I used to have a harder time letting other people read my drafts. Part of me would cringe at the thought of my peers critiquing my work. Because of that, this reading really struck truth with me. I understand her anxiety, and slight anger. But what she said in the end is true, everyone needs to find someone who can tell you what you need, and let you down gently when your story is deformed.
I think what I need to work on the most is taking critiques positively. I tend to take a critique and turn myself on myself. It’s like they say “everyone is their own worst critic.” It’s like part of my mind was made to make snarky comments directed at myself like, “you idiot, I knew you should have…” or “Wow Annie, you really screwed up this time.” These things just pop up and consume my thoughts during most critiques. Thankfully, since beginning college, I have begun to learn that you are never going to get your draft perfect the first time. I think that Chloe’s project really taught me that it’s ok for your ideas and stories to be redesigned and rewritten, and that sometimes you need a lot of help from your peers and mentors.
I guess this article has really pointed out to me that it’s important not to give up on myself each time I fail. Being a writer doesn’t mean that I’ll be writing perfection each time. It’s like what this author said, “writing is about filling up,” and “you can’t fill up when you’re holding your breath.” Sure, I sometimes still feel like I’m throwing my baby to the wolves, but I think that as time goes on, I’ll become more trusting in my friends and peers that critique my work.
I agree with you in terms of how I started with this whole feedback process...it is dang hard to take criticism sometimes. I think that this is especially the case when you do something you are really really passionate about. For me recently it would have to be the script that I`m writing for a movie that I feel strongly about. People want to correct either little things or big things in it. I take what I consider to take in the end and it can be a frustrating process in terms of doing what you think would be right but then you sometimes have to stick to your gut feeling and just do it. In the end you have the final say to take or leave what feedback you get. It can be a hard decision to know what to do, but I feel like I should just leave it up to the big guy up to help me through it and make the decision then. But yeah, it is pretty hard sometimes.
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