The Value of Pausing for A Critique

I love getting criticism...I know that's a weird thing to admit, and sometimes it is a hard pill to swallow, but I have yet to come across a critique or suggestion that has made me worse off as a writer...as long as I can decipher the good from the bad, of course!

Whether it be from:

(all the below have helped me at some point in my short writing venture)

a manuscript review

comments from ACFW Genesis judges

an agent's rejection letter with the “whys” answered

the ACFW large crit group

or a fab crit partner....

If I can sit and take it, and then really chew on the advice and figure out how it applies, IF it applies (some crits just need to be taken with a grain of salt), I'll crave a keen eye and welcome a challenge like a writing olympian!

Once I get that invaluable crit, I must choose to either press forward on my wip, and ignore the holes pointed out, save them for later or never (I usually want word count under my belt, and strive to get to that exciting point in my plot, or that a-ha moment for my main character...) OR I can cave in to the nudge and press

   PAUSE,

then...

   REWIND

to the critiqued chapters...

                                          

and hash out the words of advice against the words of my wip.

The value of doing this has become more and more clear to me over this past year of receiving crits.

First, something as simple as grammar pointed out in the early chapters will allow me to not repeat the same mistakes throughout the rest of my writing...and if anyone needs grammar advice it is ME!

Second, my writer/creator eyes aren't the same as brand new baby eyes upon my work. Sometimes I am so invested in my characters and story, I assume everyone will read my words with the utmost clarity and delight. But I need to be sure to hook the reader effectively, and a crit partner is the first person to “test” my writing's believability and comprehension. If there is any question on their part, then I have a great opportunity to be sure that what I'm writing is what I intended to convey.

Third, sometimes a criticism may spark a deeper change than a couple of grammar mistakes or a tightening of pov...sometimes the spark might be plot changing, deepening of characters, or weaving the theme in such a way I will double my word count in a matter of hours because of the inspiration I've been given.

FAST FORWARD is the mode I most naturally want to write in-- it's the pace my creative juices thrive on...BUT, if I allow my crit partner or crit group to press pause every once in a while, and I steady my pace, REWIND becomes my friend, no matter how hard it is for me to initially push that button!


How do you manage your critiques? Do you stop and adjust the critiqued chapters, or do you wait until you go through your next manuscript edit? Have you ever been inspired to make a major change in your wip from a particular critique?