What every writer needs: a smart, honest, critical reader. Or in a perfect world, a posse of smart-honest-criticals. Let’s face it. If you have an Einsteinian friend, but he only heaps praise upon your work and doesn’t share what could be better, how does that help? If you have an Eeyore-type who honestly sees prickles and sigh-worthy writing everywhere but is dumb as a post, should you put stock in her faultfinding? All three qualities—smart, honest, critical—have to be present in one lovely person to truly help you (in life and writing).
I say this by way of encouragement: if you are smart, please be honest and critical. If you are honest but not smart: mute yourself. If you are chiefly critical (honest or not), also do the world a favor and mute yourself. And to those of you blessed to have all three traits, cultivate a gentle spirit. Even the best suggestions could use a coating of chocolate to help them go down easier.
These are the thoughts I have as my students gather for class #1 of our 10-week session together. We’re reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (the younger ones) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (the high schoolers). As we read these awesome books and discuss them book-club style, we’ll simultaneously write our little hearts out and tell one another how we like the words. Sound fun? I thought so.
KL Griffiths 
I think you do a great job of balancing encouragement and growth. I’m thankful for your influence in both my life and my children’s. Good luck with your class!
Thanks! They make me smile…as do YOU.
Great advice about kind honesty feedback wise Kelly. When giving feedback I focus on effects the writing has on me, stressing all the time that its just me and that others might react differently, making sure the writer understands my belief that I don’t think any writing is right or wrong so long as the writer is controlling the words to create the effects they are working toward. Writers can only truly know if what they have been creating is having a the desired effect on others if they get discreet feedback from a few readers. Kind readers who don’t destroy their confidence and ability to write better. xxxxx Love your blog by the way.
Wow, Jan. Well said! I especially like the phrase about controlling the words to create the effects we desire. Yes, that’s what we do, but it helps to hear it spelled out that way, to be aware that that’s what we’re attempting to do. We can only know whether or not we achieved the hoped-for result when another person gives us feedback. And how I do love when two feedbacks are in direct opposition to one another (which happens quite a lot.. haha!). I could write an entire post on that. 🙂
You’re such a wonderful writer–and critical, honest, and smart reader! It can be tough with young people–and newer writers–to not take critical feedback personally. I’m sure you’re great at guiding them through that! I thought of you recently, as I’m enduring the process of switching schools for my boys, for next year on. They’ll be in a much smaller school with a STEM focus, and while I’m not worried that they’ll lack in language arts, I do know the school encourages parents to think about hosting after-school clubs. And I thought: oooo, creative writing club! Just a thought, we’ll see. But, if it were to happen I might reach out for some tips! Also, I got word from Publishers Marketplace that there will be a new graphic edition of Watership Down from James Sturm. Anyway–hope you’re having a lovely time with your young students! And I’ll take your Cleveland February any day over this rainy nonsense here!
Oh Rebecca! You should TOTALLY do the after-school club. You’ll be the one blessed, as I’m sure you know. My students teach and inspire me. A friend of mine just read WD as a result of beta-reading Bookworm…can I tell you how pumped that made me?! And thanks for the perspective on weather. It actually snowed a bunch here and it’s a lovely white. For now. 😉
Good advice. The reader is always right about what is working and what is not working for them, even though that doesn’t mean it won’t work for other readers. Art is both subjective and objective at the same time, which makes it a great, but also which makes criticism such a hard thing to fully assess. But I think you’re correct in bringing up that “smart, honest, critical” reader. That is what any creative person needs to find in order to improve. It takes others, too, to get better at the craft. Surprisingly writing is not a solitary thing! All ideas come from other ideas.