Having embraced criticism as a necessity, the next step was to learn what advice to take, and what to leave behind. I quickly found that there was no shortage of people willing to tell me how to improve my writing.
As a newbie, I would often get depressed over negative comments. I can remember, shedding some serious tears when an online friend told me that one of my characters had gone from being a good guy to becoming manipulative, and that he didn’t like him at all. Needless to say, I didn’t get a whole lot more out of his comments. All I could think about was how hard I’d worked to create a realistic character, and this “friend” was telling me the guy was a user.
Fortunately, I was wise… make that upset enough not to question his comments right after reading them. I let them stew for a while. When I took the time to reread, not only his comments, but those of the others who had read the chapter, it became clear to me, that he wasn’t totally wrong. I hadn’t fleshed out my character enough to bring his motivations to light. The MC I had worked so hard on making the good guy, came across as manipulative. Ouch!
My heart ached, not because I was wrong, but because I had done my character a huge disservice. Without other eyes, my poor character would have remained that way. Now, that’s not to say I take every piece of advice to heart. But what I learned that day was to stop and give some serious thought to what my readers are telling me. I used to reply to critiques right away. I no longer do that. I wait at least a day, sometimes two, then revisit what they have to say. If their comments read true, I look for ways to improve my character while still keeping him/her true to what I created.
I can tell from the comments I’ve received on my current WIP that I have some work to do on another male character. What is it with me and angry or pushy? I recently made a comment that I don’t write Aplha males. I think I lied. Better go take care of that right now!