David Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants--April 19, 2008 Dealing with Criticism

I saw this on the Fantasy Writers group. It's very true and I wanted to share it with any potential or actual writers out there.

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I got a note from a promising young writer yesterday who was wondering if he
should just hang it all up. The note, a rejection on a short story,
basically said that the story didn't work at all. So the author's confidence
was a bit shaken.

Now, I've mentioned a little bit about having courage in the face of
criticism, but I'd like to talk about it in more detail.

The truth is that no matter how good you are as a writer, not everyone is
going to like you. I can guarantee that there will be books and stories
that win awards this year that I will not like. It happens every year. I'm
sophisticated enough as a reader to recognize that just because I don't like
it, that doesn't mean that the story isn't good for its type. By that I
mean, you might write a wonderful tear-jerking romance novel that everyone
in the world loves, but I probably still won't read it. Similarly, you
might make the world's best asparagus casserole, but I won't eat it, either.

That's not a criticism so much as a difference in taste.

But as writers we have to face criticism. No matter what you write, you will
have to face criticism at some point in your life.

My first criticism came from my father. When I told him that I'd dropped
out of pre-med and that I wanted to be a writer, he lamented the fact that I
wanted to waste my life. He suggested that if I really had to be a writer,
that I find a writing job that actually paid. He knew that I was writing
poetry, so he got the address for Hallmark greeting cards and even offered
to help me pen a few sample greeting cards in the hope that I might become
gainfully employed. (Fortunately, my first novel got some nice reviews and
hit the bestseller lists, so that my father's concerns for me were eased a
bit before he died.)

Many of you either go to writing groups or should go to them. Facing a
writing group will help you learn to cope with negative criticism. It will
help toughen you up.

But you should beware of writing groups, too. I've been in writing group
where certain members of the group became hostile to one another, and thus
gave unfair critiques.

Cliques will sometimes form, and the criticism can become vicious. I recall
being in one group where a young lady was in tears. (Her story was quite
good by the way, nearly publishable.) But her attacker--a low-life scumbag
who hadn't written a word in five years--told her that "This story sucks."
Then with all of the sincerity that he could muster, he told her, "You
should give up writing . . . now. You should just walk out of this group
and never come back." She did, despite the fact that I and several other
people begged her to stay.

Unfortunately that group didn't have a mechanism for kicking out anyone who
acted like an ass. Every group should have such a mechanism, a
sergeant-at-arms. The attacker in this case needed to be thrown out.

Of course, there are other ways to waste people's time in writing groups.
If someone in a writing group always tells everyone how wonderful their
stories are and can't see anything wrong with any story, you have a person
who either has absolutely no critical facilities or who is just too
cowardly to say what they really think. That person also, needs to be
evicted from a writing group.

The purpose of a writing group is to give you helpful advice. Telling an
author what works is helpful, but one should also look for honest ways to
improve the work. Personally, I like getting criticism.

But once you become a professional writer, you'll have to face some real
criticism--from literary critics who actually get paid by newspapers and
magazines to read your books and offer honest opinions.

I have always had a policy that I never respond to such criticism, even when
the critics seem wrongheaded. I try to look at the columns, listen to their
comments, learn from them, and move on.

I'm aware that even good critics sometimes err. I've read articles from
people that I admire who sometimes get the facts of my books wrong. In one
case, I even got a glowing review--with some interesting errors.

I recall writing a negative review myself for a small magazine years ago, in
which I tore into a book by one of my favorite fantasy authors. I didn't
like it. The protagonist was too weak. She just stood around doing
nothing, too frightened to respond to the challenges in her life. But a
friend of mine pointed out that she identified strongly with that
protagonist simply because that was the way that she handled her life, too.
She was always too frightened to go out to look for jobs, or to seek a
better job, etc.

Mea culpa. I was wrong. The truth is that the book as fine, I just
couldn't identify with the protagonist. I like chocolate, and that novel
was very much vanilla. So I wrote a retraction.

And that's the way that it goes. Critics are nearly always wrong. Years
ago, I went into the library and spent a few hours looking up reviews that
came out when books that are now considered classics were first released.
Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea was considered trite by one reviewer who
noted that Hemingway hadn't dealt with a new theme in fifteen years. The
novel Dune was considered decent enough, but one reviewer wondered how in
the hell anyone ever got such a long novel published. And so it went. Not
a single one of those novels that are now considered classics got anything
other than a tepid review.

So don't expect your novel to get universally great reviews, either. The
truth is that the best novel written in the past ten years won't be
recognized as such until another forty years from now, when hindsight gives
us a clearer perspective.

