Writing 101: Choose Your Critics Wisely | Jacqueline Woodson | Big Think

In terms of a criticism, here's how I deal with it, and this is having written 32 books. The first time I ask people to read my work, I say, "Tell me only what you love about it." And they say, "I love Jeremiah; I love that you've centered this book in Bushwick, whatever it is." And then I get all excited. I go back and write more.

And then the next time I say, "Ask me three questions." And then the three questions are: "Why does he get killed? Why do they fall in love? Why does he end up in the witness protection program?" Whatever the questions they have that makes me go back and realize I haven't explained stuff enough and write more.

It really is fragile when you first put your words out into the world, and for someone to jump on them and start critiquing or criticizing them right off the bat can be devastating. So even for me at this stage, it has to be incremental and always starting with praise, lots and lots of praise, and then getting to the nitty-gritty.

And so I think it's important to show your work to people you trust and love. And I think it's important to read your work out loud, to hear it and hear where it feels safe and unsafe. Even with my editor, when I get my manuscript back from her, I go through the whole manuscript and I read all the places where she's like, "Wow, I love this; brilliant; awesome." And all of those praises kind of get me ready for her to ask the bigger questions.

And it's important that the criticism be constructive, because otherwise it's destructive. You want to just throw the book away, so the criticism should be kind of critiquing that asked questions, ask bigger questions: "Why does this happen? I'm curious about where this is going. At the end of this piece of dialogue, what were you intending for the reader to get?" So that kind of thing, so it doesn't make you feel so vulnerable.

Writing is such a process, and I think that sometimes aspiring writers don't realize what a process it is from the moment you have a brilliant idea to when you get to the point and that book completely falls apart. Every single book you write, you have a brilliant idea; it falls apart—every single book. And then you have to start scaffolding and building the story again.

And starting to ask yourself the big questions about what this book is trying to say, and how is it trying to say it, and what do these characters want, and how are they going to get what they want. So that's the process.

And then the next process is going out into the world with the story, getting that feedback, and deciding who you're going to ask and what you're looking for in the feedback and what your end goal is for the story. Do you want to publish it, or do you want something that your parents will love so you can give it to them as an anniversary present, or what is it you want this book to be, and how does it fit into the world of literature?

How does it fit into the stuff that's already out there? So you have to be a reader. You can't be a writer without being a reader. And I think that's another mistake young writers make. I've met so many poets who are like, "I don't read poetry; I just write it," or so many people who are trying to write realistic fiction that are only reading fantasy. It's just unrealistic to not know the genre you're writing inside of.

Then you have the people critiquing your work, and you get to choose who they are; you get to choose how you want that feedback to come back to you. Some people will give their work to ten people, or some people will trust a workshop. I, for one, have been in workshops, and I haven't always trusted them because a lot of times I'm the only person of color in it.

So suddenly I'm having to explain to a lot of people who are not people of color my experience and having to justify my experience. And that's not helpful to me. So think about who the people are you're asking to read your work and what you want from them. If I'm writing a book about someone who's transgendered, which I'm not going to do because I don't know enough about that story, but hypothetically I would want someone who's had that experience to be able to help me negotiate.

And again, show me where do I get this right? Where do I get this wrong? Where does my own bias come into the story? But you do have to be able to be vulnerable with your work at some point. But for me, I like to build a nice thick skin before I get to that point of feeling vulnerable.