I was here (BWS) and finished an hour ago and I wasn't gonna write about this, but I'm still pretty depressed so I thought I'd come back and mope.

I went to my writing critique group tonight and brought in a 2800-word essay that I'd spent a bazillion hours editing and rewriting.

I'm OK with most of the criticism. What upsets me is that everyone wanted me to turn the essay towards a direction where I just don't want to go. Basically, take something from the sub-story and make it into the main focus.

Which is not the story I wanted to write.

How do others of you deal with that?

Maybe it will make a better piece of writing if I follow their suggestions, but I feel like I'd be abandoning my vision for the piece.

[ September 16, 2005, 05:36 AM: Message edited by: meredithbead ]

Ms M,
While I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticisms, I still go with my gut. Its never wrong. At least for me it isn't.

Creative writing to me, comes from a place inside you that others aren't privy to; a special place. I say be careful and give it great thought before you change directions. If you give a piece you've written to 50 people to critique, you will get 50 different voices in return. If you give it to 3 people, same thing.

While constructive remarks are worth their weight in gold, there are some people who want to be a part of the critique (or you, or your writing) and so they take your piece and write it with the voice inside them, or the way THEY feel or see it.

Clear as mud? Example, I've given some of my work to people before and simply said, "is this funny?" This is a yes or no question. They've come back with a re-write of the entire article. All I wanted to know was "is this funny?" NOT how would you write this?

So in summary of this thesis I've written here, I think you have to take what's valuable to you and your work, then discard the rest. Trust your instincts.

JJ

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO agree with what JJ said Meredith. YOUR vision is what's important - critiques are great but they are just that - opinions/suggestions. Taking something from a sub-plot and turning it into a main theme truly does sound like a major alteration and if doing that would change YOUR vision for the piece then don't.

This HAS happened to me and I've stuck to my guns. There's a lot to be said for "gut" instincts guiding us as JJ said in her response.

Hi Meredith!

I second Jaw Jaw and Pam. Go with what you feel from within. Changing your thoughts is like changing your inner self.

Criticism is important because it allows us to become more well-rounded.

Try not to take it to heart. Do what YOU feel is best!

Good luck!
Teresa

Write your passion, Meredith.

I'm making an assumption that your essay is personal because all your work I've read has been.

I'm willing to bet you became quiet inside while writing your piece. If so, you removed the fogginess within that allows your TRUTH to prevail. I once read that writing is nothing more than following a guided dream. I wish I could remember who said that. Anyway...it's your dream. It's your essay. Your voice...

I also believe the joy/beauty/gift/prize arrives in the act of writing, not when others read our work. Hold fast to that beauty. Don't let others rob you of that joy.

When I was writing "Eagle Born to Fly", the passion was exhilarating, to a level I can honestly say I've NEVER felt before or since. I knew to the core of my being that this was good and right. But as soon as it was finished, the doubts, second-guessing and negativity roared in...it's no good, nobody could possibly want to read this.

But instead of hiding it away as I was tempted to do, I sent it to one of my best friends to read. Not to critique, but just to tell me if this was worthwhile pursuing. The whole time my "baby" was in his hands, I was so foggy and confused. But he sent it back saying, "you can't keep this to yourself. It's exquisite (his words)." Then he suggested that I write it chronologically instead of the format I had used.

I was a little crushed by that, more because of the immense amount of work it would take to change it. But once I sat down and began to revise it, it flowed like a mountain stream, and indeed, it made much more sense, and allowed me to include things that hadn't fit into the earlier format.

The rest is history. Eagle will never be a best-seller, but it's MINE, my voice, my vision, my passion, my story. If I had passed it around to 50 people, with my poor self-image and lack of confidence in my own vision, it would have ended up being someone else's story, or a confusing mish-mash of everyone else's vision and story.

Stay true to you. Stay true to the passion that made you start writing this essay in the first place. Stay true to the story that you want it to be when all is said and done, and to the voice that you want it to be told in.

Go with you own gut feelings. I find they don't usually lead you astray and you have to have your own voice.

The purpose of a critique group is to improve YOUR work and help you realize YOUR vision. It is not to turn your work to something that realizes their vision.

However, I think 'art' inspires feelings on a deep and frightening level so we are compelled to control those feelsings through ownership. If the art in a written piece affects us on that level, maybe we all have to resist the urge to make it our own.

I wonder how that works in other art forms. A friend who is a professional artist was commissioned by a hospital to paint a series of large paintings of a well known clown who died suddenly. When the paintings were almost finished he got a call from the hospital wanting to know what colors he was using. Based on previous experience, he thought they wanted him to change the colors to match the decor.

Irritated and half mad, he asked why they wanted to know the colors. He said he was delighted to hear that they wanted to paint the walls to match the paintings.

Maybe your critique group needs to paint their critiques to match your essay instead of asking you to paint your essay to match their critique.

smile

Smile, I love that story! That makes for a great analogy here.

Meredith, I had wanted to add a similar thought to my post, but it was already long enough. I think the same way, that a good, honest critique of YOUR work will improve and enhance YOUR work. You will know if their comments will improve and enhance, because it will somehow "click".

In this case, the comments appear to want to take you in a completely different direction...and that doesn't "click" at all with you...if it was where you wanted it to go, or even where the story itself wanted to go, it would "click". So listen to your instincts and go with what you know will "match your essay" and vision.