Sometimes our personal tastes as readers and critics get in the way of sound
judgment. In science fiction, most polls will show that the novel Dune is
considered the best in the genre. Yet if you go onto Amazon.com and look at
reader reviews, you'll find people who will tell you that it's dreck. The
same goes with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, or with any other novel that is
a classic in any other genre.

So is your story really bad, or is it the critic? That's what you need to
determine. You have to look both at the criticism and at its source.

If your critics points seem valid, then all that you may need to do is
rewrite the story, get rid of the flaw. That doesn't seem so hard to me.
The truth is that every author at one time or another tends to write
something that doesn't seem worthy of them. Yep, some of my passages are
brilliant, and some of them are less so. Shakespeare wrote reams of crud,
but quite often he shows over and over that he can be the best of all time.

There are things that I purposely do in my writing don't always work for all
audience members. For example, in the novel Brotherhood of the Wolf, the
Earth King Gaborn Val Orden warns the folks of Castle Sylvarresta to flee,
for a monster is coming that could destroy them all. But do you know what?
People don't always do what they're told. Every time a volcano blows, it
kills someone. It doesn't matter what the geologists do, there's always
some old coot who refuses to leave. Hurricanes, same thing. All those
folks killed in Katrina were warned over and over again to leave, but they
stayed. One third of the city stayed. So I have some of my folks stay, and
I have Gaborn's new bride, Iome, sending troops through the castle in an
effort to force an evacuation. As a result, she's still there when the
monster comes.

Well, my editor hated it. He said that Iome was an idiot to risk her life,
and it would serve her right if she died. He felt that people who are
idiots deserve to die.

But I disagreed. I think that sometimes you need to put your life in
jeopardy to help another person who is acting foolishly. Even people who
are stupid and stubborn need to be rescued in spite of themselves sometimes.
So I kept the scenes in the book--though I know full well that by doing so,
I probably alienated many readers who felt as my editor did. Well, too bad.
I'm trying to make a statement in that book, one that has to do with showing
compassion, risking everything, when you feel like giving up on the world.
We are trained to love and look out for people who have the IQ of a dog. So
why shouldn't we love and look out for someone who's IQ is only a few points
lower than our own.

That's the way it is with every story. We struggle to convey our ideas and
emotions, and sometimes the story is just too big to handle in that medium.
At times, we may just be too weak to get our point across.

If you get criticism that seems wrongheaded to you, then realize that other
critics are human, too. Even a good critic will have lapses in judgment. A
few years ago there was a wonderful book published full of scathing reviews
on novels that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize, or where the author went
on to win a Nobel prize. The fact is that even great authors are often
misunderstood.

Tomorrow, though, I will deal with some of the more subtle problems that
come with reviews. The fact is that there are indeed evil-minded critics
out there, people who will genuinely try to destroy you for their own profit
and amusement. I'll give some examples of what they do, and more
importantly why they do it.
--
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Fantasywriter

Recently I joined Fantasy Writer.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fantasywriter/

It's a great writer's email group where I can connect with other writers. I'm hoping to organize a critique group and get other eyes to spot my "stilted/ stiff" writing. I need to get rid of the stiffness and smooth it out so it can finally be accepted.

Wish me luck.

Silly vid from The Onion, teasing about the Ironman trailer

Got this on MySpace from Gernot...


Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

I love not just the main joke, but the little jokes on the bottom.

bad and good

Bad:
I had to leave the critique group cause Sunday nights are insanely busy.

Good:
Michele pointed me towards the same writer's group that Willard has tried to get me to join. It sounds like there are a lot of published writers who could help me. I hope someone takes up my request for further one-lines and a critique group for Friday.

I'll keep you "faceless shadows" posted.

Ok, not so upset

In the immortal words of one of the peasants in Monty Python's Holy Grail, "I'm feeling much better."

I know I've over reacted. I just have such passion for this story.

Ah well. Just keep swimming.

Down

I'm feeling kind of depressed about my novel. Every time I think it's ready, I find obvious mistakes.

I feel pretty stupid at the moment. Things that I thought were great, weren't.

I don't know where to turn and quite frankly it's hard to be motivated on doing anything with it. I've lost my center.

I've even entertained thoughts that maybe I'm on a fool's quest. Maybe I don't have the stuff be be a writer.

I see positives, but I'm looking at them through a grey fog.

Sorry to be so down.

If I turn my back on that path, will another one come around to get me published? I would rather just walk right up to an agent or publisher, SHOW them why this is important.

But I still can't get me POV straight.


But I'm just a no-account wanna-be who can't even spell correctly without a spell checker.

Who am I kidding?

This fake Mattel commercial is hilarious!

California, here I am!

I'm posting from Sunny Cal. I'm here in Huntington Beach for more training in Micro Station. I'm using the hotel computer.

