Tag: writers group

5 Ways to Excel at Taking Criticism Poorly

July 22, 2019 / Kyle A. Massa

This is a good start.

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Very, very few people enjoy taking criticism. It’s not fun to spend hours of your time on a piece that you really like, only to have someone point out all the things they didn’t like. In fact, sometimes it can be downright discouraging.

But let’s not get discouraged. Because any writer will tell you that the first draft is always going to stink. Which means that the feedback you receive is invaluable to your writing process. Without it, you can’t improve.

Still, there are those out there who just can’t take criticism. If you want to be one of those wonderful folks, here are five great ways to excel at taking criticism poorly.

1. Treat Every Comment Like a Personal Attack

Whenever you get negative feedback, assume that it isn’t directed at your piece—it’s directed at you. When a reader says your character acts like a dick in that one scene, don’t be fooled. The reader thinks that you are the dick.

Make sure to act appropriately mad or hurt, matching the ostensible nastiness of the comment made. This informs your readers that you’re taking everything personally, and that from here on out, you’re going to continue to do so.

Some helpful retorts to try:

“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”
“Wow, tell me how you really feel.”
“Well, I think I don’t buy you as a character.”

This is a great way to ensure that you’ll receive cautious, unhelpful comments from your group members.

2. Whenever Possible, Explain Why Everyone Else is Wrong

When receiving feedback, you’ll oftentimes find that your readers just don’t understand you. They can’t comprehend your wit, your subtlety, and your mastery of the craft. So when readers tell you they don’t understand what’s going on in chapter two, kindly explain that, “It’s not me. It’s you.”

Furthermore, make sure to pontificate on every subtlety of the work, just in case people aren’t getting it. Always be sure to explain, in excruciating detail, the symbolism behind each character’s name, your inspiration for the story, the ways in which you’ve outdone all the other writers in the genre, and so forth. People will love it.

3. Assume That No One Else Knows What They’re Talking About

First thing with this method: make sure to always have a notebook. No no, don’t write anything down. Think of it more as a prop.

Leave your notebook open. Keep your pen hovering just above the page, but don’t use it. This sends a clear message to your readers: nothing they say is relevant to you, so you won’t even write it down.

Unless they compliment that metaphor you had in the first paragraph. Go ahead, write that down. Compliments are totally useful. Everything else is nonsense.

This, in general, is a great rule to live by if you want to push people away. Everybody loves a know-it-all, right?

4. When Readers Offer Feedback, Just Talk Over Them

Monologues work fabulously with this method. Feel free to use the following as a template.

“What’s the point of criticism, anyway? To quote Ringo Starr, I’m the greatest. So of course I know that all the adverbs I’m using are completely necessary. And if I’m not using two to four adjectives per noun, then I’m sure you just won’t get the picture.

“What’s that? You think the flow of the sentences is disrupted by all the adverbs and adjectives?

“I’m sorry, have you ever read Shakespeare? Well I read Hamlet in high school, and let me tell you, that guy uses lots of adverbs and lots of adjectives. And he’s the Bard. So that means I’m right. And you’re wrong.

“Anything else?”

5. Allow Every Piece of Criticism Destroy Your Confidence in Your Work

You’ve worked for so long on this piece, and now that you know everything that’s wrong with it, you know the truth. It’s not even worth saving! On to the next one, right?

Don’t spend time trying to fix it. Sure, you could probably take the advice you’ve been given and make your piece better than it was, but why do that? This thing is more tragically flawed than Prince Hamlet.

So go ahead. Throw it out. Start over. Ask for criticism not because you want to make your piece better, but because you want affirmation that it’s already the best.

Congratulations on a bad job well done. It’s not easy taking criticism this badly, but together we can do it. Bonus tip: getting visibly angry always works when these other methods fail.

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his fiancee and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction.

3 Reasons to Join a Writers’ Group

April 8, 2019 / Kyle A. Massa

When I say “writer,” what image comes to mind?

