Saturday, August 4, 2012

August is Awesome Because of Richard Hughes

Richard's Battles and other stories may have been the very first eBook I purchased.  I was particularly drawn to the first story in the book, at how he was able to give Ray the depth of emotion and conviction required to give the story power and memorable meaning.

Richard is a steadfast supporter of so many bloggers, visiting and commenting with unrelenting regularity. 

Please give Richard a great big welcome!


“The Power of the Positive Reception of Criticism”

For beginning writers, or writers who are still struggling with producing publishable writing, criticism of their work can be a valuable tool for improvement. Indeed, many writers who are already published acknowledge the value of receiving criticism (feedback) on their writing. I know for myself, the criticism I’ve received from my critique partners over the years has been extremely valuable.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many writers who resist any criticism they don’t like to hear. The hardest criticism for them to take seems to be that which says this paragraph, or this scene, or this chapter isn’t necessary; it doesn’t move your story forward, or it doesn’t give new or important information; it is slowing up your story for no good reason. Sometimes, the writer is just too close to his story, too attached to what he’s written, to jettison it. And, what’s worse, he tends to get personal and defensive. I’ve had writers say, “I think I’ll keep it.”

The power of the positive reception of criticism includes many traits. The writer must be open to improvement; he must want to improve. The writer needs to assume that the critique partner is in a superior position to his, that he knows more and sees better than the writer what is going on in his writing. The writer must see her writing from the critic’s point-of-view. The writer must not criticize the critic. The writer needs to put up and shut up.

In short, the writer must step outside himself, forget about himself, as he listens to or reads the criticism.

Does this mean the writer has no say? Of course not. He just answers the criticism in private. She acknowledges that not all critics are created equal. She knows that she’s the final authority on what she writes before she publishes it. And, she knows that if she’s listened carefully to her critics and tried to see her writing from the critic’s point-of-view, her final decisions on her writing will be the best ones.


Richard Hughes is awesome!
About Richard:

Richard has been writing fiction and poetry since he was a teenager. Now retired, he is gradually finishing much of what he started but never had time to complete over the years. He has self-published two books under the penname R. Patrick Hughes: a novel (family saga/historical) Only The Lonely and a collection of short stories Battles and other stories.

Both are available at Amazon.com
Only the Lonely  and  
Battles and other stories

Richard’s website is Writing and Living by Richard P. Hughes

Richard is currently at work on a sequel to Only The Lonely he plans on publishing this fall.

29 comments:

  1. Open to change or not, criticism is often hard to take, but this is definitely good advice. Without criticism, it is impossible to grow!

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    1. Too true. We can't correct a problem we don't know exists.

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  2. I agree with Kyra. Criticism is essential to writing. And rejection is part of the business. We really need to learn how to take these things, look at them objectively, and learn from them without letting them crush our spirits.

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    1. Agreed, Sara. This is why I like to flag sections when I critique that say "Yes!" or "Good!" and the like. Even when receiving feedback on a manuscript replete with problems, it's still nice to hear the good along with bad.

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  3. I must be from another planet. I don't mind the criticism. I mind if there is none. That really kills me.

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    1. That, Dragon, stems solely from the desire to improve and that's a very worthy goal. No feedback is almost like saying, "It's perfect!" and we know perfection doesn't happen every day.

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    2. Now I'm chuckling. Funny, but while some people my take no feedback = it's perfect, I cannot help to think no feedback = didn't read it. It's just the endless possibilities of silence.

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  4. The hardest critisism for me is that which comes from my family. Strangely enough, when other people give me critisisms on my writing, especially when they've written it down, I don't find it so hard to take. But I must admit, I get very attached to my writing.

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    1. That's interesting, Imogen. I've rarely had face-to-face feedback. My family's always like "Oh, it's so good! I love it!" and I just have to smile and thank them, knowing that true suggestions for improvement will have to come from elsewhere.

      I wonder if perhaps the difficulty you mention comes from hearing the emotion (or the lack thereof) behind the feedback, which those who critique solely on paper tend to omit. Very interesting indeed.

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  5. Hi Jeff! I have to admit, Richard is awesome. (:

    I'm with Dragon on this one. I received a free critique some time ago as part of a giveaway and the person who "critiqued" had very little to say. That really bugged me because I felt a bit cheated and didn't have any advice on how to improve.

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    1. Hi Elise! Yes, he is.

      I agree with you and Dragon. No feedback = No improvement. However, maybe your writing didn't have much worth flagging as concerns. Of course, I prefer critiques to be well-rounded, hearing what things did work or were liked in addition to things that weren't liked or didn't work.

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  6. Excellent post. Richard actually hit on a couple of things that were almost the exact words I received in an agent's critique: 1)slowing down the story for no good reason...the agent said I was "dragging the reader around for no good reason" 2)the writer must step outside of himself...the agent said, "get out of your own way and let your character speak."

