: Re: When to ask for constructive criticism? I have 40,000 words of a novel and I am not sure at what point to ask for constructive criticism.

@Tiffany377

Vote Up Vote Down

From the software world we have the phrase "Test early, and test often".

In the writing world this mindset works well with writing-circles and writing focused-social environments where you can begin digging into the good and bad of a piece as soon as possible.

It is not remotely wrong to begin a process of constructive criticism and feedback before you even commit a single word to paper. However it is important to focus on what kind of feedback is actually useful at any given stage of writing.

The earlier on in the process you are, the broader strokes you want to focus on. Catching minor grammar details early on in the process isn't a bad thing, but it also isn't the most useful thing to focus on. Fussing over having 'perfect grammar' on chapters that you might actually need to cut entirely is not a great use of anyone's time. Instead seek to dig into the higher level mechanics of the writing.

Does the overall plot line work?
Does the writing style fit the voice and tone you are aiming for in your piece?
Do the characters act and talk in a way fitting their design and goals?
Do decisions and pacing make sense?
Does anything jump up as a red flag for logic?

Catching that you used "Desert" in place of "Dessert" early on in the process is useful, but hardly critical.

Having someone point out to you that you have a long [and possibly tedious] conversation about the quality and purity of the silverware at a dinner party hosted by a demon who can't touch silver... Well that might be far more useful feedback early on in the writing process, as it is the sort of thing a writer can do real work with:

Do you edit the scenes and conversations to remove the silver, and back away from the problem entirely?
Do you edit things such that the silver clearly remains, but the character carefully avoids directly touching it [Maybe without drawing excessive attention to the fact?]
Does it become a plot point that gets reworked and reused throughout the story? [Seeding hints and references to the character not touching the silver early on in the story, and giving the readers an 'ah-Ha!' moment later in the story when they realize what was going on?]

(0)

Login to post a comment!