You might picture a veteran wordsmith hunched over a desk, scribbling away at the last pages of a swollen manuscript. You might picture a twenty-something at Starbuck’s equipped with coffee and a laptop, earbuds blasting something by Radiohead. Or you might picture a guy with an axe chopping a hole in a bathroom door.

Anyway, there’s a common thread among all these hypothetical writers: they write alone. And though writing is often an individual activity, being a writer should be collaborative.

One of the best ways to collaborate on your writing is to join a writers’ group. Here are three reasons why you might want to try it.

They Encourage You to Write

For me, the next project is always more exciting than the current one. When I’ve been working on the same characters for three months, sometimes it’s difficult to muster the same enthusiasm I once had.

That’s where writing group members come in. If you’ve got a good group, they’ll encourage you to keep working on your projects. In my group, for example, we always start our critiques with compliments. This often gives me the confidence to proceed with projects I might’ve otherwise tired of.

They Provide Deadlines

Deadlines are powerful. And when you join a writer’s group, deadlines come free.

In my group, we always send submissions one week before meeting times. It’s not a hard deadline, per se, but we all respect each other, so we stick to those deadlines.

Though they might seem intimidating, deadlines are actually awesome. They force us to finish our work rather than return for the hundredth rewrite.

They Give You Great Book Recommendations

This one might not be obvious, but it’s true. The best writers are great readers. So, odds are your fellow writers will recommend great books you’ve never heard of. They might be fiction or they might be about writing itself. Whatever the recommendations are, you can be sure you’ll enjoy them.

I’ve found that since everyone in our group shares more or less the same interests and goals in writing, I’ve gotten some great book recommendations from them.

I’m Convinced! Now How Do I Join?

I discovered my writers’ group on Meetup. There are also numerous online groups one might join, such as Codex and WritersCafe. And, of course, Googling “writers’ groups near me” could work. Join a group today!

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now.

The Value of Joining a Writing Group

October 5, 2016 / Kyle A. Massa

Moscow’s Sreda Literary Gathering, 1902 – Wikipedia

Just the other day, I finished a first draft of a piece I was working on and thought to myself, This is pretty darn good. I brought that piece to my writing group a week later, and after fifteen minutes of critiquing, I was reminded of this fact:

The first draft is never, ever good enough.

Little reminders like this are why writing groups are so valuable. Writing alone and never sharing anything with anyone works for some people, but if you want to write professionally, that’s not really an option. Somebody’s going to read your work, whether that be family members, beta readers, or your editor. And, as solitary as writing can be, sometimes it’s nice to get some outside input.

The writing group I’m a member of meets in Boulder every two weeks. Though we all write speculative fiction, everyone brings a differing perspective; we’ve got a pharmacist and mother of two, a couple retirees, a computer programmer, a landscaper, a guy who sells fruit in the midwest for four months out of the year so he can write for the other eight.

It’s these unique personalities that make our critique sessions so beneficial. For example, we’ve got one member who can find something to like in every piece and another member who can, without fail, pinpoint exactly what isn’t working.

Having these diverse perspectives in a writing group is key. “I liked it” is great and it makes you feel good, but it doesn’t improve your piece. Likewise, “You need to change everything because I hated it” doesn’t give you much to work with, either. The best writing groups are specific with feedback and judicious with both praise and criticism.

In addition, you’ll find that your fellow writers tend to have unique backgrounds that can help you out. The programmer in our group, for instance, challenged me on a character description in one of my stories: “The man who lived in A-2 looked like he’d just gotten home from work. Probably worked at a software company, from the look of his clothes; white and blue checkered shirt, along with a red tie and black pants.”

That’s a bit of a stereotypical description for someone in the computing field, now that I look at it. At the time I was writing it, however, I thought nothing of it. Good thing the folks in my writing group had my back!

