How to Use Constructive Feedback to Improve Your Writing
Anyone who writes professionally will always work with an editor and thus getting feedback is part of the process. This is based on the survey conducted by the Authors Guild in which 69% of the authors said that Editor and peer or beta readers feedback is very important for the improvement of their work. However, listening to valuable criticism is sometimes not an easy task because it can take a long time creating a piece of work. But of course, learning the nuances of how to use feedback properly often forms the line between good writing and great writing. Critiqued will show you how to handle critic and incorporate it into your personal growth as a writer and improve your writing voice and your work in general.
1. Receiving the Comments, Suggestions and Ideas With an Open Mind
The first and maybe the most important recommendation is to be ready to accept and adopt the imposed feedback. Writers have a close connection to writing their articles, and this makes them struggling with criticisms. But if understood not as a criticism of your person but as an opportunity to improve, feedback is an effective way to move to the next level of your labor.
Criticism Can Be Reframe and Seen as a Business Opportunity
When being critiqued try viewing it as a positive and not something that discourages you in any way. Depending on the critique, critique is designed to point out the errors and weaknesses one has in writing to enable him/her to improve. When you change your mindset, you will be able to listen to feedbacks without being offended or arguing.
– Tip: Before reading the feedback, close your books, and take a deep breath and tell yourself it is okay to get help because, in fact, all writers need to rewrite their work.
Separate Yourself from Your Writing
I finally realized that calling myself and other writers idiots is ridiculous and painful, and it never has to do with the writing. It is very rare that nobody had criticisms regarding a piece written by a writer, constructive criticism is part of the process. When you distance yourself emotionally from the piece you are working on you will be better placed to make the changes that need to be made.
2. Knowing What Constructive Feedback Is
It is very important to make a distinction between various kinds of feedback. Positive critique is specific, actionable and aimed at the development of the writer, negative critique is general, non-actionable and is often unrelated to the writing. A significant part of development involves recognizing and focusing on improvement feedback only.
Look for Specific Suggestions
Good feedback, therefore, should offer specific areas that need improvement, it could be areas of plot, character or grammar. This is true of anything but is especially valuable in reviews where you receive comments like ‘This chapter feels rushed’ or ‘It’s unclear what your protagonist wants here’.
– Example: Suppose a reviewer has said, ‘The middle chapters are a bit draggy,’ then you will remember to reduce on blowing the events in that part, trim down on scenes that can be done away with, and crank up the tension.
Trust the Opinions More from Those You Have Personal Relations with
Every reader’s opinion does count, but it is social to listen to feedback from influential readers who are experts in your genre or area of writing. Editors, writing coaches and critique partners can provide knowledgeable, specialised feedback that will be useful in the development of the writer. It is also best to get feedback from other writers because they feature in the best way to give great and precise feedback.
– Tip: Either participate in a writing group or look for beta readers who will be aware of your preference in writing and the type of literature you undertake to produce. They will reply bearing in mind your objectives than a random group of readers will post on their social media walls.
3. Understanding Common Types of Feedback
After collecting the feedback, it will also be helpful to distinguish between the main types of criticisms. They can span from the overall architectural recommendation down to the revision of such line. Knowing each type will assist you in determining how you should best handle revisions.
Structural Feedback
This type of is centered on the macro details of your writing endeavors including the plot/pace, characters and the theme. Some kind of structural problems might indicate that one should rearrange chapters, introduce new plots or make characters’ developements more profound.
Stylistic Feedback
Content feedback and revisions are related to the facts, the way in which they are presented, as well as the language, diction and general presentation of ideas. Sometimes it tells you how to make your writing less confusing, shorter, or better.
Technical Feedback
Technical feedback focuses on the areas of information processing, style and choice of words, punctuation, grammar and syntax. Although not as astonishing as structural or stylistic opinions, technical comments are critically important in producing refined work.
4. Implement Feedback Effectively
After that you have to arrange the feedback and consider which of them should be incorporated in to the manuscript: the process of alteration comes next. This can be quite cumbersome but if properly outlined it will be easier to accomplish each step to the later.
Big-Picture Revisions
The proposal is to start with the larger revisions first and make it easier if a whole section requires condensing or expanding while developing characters or even addressing problems with pacing within the chapters. That way, when you make the revisions, you begin with the broad problems in mind first before you go to the particulars.
Layer in Smaller Edits
After performing L2 changes you can still make style and technical adjustments more easily afterwards. This consists in polishing the writing, condensing the dialogue and correcting grammar or punctual errors. Viitovee it is more effective to make several revisions each time aiming at improvement of some parameters of the manuscript.
Conclusion
Whether you’re polishing a manuscript for publication or honing your craft for personal development, constructive feedback will help you become a stronger, more confident writer. So, take a deep breath, let Critiqued help you, dive into those critiques, and use them to elevate your writing to new heights.
