How to Prepare Manuscripts for Critique
Twelve Ways to Produce Better Work Through Critiquing
Nov 20, 2008
The first question writers needs to ask themselves before submitting work for critique is whether or not they really want to hear criticism or merely want to receive praise. For an enthusiastic – though biased – appraisal, writers can ask non-writer friends for opinions. Objective and often critical appraisals are obtained through paid professional critiquing services or critique groups of local writers.
Professional critiquing services (found online and in writer’s magazine advertisements) may or may not be legitimate. For writers who choose this route, ask writer friends for recommendations. Otherwise, the best option remains local critique groups. The following 12 tips will help writers prepare themselves and their manuscripts for this often-humbling process.
Finding the Right Critique Group
1. To find the right group (close friends, strangers, professionals, or any combination), writers need to determine what they want from critique. Choices range from a general reaction from a first read-through to a highly detailed content edit. Find a group that best reflects the critiquing assignment.
2. It’s important to decide on something “safe” for the critique environment. In a large writing group where anyone can attend (such as a bookstore), writers shouldn’t reveal something too unpolished or too personal. Save these “risky” pieces for small groups or one-on-one with trusted writer friends. For larger groups, bring less personal writing until things become more comfortable. If writers are new to the group, or other readers are new, then writers will not feel entirely safe. Strangers may give the most honest responses, but it’s the least “safe” environment.
3. Ideally writers should look for readers who enjoy the genre about which they write. For example, a science fiction writing group would be completely inappropriate for critiquing a nonfiction book chapter about nutrition.
4. Award-winning poet and memoirist Alice R. Friedman suggests having first readers in place and then choosing others according to the style and genre. “The responses you get depend on what particular readers like to read most,” she says.
What to Bring to the Critique Group
5. Writers need to bring multiple copies of computer printouts or typed copies, ideally double-spaced to allow writing in the margins and above/below lines. The group leader can recommend how many copies to bring, although attendance likely fluctuates. Use scrap paper or other recycled paper and encourage readers to make notations in dark ink.
6. Friedman recommends numbering each page and line to make it easier to note suggested changes, especially during group discussions about the work.
7. Writers must get all the copies returned to them. It’s inappropriate and unethical for readers to keep copies of someone else’s work.
8. Award-winning poet and short story writer Estelle Lipp says she always submits the highest level of work possible by doing a spelling, grammar, and tense check before submitting a manuscript for critique. “I also apply the truth test,” she says. “I don’t leave out information that I have in my brain, but assume that the reader already knows.”
Mental Preparation for Critique
9. It’s crucial that writers don’t get defensive during critique. Sometimes explanation may be necessary, but usually writers just remain silent as they listen, rather than react to critiques of their work.
10. Suggested changes and strong opinions are merely suggestions and opinions reflecting someone’s thinking. They are not personal insults or rules that must be followed. Writers should thank readers for critiquing their work even if they don’t like what was said.
11. Lipp says she prepares herself mentally and emotionally to get critiqued. “I put my ego in the background and adopt the attitude of receiving a gift.”
12. After processing all the suggestions, writers should make any changes to the manuscript as soon as possible so they won’t lose momentum. Enthusiasm (and memory of unwritten responses) diminishes as time goes by.
Following these 12 tips of manuscript preparation will make the critiquing experience more pleasant for writers and readers. For more information about freelance writing, read Doomed Magazine Warning Signs.
 |