Which brings me to my next point, the fellow writers in your group will see everything in your piece that you didn’t. They’ll see the inconsistencies that you missed, the subplot you forgot to resolve, even that killer theme that you didn’t realize you’ve woven into your narrative. It’s because writers often get too close to their work, to the point that they don’t even see the fine details anymore.

Writing groups can be hard to find, however, especially if you live in a small town. I found my group through Meetup.com, which has a whole category for writers. There’s also Codex—I’ve never used it, but I understand it’s an online community for writers. However, Codex does require that its members meet certain criteria, and it’s a specifically speculative fiction community. If you don’t meet the requirements or aren’t writing in a speculative genre, you might try a similar community like WritersCafe.

Also, Googling “writing groups” works pretty darn well, too.

So get out there, meet some fellow writers, and share your work. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Five Cool Tools for Writers

May 9, 2016 / Kyle A. Massa

Writing is hard.

It’s not just the actual process. Sure, that’s hard, but then there’s the editing that comes afterward, all the planning beforehand, all the hours spent trying to stay organized. And then there’s the matter of just getting your work in front of folks.

Sure, writing is hard. But luckily, like any difficult job, you can use tools to help. Here are five that I’ve found personally beneficial.

Scrivener

If you’re writing a novel, this might be some of the very best software imaginable. Scrivener allows you to do so much. You can set up a cork board to see your story from a high level. You can rearrange chapters at will, plus pack all your extra scenes into the same file as your main chapters. For the indie writers out there, you can export your completed draft directly to e-reader-compatible formats. It’s like its own writing toolbox.

I will say that I think it’s a little much for short stories. After all, you probably don’t need character profile sections if you’ve only got one or two characters. Still, it’s the perfect solution for novel writers.

A New Keyboard

If you write on a computer, I highly recommend finding a keyboard that you really like. Having the right keyboard allows you to type faster and with more precision (and also without fear of breaking keys during those exciting scenes). Nice keyboards make more of a difference than you might realize, and they’re also pretty darn cheap.

Mine, for example, is a USB hookup from Logitech. Picked it up at Target for ten bucks. The keys are big and sturdy—works for me since I can become an aggressive typer, on occasion. My Mac keyboard feels a little fragile in comparison.

A Whiteboard

There’s so much you can do with a whiteboard. You can storyboard on it, you can put inspirational quotes on it, you can write random ideas on it. You can doodle on it, if you’re feeling bored. I myself use my whiteboard for keeping track of my goals for the day.

Hang your whiteboard in your work area for easy accessibility. Lucky for me, mine’s actually attached to my desk. When a great idea pops into your noggin, you’ll want to write it down before it goes anywhere. Getting up to find a writing implement might break your concentration. Keep your whiteboard close so you can stay focused.

A Blog

Blogs aren’t physical tools, but they do give readers a reason to come back to your site consistently. This might be getting too much into marketing and sales, but if you have people returning to your site consistently, that means they’ll see your books more often, and that they’ll be more likely to buy. Plus, if you have a good blog, it serves as a sample of your product. People are more likely to buy your writing if they like what they’ve read from you already.

Also, blogging is great practice for any writer, even if you’re primarily writing fiction. You’ll be surprised at how much your writing improves when you simply commit to blogging once a week.

Also, blogging is fun.

A Writer’s Group

Though writers are often thought of as solitary people, you’ll find that few work completely alone; pretty much every writer works with other people to make their stuff better.

That’s why you need people you trust to look at your work and evaluate it honestly. Joining a writer’s group is the perfect way to find those people. They know how to help make your work better because they’ve probably struggled with the same issues.

I found my current group through Meetup, but there are plenty of other ways to discover fellow writers. Try Facebook or the classic Google search. There are even online communities, such as Scribophile, which allow you to critique and have your work critiqued from anywhere. Full disclosure: I’ve never used this service before, but good to know that it’s available.

Bonus Cool Tool for Writers: Coffee

This one needs no explanation.