    Just these two comments alone helped me improve my manuscript as well as my writing overall. So thanks, Richard, for the reinforcement of good advice.

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    1. Wisdom comes to us from so many places if we can just open our minds to it. Today's confusion is tomorrow's enlightenment when we can listen to and apply wise counsel. And yes, Richard's counsel was spot on.

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  7. Usually when I get criticism I take it as a sign that the critiquer knows what s/he is doing. No matter how good the writing is there is always room for improvement. "That's so great" and "Ooh, fantastic" are just different peoples ways of saying "I didn't really read it. I'm just humoring you."

    Of course, it's just as important to point out the good things. Balance isn't always easy.

    Lauren

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    1. I can't help but to grin at the humoring comment. I accuse my children of doing that to me all the time.

      Those phrases also come from others when they're afraid of hurting our feelings or feel "unqualified" to give us their honest impressions. I guess it falls to us writers to make the reader (or timid critiquer) understand that everyone is qualified to divulge their honest opinions of what they liked and what they didn't.

      And yes, balance can be difficult. It's far to easy to point out what we see as (potential) problems without pointing out what we feel should be left as is.

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  8. Thanks everyone for commenting. It's nice too know we're all on the same page.

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    1. It's nice to know you visited on my page, Richard. Thanks!

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  9. Great post boys!! Reminded me of the crit my daughter gave me (yes, kids say it bluntly, don't they? And you have to listen.) "Um, this is good, but I like it better when things happen." I thought long and hard about this. She was right. No one wants an entire scene about someone's thoughts except me the writer, so I added in a demon, a fight, a little magic and a joke. Works better. Who'd have thought?

    Thanks for the motivation and good-luck Richard.

    I loved Battles too, Jeff!! (but I think the last story was my fav.)

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    1. Hey Tanya! Out of the mouth of babes, eh? You want to know the truth? Ask a child.

      That's a lot to add into a scene that had no action. Sounds like it would be a great read!

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  10. Hi, Jeff, I'm new to your blog and came via Richard's blog. Appreciated the points he made about being open to critiques. I belong to a good critique group and feel they have helped my writing improve through the years. Those extra eyes see problems a writer misses, being so immersed in the work. Often what is in your head isn't on the page yet, or at least not the way you wanted it to be. I would emphasize, though that the beta readers have to be concerned with improving the manuscript, not shooting it down. (those readers exist, too). But readers dedicated to the craft are invaluable.

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    1. You're more than welcome here, Elizabeth! Stopped by your blog and had a nice little visit there. Congrats on the agent!!

      A good critique group is priceless. I don't have a face-to-face critique group, but I've partnered with several other writers online who are ridiculously good at giving feedback. (They know who they are and they know I love them for it too.)

      Again, thanks for joining up on the blog. It's always good to meet the person behind the picture (or avatar)!

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  11. I hope your sequel is going well, Richard. I'm looking forward to reading it.

    And to Jeff: How lucky you are to have found such great feedback. We really can't critique ourselves.

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    1. Welcome, Ann! This is so true. I believe we, at time, like to think we can though.

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  12. Hi Richard and Jeff, great feedback is gold. Being open to critiques is one way of learning how to write better and seeing our writing mistakes from another pair of eyes is great. We writers tend to get biased, another writer has the advantage of distance and hence can be objective.

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    1. You are so right there, Rachna. It would be wonderful if we writers could step back from what we've just written and see it with the objective eyes of unbiased readers. It's not just a matter of finding misplaced commas that we need, but an insightful perspective shared by someone wanting us to do our best.

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  13. Great advice on criticism, Richard! It takes a tough skin to be a writer, that's for sure.

    Nice meeting you, Jeff!

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    1. Likewise, Emily, although you're not stranger to me. Been following your blog for a while now. ;-)

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  14. Good critiques are hard to come by. So many people get 'offended' if another writer offers feedback on how to make the story better that it makes most critters just want to show compliments and leave it at that. I give full on critiques because I believe every writer is too close to the story to see some of the holes. Me included. So many times I've had feedback on my stories and I'll look at it and wonder how I totally missed whatever stood out to my reader.

    Some critiquers are just mean, others genuinely want to offer encouragement, and then there are those that just want the writer to get their stuff published and so offer constructive feedback. It is, as you said in an earlier comment Jeff, up to the writer to know what is useful. And I agree with Richard that you have to keep an open mind about your own writing.

    ......dhole

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    1. Excellent points. I've found the most frustrating aspect of receiving critiques stems from the sections that are misinterpreted. In other words, I was trying to make point A and point A was completely missed. If the reader is in the correct frame of mind then it makes perfect sense, otherwise it's interpreted as something completely different and flagged. It requires a lot of effort to set things in such a way as to be properly understood. Not an easy task.

      Additionally, it is true that some--for whatever reason--consider tact a useless tool in conveying feedback. It is indeed unfortunate. But a good critter is indeed priceless.

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