The Give and Take of Critique: When you’re getting started

For many writers and illustrators, participation in critique groups is a crucial part of the process. Creative work is hard to do alone, and receiving feedback from other creators is valuable. But both giving and receiving feedback comes with challenges, especially when you are new to it.

For those new to the process, or for those who would find it helpful to have some simple suggestions, here are some straightforward tips on the give and take of critique.

THE TAKE

Let’s be honest; sharing your work is a very vulnerable experience. While most come to the critique table to get feedback, there also exists that internal desire to hear, THIS IS FANTASTIC. Send this out instantly. How is this not already published? 

Even if the work is already strong, there’s likely something a peer can share that will allow you to make your work even stronger. And isn’t that the point? Sharing our work with a group of peers gives us the opportunity to make our work ultimately what we want it to be. 

First and foremost, it’s important to separate yourself from the work itself, because feedback can feel like a message of “it’s not good enough”, and in our human minds that often sounds like “you’re not good enough”. Instead, it’s important for us to think about feedback as information that helps us make our work everything we want it to be. What a gift!

Here’s something to try: 

Before you have your next critique group meeting, take a moment to consider what you are sharing. Ask yourself what you think is strong within the pages or illustration, and what you feel unsure about. If you are an illustrator, are you curious if the composition, color, or characters can be pushed a little further as you finish the artwork? Are you worried your picture book is too long? Perhaps you wonder if the character’s problem is shared too late? Or maybe you think that there might be too much backstory or world building in the first chapters? 

The truth is, we don’t often trust our guts as creators. Or we ignore it. Or try to quiet it. Often, if you consider what you feel is strong and what you feel might be lacking before getting feedback, your peers will likely confirm what your gut was telling you.

Note what gets under your skin

Feedback is subjective, and we should only take what feels right for us. But it’s often those things we don’t want to be right, but it is a valid critique, that can bother us the most. Given the time to sit with it, and to be honest with ourselves, we might actually come to the conclusion that the feedback that bothered us was valid and we should address it. 

Note the positive

When your peers are giving you feedback (if you are meeting together in person), resist defending, and be sure to note the positive elements that are mentioned. It’s very likely you won’t have to note the critical feedback. You will remember the comments like: The pacing is slow. I was confused here. You should try a more unique approach to the page design. The color palette is not working.  But it’s very likely you’ll forget the positives. (There’s real brain science as to why this happens, so please…note the positive!)

THE GIVE

Find the gold

As it’s important to note the positives you receive, it’s equally important to share the positives you see in your peer’s work. There’s a reason we’ve all heard of the critique sandwich (feedback delivered in a positive – critique – positive format). The sandwich critique method supports the development of craft through positive reinforcement while giving useful criticism for refinement and growth. It makes receiving (and giving) feedback more digestible and kind. This form of feedback is good for you to hear and for you to share with others. 

There’s so much gold (from small to big) that you can note. Do you love: 

• a character
• color palette
• texture
• the concept
• word choice, even if just a single word or phrase
• the feelings—joy, frustration, sadness, etc.
• rising action
• big stakes
• great voice
• a fantastic first line
• a just-right ending

Mark it up

One simple way of tracking both the positive and critical elements you want to point out to your peers, is to mark up the manuscript using symbols. Here are some suggestions:

• Hearts – something you love or makes you feel
• Emoji style faces (happy or sad) to indicate emotionally how the story is moving you
• LOL – it’s funny
• ? – a spot that has you confused or where you have questions or need clarification
• ! – a wow moment 
• Star – something great
• Lines indicating a spot you want to go back to think about more 

You can make these marks as you read and then easily go back and clarify further with written or verbal thoughts.

What bumps? 

It’s important for a writer to know where something might not be working, or something might be missing. You, as the critiquer, don’t have to know exactly why something’s not working, but you can point it out. A trick is noticing where something “bumps.” A spot that slows you down, a spot that makes you have to go back and re-read/re-look for understanding, a spot that leaves you with a question the writer likely didn’t want you to have.  

In creating illustrations, it is very easy to be so close to the artwork that you can’t see the problems within it. A good critique, especially one given in the early stages of design, can identify technical flaws in the anatomy, perspective, readability, color selection, unwanted tangents, or identifying the point of focus. A good critique can improve the overall composition of the art to take it from good to great. As you review artwork, acknowledge what you see and consider how it makes you feel. Consider if the artist has used the elements of design successfully.  Try to focus on the work and be respectful in your feedback. Artists are sensitive beings, and critique can be a valuable tool to help them grow.

Don’t make demands

A word of caution: avoid making demands. This looks like telling the writer/illustrator how to fix it. I think the mouse should be a rabbit. You should use blue instead of purple.

Often, good feedback can come in the form of a question. Are Character A and Character B doing the same work? Have you considered making them one character instead of two? 

AFTER THE FEEDBACK

Sit with it

You don’t have to decide right away, based on the feedback, to fix or change something. Give yourself time to consider. 

However, if you receive the same feedback from more than one person, it’s likely an element to give your attention to. If you’re struggling with how, or you’ve tried to address it before and you are still receiving the same note, turn to mentor text. 

Let’s say you’ve been told you need to start your picture book faster, that you have too many words in the beginning, or that you need to get to the problem sooner. These are three ways of saying similar things. Something’s not working in the beginning. 

Turn to great picture books (ideally published recently) and study the beginnings, the first few page turns, of those picture books. You might:

• Read them and make notes
• type them up in standard manuscript format
• map them out on a storyboard
• all of the above

How can taking a close look at those picture books inform a fresh beginning for your book? 

Ultimately, enjoy and appreciate the process. Having community and support from your writing and illustrating friends can help your process, your work, and enrich your experience creating in the world of children’s books.