meat and potatoes there related to the story? Were the only issues he found in the grammar? I'm curious. A good critique would point out what you did well and what you didn't.

Don't take it personal. Comments on the story are not comments on you. Most common advice you'll get. Best to have a little time between writing and editing a piece and submitting it for critiques. It gets you a little distance from it. They'll still sting, but if it's a good critique (not in terms of postive or negative comments but quality), you can never not have enough of them.

[Momo_mana_mu]

terradi

Talk with the other writers in your group, find out if this is how they react to everyone, and how others have dealt with it in the past.

They spent time talking about how they didn't like your story, you said. Which doesn't sound like a grammar issue really. Did they point out issues or flaws with the characters or story that needed to be worked through there, even if they offered no ideas on how to fix it?

No, they didn't mention anything about my story line, they just went on about how the grammar was so bad they couldn't notice anything else and pointing out parts that they thought were wrong (which weren't) the only thing they said about my main character is that they "really hated her" . . . . . . .yeah and that's it. No reasons why. No ideas on how to improve her. No mention of an element about her that they don't like. It wasn't really all that helpful.

Oh, and thanks for the tip about asking around to see if this person treats everyone this way. Maybe this person just writes harsh critiques for everyone and it had nothing to do with my writing. That thought actually made me feel a lot better. So, thanks! heart

[terradi]

Momo_mana_mu

No, they didn't mention anything about my story line, they just went on about how the grammar was so bad they couldn't notice anything else and pointing out parts that they thought were wrong (which weren't) the only thing they said about my main character is that they "really hated her" . . . . . . .yeah and that's it. No reasons why. No ideas on how to improve her. No mention of an element about her that they don't like. It wasn't really all that helpful.

Oh, and thanks for the tip about asking around to see if this person treats everyone this way. Maybe this person just writes harsh critiques for everyone and it had nothing to do with my writing. That thought actually made me feel a lot better. So, thanks! heart

I've buddied up with people to give critiques in the past, and just like with writing, I think many people do have their own critique style. One of people I've given critiques with in the past tends to be harsh -- he doesn't give much padding to his negative critiques -- but he does try to give a very firm idea on what's wrong with something and why. I've seen people take his advice badly, but I've seen one of those same people do a very heavy rewrite after they had a chance to reflect on that critique.

I haven't gotten many scathing critiques myself, but probably the most thorough ripping-apart I've had has been on both my query and synopsis. I posted both up in a forum for help and I had both pretty thoroughly examined. The person who went over my synopsis stopped halfway through because they felt I wasn't doing a good job and it was way too long. It stung more than a little.

With the query, the advice I got was fairly good so I took about a week to reflect and think about it, and then I took that advice and made some heavy alterations that gave me a much better looking query. With the synopsis, I went ahead and found someone else and asked them if the feedback I'd gotten was fair. Turns out, it was. My synopsis needed to be about half as long as it was for industry standards, I think. It took me quite a bit of work to make those changes, but I came out with something much more useful afterwards.

I think I always need a bit of time to let a negative critique sink in before I can really react to it fairly. I know they're inevitable and that they can be very useful, but that doesn't mean that I always am happy to see them.

[botched bear]

I personally prefer the "harsher" critiques. Like what am I going to get from all the ultra positive reviews? Granted, it can help me determine what parts I could keep and which I could get rid of but if they say they liked it all that's great and all but a little useless.
So at least she tried to give you a critique that made you look further at your work, I guess. Though only critiquing grammar is basically the lowest form of critique you could give another person. It has its uses but that's what editing is for.

[Kairi Nightingale]

It takes some time to get over a negative critique. And that's not to say that you'll always get the critique you wanted but you just have to take what you can get, even if it's wrong or harsh. At least they read your story - that has to count for something.

This person may have been wrong about some of the advice they give, but there are differences between Amercian English and British English (and possibly other dialects) so maybe they're just not familiar with your English, hence the wrong grammatical suggestions.

You could try replying to the critique politely but pointing out that some of their suggestions are off and/or ask them what about the character(s) they didn't like.

[Maltese_Falcon91]

Momo_mana_mu

So my question is, after you get a bad/unfair review, how do you just let it go and move on? I've been telling myself to just drop it and move on for days now, but my brain keeps going back to what they said in the review over and over again. Blarg, it's driving me crazy! Please help!

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q Who?

If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid.

If you can't handle the idea of something getting a harsh critique, then don't let anyone see it. It's as simple as that.

