Meredith Mansfield, Author

In addition to working on the query and synopsis for BLOOD WILL TELL this week, I’ve also been busy with more than my usual number of critiques.  I try to have some critiques going most of the time, but sometimes it’s feast or famine. 

There is no single thing that has improved my writing as much as giving and receiving critiques.  It’s not the easiest thing in the world to get used to having someone actually critique your work.  These are, in a sense, your children.  Now somebody is telling you what’s wrong with them and where they fail to meet expectations.  Initially, the desire to defend them can get the better of you.  But, ultimately, you have to learn to listen, sift through the critiques to find the gems, and go back and fix those stories until they’re as near perfect as you can make them.  Besides, it helps toughen you up for those inevitable rejection letters.

Having other writers critique your work is invaluable.  Writers notice things that other readers might not.  A reader might notice that your prose doesn’t seem to flow.  Another writer will tell you that you’ve written too many short choppy sentences, that you’ve used said bookisms, or that you’ve used too many adverbs.  Critiques are also worth their weight in gold in helping you find those sneaky holes in your plot or the times when your characters just aren’t acting like themselves. 

But, perhaps even more useful than having your work critiqued is critiquing someone else’s work.  It’s very easy to be too close to your own work to see those things, sometimes.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve started to write something in a critique and suddenly realized that I had done the exact same thing somewhere in my writing. 

So, if you want to learn to write better, join a writer’s group, either online or in person.  Critique and put your own works up to be critiqued by others.  There is no substitute.