Self-Doubt: The Root of All Evil

Authors love feedback. And once a work is published, reviews are the main source of feedback. This would be fine, except for two facts. Fact 1, authors should never read reviews. Fact 2, it's not a a two-way street, and no matter what the reviewer says or doesn't say, responding is never, ever a good idea. It's called The Author's Big Mistake and it carries that name for a reason.

I never break the second rule, unless it's to thank somebody for taking the time to read and write a review. But I never remember the first rule. I knew an author who claimed he never read reviews because if you believe the good things, you have to believe the bad. I don't disagree with the logic. The problem is, as a writer, I'm often plagued with doubt.

Sometimes I'm plagued with so much doubt that by the time a book is published, I can barely stand to think about it. Usually once a book goes on sale, I never revisit it, never re-read it, never remember the good times I had writing it. I know deep down inside it sucks, nobody's going to buy it, and if they do, they'll hate it. I should have worked harder on the prose, I should have tightened the plot, maybe it needed another round of edits.

I've never received a review as harsh as the ones I give myself for every single book, and I find it very difficult to talk about my work, much less claim it under my own name. Because then everybody will know I've successfully published one hundred titles under two pseudonyms, and every single one is "terrible".

Opening the Door: Stephen King On Writing and Feedback

Wednesday is book review day at Triumphal Writing, and I was slated to review Stephen King's seminal On Writing, but I can't.  First off I haven't finished it yet, and secondly I can't review it once and then put it away.  There's too much in it to talk about, and I couldn't really "review" it anyway.  Am I to assign a mark and a stamp of approval for such a book, Haley's writing Bible?

No, I won't review it, but I will draw on some wisdom from it as we continue to address the issue of feedback and constructive criticism this week.  Yesterday Haley listed five suggestions on giving and receiving feedback, something writers are (or should be) always engaged in.  Do you want to hear what Stephen King says on the matter?  Well, ok, I'll tell you.   Then, afterwards, you should go to the library or bookstore or amazon or however you acquire books, and read the whole thing for yourself.  Or come back here where we'll surely talk about it again. 

Pitching and Catching: The Five Rules of Constructive Criticism

If you're immersed in a community of writers--whether they're students, bloggers, or novelists--you will provably ask for feedback. And chances are good, you'll be asked to provide feedback on somebody else's work. Students participate in workshops, creative writers not only participate in workshops, but may also seek feedback from friends and colleagues or a network of trusted "beta readers." No man is an island, and very few people write in a vacuum where outside opinions are never sought or requested. But giving and receiving feedback can also be hugely stressful for both parties involved. So here are five suggestions to make the experience less frightening all around.

1. Be Specific

"Your introduction is nice."

"I like the ending."

"The story is interesting, yeah."

"Good job!"

"Interesting argument."

"The ending was a little weak but overall everything else was okay."

I've seen vague comments like that more times than I can count. At times they were directed at me and my work, at times at my students' work, and sadly, I've even been responsible for vague feedback once or twice. If you don't know what to say or you're worried about hurting somebody's feelings, simple comments with vaguely reassuring words like nice and interesting seem like the safest route. And that might be the case, but it isn't the most helpful route. 


Nice is an empty word, more or less meaningless. Nobody wants to be called nice. That's no better than saying "I know nothing else about you but I'm expected to say something here." You should offer concrete feedback, referring often to the work itself in order to explain your reaction and thoughts. The introduction shouldn't be nice, it should be witty, engaging, intriguing, exciting, confusing, fun, anything but nice. If the introduction fails on some level, it'll never improve if you don't explain where it falls short.

Embracing Feedback and Criticism: What's the Use?

As a writer, a teacher, a student, and an editor I've had to deal with both giving and receiving feedback and criticism, and it has never been fun, easy, or always helpful. This is a shame, because feedback and criticism are some of the most important weights writers need to help build their writing muscle. This week Triumphal Writing will be looking at the feedback process, how to make the most of poor feedback, how to give good feedback and how to deal with criticism in general. I'm reading On Writing by Stephen King now, and one thing that has struck me so far (among many things. I'll probably mention this book in every post I write for the next year) was what he learned about feedback when he worked as a teenager writing sports articles for the local paper: "Write with the door closed, rewrite with it open." Think about that minute.