[I_Write_Ivre]

Maltese_Falcon91

Momo_mana_mu

So my question is, after you get a bad/unfair review, how do you just let it go and move on? I've been telling myself to just drop it and move on for days now, but my brain keeps going back to what they said in the review over and over again. Blarg, it's driving me crazy! Please help!

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q Who?

If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid.

If you can't handle the idea of something getting a harsh critique, then don't let anyone see it. It's as simple as that.

Agreed. Besides, I'm still not seeing you do any work. Critique is rarely a one-way street; if its not obvious, ask. Make her tell you want the grammer is wrong, why she hated the main character, etc. Make her tell you why her opinion is valid. She may not know how to explain anything but grammer or be able to understand fully until the grammer mistakes are gone.

[X of Castigation]

I don't know, does your bad grammar make it unreadable? Maybe try having good grammar instead.

[Klaark]

Grammar Nazis have no souls and should be ignored.

[InsertEdgyNameHere]

Momo_mana_mu

terradi

Talk with the other writers in your group, find out if this is how they react to everyone, and how others have dealt with it in the past.

They spent time talking about how they didn't like your story, you said. Which doesn't sound like a grammar issue really. Did they point out issues or flaws with the characters or story that needed to be worked through there, even if they offered no ideas on how to fix it?

No, they didn't mention anything about my story line, they just went on about how the grammar was so bad they couldn't notice anything else and pointing out parts that they thought were wrong (which weren't) the only thing they said about my main character is that they "really hated her" . . . . . . .yeah and that's it. No reasons why. No ideas on how to improve her. No mention of an element about her that they don't like. It wasn't really all that helpful.

Oh, and thanks for the tip about asking around to see if this person treats everyone this way. Maybe this person just writes harsh critiques for everyone and it had nothing to do with my writing. That thought actually made me feel a lot better. So, thanks! heart

If this person only corrected "grammar mistakes" in your writing, they clearly have an inferiority complex. (Especially if your grammar was actually correct all throughout.) When listening to the critique of the people within your group, try to avoid that particular person's critique of your work, as they would likely only provide you with negative feedback because they search far too hard for any possible "mistakes" they can find in order to boost their ego a bit more. In all honesty, it sounds like this person may be a narcissistic person hiding behind the visage of a "good critic"; hence the "good work" at the end of this person's "critique" of your work. The person sounds as if he or she only wanted to justify any margin of error that they could comprehend whilst trying to sound like a good critic. In all honesty, with this information, I don't think you should trouble yourself over this; I believe you should just disregard this person's feedback, as it's going to be driven entirely from the perspective of a person with an inferiority complex. stare

At least, that's what I'm gathering from the situation. (I may just be reading too deep into this and I may sound very judgmental.)

[terradi]

HorizontalCross

If this person only corrected "grammar mistakes" in your writing, they clearly have an inferiority complex. (Especially if your grammar was actually correct all throughout.) When listening to the critique of the people within your group, try to avoid that particular person's critique of your work, as they would likely only provide you with negative feedback because they search far too hard for any possible "mistakes" they can find in order to boost their ego a bit more. In all honesty, it sounds like this person may be a narcissistic person hiding behind the visage of a "good critic"; hence the "good work" at the end of this person's "critique" of your work. The person sounds as if he or she only wanted to justify any margin of error that they could comprehend whilst trying to sound like a good critic. In all honesty, with this information, I don't think you should trouble yourself over this; I believe you should just disregard this person's feedback, as it's going to be driven entirely from the perspective of a person with an inferiority complex. stare

At least, that's what I'm gathering from the situation. (I may just be reading too deep into this and I may sound very judgmental.)

I wouldn't generalize quite that much. Not everyone who makes grammar corrections does it because they are trying to be jerks.

I've gone the technical route and done solely-grammar revisions because the story I was looking at seemed extremely solid in all other ways. Of course, I made it clear that I was doing grammar corrections and only grammar corrections because I couldn't find anything better to comment on.

It's possible that the critiquer OP is talking about is simply being petty and spiteful. It's possible they aren't very analytical and they latched onto the one thing they felt they could explain well. It's possible too that they just had a really crummy day or rushed through it and did a very subpar job.

I'd really love to see the OP go back and ask for some justification on those opinions. Ask the critiquer why they didn't like the main character or what sections of the story fell flat ... something to see if they have something worthwhile to offer or if they're just better off being ignored. It may be they have some decent points, even if they didn't articulate them in that original critique.