I sure miss the ocean. I want so bad to move to Central or Northern Cal. When I went on the pier yesterday and looked out at the ocean I just longed for it.

Sigh.

It's so expensive to Libbey out here. I can't ever imagine doing it. But I was born in this state, spent many years here. It's in my blood. If only my novel would sell and continue selling to the point where I could be a full time author living out here.

Will it ever come?

Lord of the Rings A-Team

Star Trek Time Warp!

More Youtube JLA fun from huckbone

Cool Live Action Challenge of the Super Friends

The critique group is smokin!

Ok, that's an old term, but it's the only thing to come to mind.

I resented my 6th revision version of chapter one. This was "the Eliza chapter", formally known as chapter 4 or 5 depending on the rev.
They wanted more on the how and who of Annabelle's world. The necessary stuff that just happened to be cut thanks to prior revs. I guess I cut it too soon.
I explained about the story behind the story. I told about the Falabranwyn and the true mission for Annabelle and Roland.
They said a simple thought that shocked me. Basically, instead of keeping those things secret, why not bring them up in a pre-scene?

I should say now that in the versions where I cut the Foresight's arrival and the intro of the Dunstons always fell short. Those events were very important so I had to TELL about them later instead of SHOWING them like I originally had done.

Now those scenes are back, with some simplifications, more showing things from Ann's perspective and best of all, a beginning scene from Eliza's abused, scared perspective. This scene stars Dominic in all his evil and after he leaves, Sybil the Falabranwyn with her brief foreshadowing on Ann and Roland. Also, Sybil explains why Annabelle acts and thinks older than her years.

I don't know where this scene was. Why didn't I come up with it before?

Anyway, they loved it.
I should say here that while they know their faults and shortcomings, the other members of the group are all published. They've done short stories and online stories. They also know all the rules and try to follow them in their stories.

I've learned a lot and hope to learn more. I really need to show vs tell and I'm still trying to soften the wording, use less of it and try to speak in my true voice. I only made it through a 4th of the manuscript in my last edits so I'll catch up when the critique group gets to that point.

So much to do and I'm scared that this version is no better than the others.

I do like this group though.

Grant and Jason added me as thier friend!

While I wasted time traveling through the net, looking over various sites on my favorite paranormal chasers, the Ghost Hunters, I discovered that they are on Myspace.

I requested that they add me as a friend and they did! I still can't get over how you can meet and talk casually with real celebrities on the web. It's amazingly cool.

So now they're on my friend list. It's great! I should send them a message, telling them about our ghost encounters.

"Darren Shan's view" of the Cirque du Freak movie.

So I was trolling the net and found myself back at IMDB. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450405/ )

I was reading on the anonced cast choices for the movie and people's reactions when I stumbled across the author's words on the subject.

Here they are...


I've been following the reactions of fans to the Cirque Du Freak movie with much amusement over the last couple of months. Each new cast announcement is met with a mix of indignation -- "How dare they even THINK of putting that person in the movie?!?" -- and OTT delight -- "That person is the best actor in the world -- this is going to be brilliant!!!!" The truth, of course, is that only time will tell. The movie-making process is a long, complicated affair. Great books, with great casts, have sometimes turned out to be stinkers, while in other cases less well known books, with dubious cast or crew choices, have become classics. I've no idea which way this one will go. I'm happy with the cast choices -- I can say that hand on heart. They might not be like how a lot of fans pictures the characters. Indeed, they're not all like how I pictured the characters. But the important thing is, they're how the MOVIE-MAKERS picture them. This is their baby now. The film will be a completely separate entity to the books. Different structure, different characters, different pace, different style. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. But I do think it's good that they're doing things THEIR way. I did everything that I wanted to do with the characters and stories when I wrote the books. What interests me now that I'm finished is what other people do with them. I love getting fan art, seeing how fans imagine Darren or Mr Crepsley or Harkat. I love the Japanese manga adaptation, seeing how they interpret the vampires and vampaneze. Nobody draws the characters exactly as I imagined them, but that's what I love. I've shown the world what *I* see in the Cirque Du Freak and those who populate it -- now it's a chance for you lot to reinterpret what I've given you and entertain ME in return!!! So Cormac Limbs becomes a woman -- great!! I'll get to see a different side of the character!!

The film WILL NOT be faithful to the books, and nor should it be. That doesn't bother me, and it shouldn't bother you lot either. It will stand or fall on its own terms, in its own way. If it succeeds and is good, we can all enjoy it as well as the books -- we'll have two different sources of entertainment to draw from. If it goes wrong and sucks, we can continue to draw comfort from the books -- they won't change, they'll still be there, the same as they were a few years ago, the same as they are now, the same as they always will be.

