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Young Writers Society


Criticism.



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Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:02 pm
Momal says...



What was the most difficult criticism you have received. What did you learn from it?
  





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Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:26 pm
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ArcticMonkey says...



I can't exactly remember the most difficult criticism I've received, I think it was something along the lines of my writing just generally being very boring. I think it's because all my sentences sounded the same and at first it was kind of disheartening because at the time I didn't really know how to improve it, but now I've learnt that having really similar sounding sentences can make a piece sound quite boring so I try and mix-it up a bit, and pass that advice to others.
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Sun Dec 22, 2013 8:53 pm
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GoldFlame says...



Not going to go into specifics here, but the most difficult criticism is on the plot of your novel. It's useful criticism, yes, but then you're forced to re-shape your whole plot. Had to do that on occasion...but under the advice of a voice in my head (don't judge). I've never gone further than a few chapters in a novel, because I keep scrapping my plot. Too afraid for that kind of criticism, I guess :) .
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Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:08 am
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Tenyo says...



My opening sentences: "The old iron blades of the windmill creaked painfully as he balanced on the tip. It had been years since they had been used..."

The criticism: You need to change this line. The 'it had been years' makes it seem like it is talking about the 'he' that's on the windmill, which I thought until I read the 'since they had been used' part.

My internal response: if you need me to tailor my work to limit my clauses to six words long, then I could direct you towards some early-reader literature. It might be more suited to your mental capabilities.

P.s thanks for taking the time to review my work! It means a lot, I know it must have been so challenging for you to read such advanced material and I appreciate the effort.

My actual response: Thanks for not reviewing my work again.
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Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:14 am
Chayson says...



I'm a drama student. So, I get criticism and feedback frequently. So, I don't take it much personally. My teacher's feedback was to cheat out better in multiple performances. Though in writing, just keep on going, don't stop, or go back. And most importantly, don't think your writing or story is bad. Don't let people discourage you. I never stopped writing and look where I am now!
  





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Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:20 am
RLK says...



I thought this was more or less...interesting. I like the idea but the main character is kinda annoying. I mean I get the point of the story but either way saying she's beautiful is frustrating. Also, describing her in a mirror is kinda over used and unoriginal, Maybe put that in some other way?


^^^^^ That right there is probably the most difficult criticism I've ever had. I basically took that to heart because I worked so hard on my main character. If there's anything I actually learned from that it was that, hmmm. Well I don't know. I guess I'm still trying to figure that out. :pirate3:
  





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Thu Dec 26, 2013 12:28 pm
erum says...



I envy how I wrote it, bad in places, but great in others. I just love how it sounded and has potential in my opinion just so conflicted because I've tried to continue it down four different paths the last few days and they all SUCKED because I was transferring 2013-me to my 2008-me writing styles that ended up clashing horribly. It's annoying me.
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Thu Dec 26, 2013 8:07 pm
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Rosendorn says...



I believe the worst review I got was one of my first reviews received on the site.

He called my work boring, information heavy, uninteresting, and generally in need of a ton of work.

I learned my work was boring, information heavy, generally in need of a ton of work, and deserving of that scathing criticism.

Then I learned every writer starts there.

I actually started getting better after that.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:35 pm
ConverseFireGirl says...



I haven't had a really bad critique before, but there was one rather recent one, where the user quite clearly said my work didn't have structure and the sentences were thrown together, making not much sense at all. If they had expanded on this, and shown me the main points, I wouldn't have minded, whereas that was basically the whole review, and I was left rather clueless.
Overall though I am rather thick-skinned and I try to take tough critiques with the best thoughts.
No-one had posted for a while, and I found it interesting to see how other people dealt with it! :)
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Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
— Neil Gaiman