My first critique has come back to me.
For anyone who's ever written and asked someone else to read it, that clears the title up right there. For anyone else, let me explain.
The story I'm working on is nonfiction, a tale of what happened to my family when I was a kid. I sent it to my sister (God bless email!), and asked her to read and critique. In all fairness, and in my own words, I did ask her to rip it to shreds.
I've got a pretty tough hide, I could probably be tanned and hung on a barn wall most of the time. I'm not easily offended or provoked, and I'm extremely tolerant of differing opinions and thought processes.
However, I have an Achilles' heel. You know Achilles, the guy who's mother dipped him the the river Styx which made him invincible, except the one heel where she kept ahold of him so he didn't float away? That heel was his only weakness, one little spot where the slightest injury became fatal.
Mine isn't my heel, it must be a two inch square patch just to the left of my breastbone.
My sister's critique was everything I asked for - very good, and very thorough, and very painful. Every little note on the side of the page is hitting that one little spot and jabbing a straight pin in my heart. (Or is it my ego?) It could be, too, that it is coming from another person that was there, someone who knows the story. It's not a case of if I don't tell the audience, they won't know the difference - this audience helped write the screenplay.
I know I won't die from a good critique, nobody ever has. What's that old saying?
"That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger."
Doesn't make the experience a lot more pleasant, though, does it?
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I remember my first critique. I said it was like being strapped to the bare metal frame of an electrified mattress. And you know what? Whenever I let my husband critique my work, it still hurts that bad. (Even if it's a good critique.) Something about it being someone so close to me.
When you said Mine isn't my heel I felt it right in my "two inch square patch just to the left of my breastbone." (Which is very witty, btw.) Keep at it though. Never give up. I've got your back--us "name-twinners" gotta stick together. ;)
oh my, yes, as much as I've grown accustomed to critiques they still hurt. But so necessary. I've learned more and more that's it's harder to see my own faults and tendencies as a writer than it is to see others. That's why proof readers are so important.
YES! Critiques have a double edged sword. I'm always surprised I asked for that pain! And no author is immune to it, honestly. We all want everyone to love our work the first time. I thought i could handle some pretty tough critiques until my agent sent me hers. I cried like a baby. Sheez. Which is why I'm not jumping up and down to work with an editor. Even though I'm dying to, I know it's gonna be so much worse! Sheez! Hang in there. It always looks better a week later! Jenni