I sometimes get asked why I sold my books to Hollywood, and why I let them change them so much. Well, as for the second question, I haven't a choice -- when you sell the movie rights to your books, you surrender all control over it. The movie-makers can do whatever they like with your stories. That's just the way these things work. If you can't accept that, don't sell. If you do sell, you have to let them do as they please -- there's no point grumbling about it. I sold for a number of reasons. One, obviously, is money. I write because I love to write, but it's also my job, and while I write with total integrity, telling the stories I want to tell, the way I want to tell them, I always look to make the most amount of money out of them as I can once I'm finished. That's just common sense -- if you create something good, you deserve to profit from it. Money shouldn't be a writer's driving goal, but it shouldn't be spurned either. As with any other job in life, money can bring freedom -- a writer who has made a lot of money doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to; he doesn't have to take a commission just to support himself; he's free to follow his muse and create whatever he likes. (Of course, many lose themselves to the thrall of cold, hard cash and start to chase it, using their talents to try and make more money. But I haven't hit that point yet, and I hope I never do.) The money I get from the movie if it's successful will help ensure that I can continue to follow my dreams and write for myself, which is good news for all of YOU.

But I was also happy to sell the movie rights because movies are a great way of publicising your work. The worst thing about being a writer, especially a children's writer, is that very few people in the world ever get to hear about you. A hit movie makes headlines. Popular bands make headlines. Models make headlines. Writers almost never do. Even avid readers often struggle to keep up with what's hot in the world of books -- it's difficult to find out about new writers and novels. The internet has helped, more than anyone under the age of 20 can probably understand -- there was NO way of learning about new books when I was a kid!! But it's still a struggle to get your work noticed, to tempt readers to give your stories a try. Publishers have very limited funds to work with, and the opportunities to advertise books are also very limited. Films are one of the only tools we have to take our work to an even wider audience. Even if the movie sucks and doesn't do much business, it will still probably get quite a lot of people interested in the books. New readers will pick up Cirque Du Freak and give it a try -- then hopefully get hooked by it and join the rest of you in becoming true Shansters!!!

The thing any writer wants more than anything else is for people to actually READ their work. That's what I enjoy most about success -- not the money, but knowing so many people are enjoying my stories, following me into the weird, freakish worlds that I've created, trusting me to lead them on a journey worth taking. The film will help set more people on the path that you guys reading this have already taken. It's a path they probably wouldn't ever have heard about if I hadn't agreed to sell the rights and let a group of strangers do whatever they wanted with my stories.

Some readers are snobs -- they think that only those who actively seek out new writers are worthy of reading that writer's books. There are many Harry Potter fans who sneer at those who saw the films first. "What -- you only read the books because you liked the films? You're not a REAL fan!!!"

As I hope I make clear in my books, I've no time for snobs. My vampire generals accepted anyone who came to them. They didn't care how they turned to the creatures of the night -- they only cared about what they did once they'd made that choice. It's not how we come to a path that matters, but what we do once we're on it. If the film brings even a handful of new fans to this world that you and I have shared for however many weeks, months or years you've been with me, it will have been worth the giving away of rights. Even if it's a stinker, if it takes the books to just a few more people, it will be worth it. Obviously I hope it won't suck, that it'll rock righteously, that it will bring thousands of new fans our way. But even in the worse case scenario it can't help but be a winner. It will bring new readers to the stories, and that's what the stories crave more than anything else. It's why Stephen King has always been happy to sell his work to Hollywood. And it's why I'll probably be always happy to do it too.

So now you know.

Critique Group

I've joined a critique group. Hopfully there will be some forthcomming help on how to get this published.

Will this be helpful or send me into a depression. No clue.

Why is it I feel so close and so far away at the same time?

More writing update

Thanks to some fresh eyes I've tweaked it even more. I realize its silly but I've got to make this the best version I can.

Still no word on the other agent. I think he forgot. I'm not going to email him until the edits are finished, though.

Quick update

A lot has been going on, but I haven't been able to post due to time constraints.

The other month I finally heard back from Writer's House. They liked the manuscript and the characters but felt the story flowed unnaturally.
This goes with the rejection that said it read "stilted" and what Jeff told me long ago. He said it was stiff. I should've realized long ago what this meant.

The other month I realized how to fix it. I needed to find my "voice". Well it occurred just how I should do that and now I'm tweaking the manuscript, fixing things and reshaping it with my true voice. I feel really good about this.

Meanwhile, we've all been very sick. Hopefully this accursed flu will leave.

That's all for now. Talk to you faceless people later.

The new Star Trek Teaser Trailer

I'm starting to get excited about this.




Update, it's a fake. Ah well.

Little Batman!