*Gah!*

[partly]

Writer's group tonight. It was my turn to be critiqued.

What I learned:

The action is stagnant.
The characters are unlikable.
The dialog needs work.
Not enough happens.
What does happen, needs to be better explained.
I need more description, except where I need less.
I use too much of the same sentence construction.
I use too many words that either sound alike or are too close in meaning.
I used the word "the" to many times. Along with the words "but" and "and".
To directly quote: "I don't care enough about anything to keep reading."

*headdesk*

What made me think I could do this?

Comments

[donnickcottage.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a bunch of assholes. I could find fault with any writer if that was my charge.

[partly.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a bunch of assholes.

I certianly agreed with this thought on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, I like and respect these people and they are normally not assholes.

Still, it was a far more brutal crit than I recall anyone having lately. Maybe they were just getting revenge for me having to miss the past couple of meetings. *shrug*

I could find fault with any writer if that was my charge.

This group does tend toward "finding fault". Plus, I always expect some negativity because not all of them like my style of writing, but this, wow. I may have set myself up for this when I warned them that the draft was rough and that I was looking for general ideas on what worked and what didn't. I didn't expect to be told "nothing works". And I didn't expect them to actively dislike my characters.

I've had a couple of days to think about it and I still don't know what to make of it.

[donnickcottage.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, if they gave you nothing in the way of actual constructive criticism, if they actually liked nothing of what you wrote, they're just being self righteous bullies. Sorry lass, I've seen your writing, and even if I were to be mean intentionally with malice I would still have to give you plenty of kudos if I were going to be at all honest. They're full of themselves.

[partly.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I'm leaning toward this opinion the more I think about it. I'm also thinking it was an off day.

There may have been more constructive thoughts that they wrote down on the copies I gave them, but I haven't managed to get past the line-edit scribblings to find out.

Still, I'm thinking if things don't improve, I've got better things to do with my time.

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

What made me think I could do this?

Because you're an excellent writer and your stuff IS enjoyable to read?

Critique days are hard...did they manage to say anything NICE????

*I* like your writing. Lots.

[partly.livejournal.com]

No, they didn't. Nothing nice at all. Or if they did, it was lost in all the negatives because I don't remember it.

In all honesty, I haven't gotten around to reading their written comments, but a whole lot of it is line editing and I really don't want line editing at this moment. I don't want to wade through all that to see if they actually liked something. And the one guy who had written down that he did like it, ended up crossing that off and writing down a different comment during the crit! (I did tell him he should do that).

*I* like your writing. Lots.

Thanks.

[gumnut.livejournal.com]

Please tell me they gave you some positives to go with all that, cos if they didn't, their opinions are worth salt. remember it takes skill to critique correctly and even the worst work has some good points. If they neglected those points, then they aren't good critiquers.

Also, what do you think of these people's writing? Do you admire their stuff or are you on par or are they worse than you? Do you trust these people? And did they read a large amount and have time to consider it or was it on the spot feedback?

Either way, I think I'd get a second opinion, hon.

Nutty
(co-ordinator of several writers groups online and off)

[partly.livejournal.com]

Please tell me they gave you some positives to go with all that, cos if they didn't, their opinions are worth salt.

My first instinct was to say "Of course they did" because they always do. The group tends to lean toward critical (with an annoying habit of line editing) but they always come up with the "good job" things. Except, I can't think of any really positive comments. In fact, when someone did point out something they liked others would argue the point with them. One went so far as to change his mind about something he liked after listening to an "explanation" of why the work wasn't actually good.

It was a very odd critique. I really expected the comments to be more positive in the second part of the work, which was more polished. But it all started rolling downhill in the first chapter and I guess it couldn’t be stopped by the time they got to that part.

As for my feelings on the group itself, it's a mixed bag. I like and respect the writers in the group on the average. I feel that two of them are very good writers whose opinions are well worth considering and whose work I greatly enjoy reading. Unfortunately, there are two whose opinions I do not trust, partially because they just don't like my style or genre of writing. Actually, I don't think they like me much, but I'm not a very good judge of that sort of thing and I try not to let that influence my view of their writings or critiques.

It’s been two days and I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole thing. You’re right, though, I should get another opinion. I just don't know where to go.