I’m going to tell you something really important about writing, something every writer, no matter how much they’ve written, eventually figures out: no one can appreciate your story if they haven’t read it. And for a story to really grab someone, it has to be as good as it can be. That means making it sharp, tight, and polished. This process, let me tell you, can sometimes be tough and a bit humbling, because it requires one vital thing: critique.
Now, getting feedback, especially the kind that points out your story’s weaknesses, can feel like a direct hit to your creative heart. But here’s the secret: the goal isn’t to avoid it. The goal is to get really good at handling it. This guide is all about taking that scary act of getting critiques and turning it into a powerful way to make your stories truly amazing.
The Hard Truth: Critiques Really Do Matter
If you write and never let anyone see it, your writing will just sit there and never grow. Your own internal editor, no matter how good you think they are, has blind spots. What’s perfectly clear to you, the person who created it, might be a big confusing mess to someone else. Critiques give you that priceless outside view. They show you where what you mean to say isn’t actually coming across on the page. They reveal plot holes you’re too close to notice, pacing issues you’ve glossed over, and character inconsistencies your own mind has rationalized away. Receiving critique isn’t a sign you’re weak; it’s a sign you’re a serious, committed writer. It’s like doing audience research before your story even gets to its final readers.
Getting Ready: Your Mindset and Practical Steps Before Asking for Feedback
How well a critique session goes starts long before anyone says a word. It begins with how you get ready – both in your head and with your manuscript.
Developing a Mindset for Growth: Ego Versus Getting Better
Before you send your precious story out, really think about what you expect. Are you looking for praise, or are you looking to improve? If you’re only looking for praise, you’re setting yourself up to feel disappointed and defensive. A growth mindset means you see every piece of feedback, even the difficult stuff, as information. It’s data that helps you understand how your story is affecting people.
Here’s an example: Instead of thinking, “I really hope they love my main character, she’s so original,” try thinking, “I wonder if my main character’s motivations are clear enough; I want readers to connect with her.” That small shift in how you think sets you up to truly listen.
Being Smart About Who You Ask and What You Give Them
Not all feedback is created equal. The better your critiquer, the better the critique you’ll get.
- Different Viewpoints Are Key: Try to get a mix of people. Another writer understands the craft. A really avid reader gives you an unvarnished audience perspective. Someone who doesn’t even usually read your genre can tell you if your story has broad appeal (or if it doesn’t).
- Ask Specific Questions: Don’t just say, “What do you think?” Guide them. This saves them time and gives you the focused feedback you need. For instance: “Are the stakes in the climax clear?” “Does the opening grab you?” “Is my character’s internal struggle believable?” “Does the dialogue sound natural, or forced?” “Are there any parts where the pacing drags?” “Is the ending satisfying and earned?”
- Give Clear Instructions: Tell them how you prefer to get their feedback (like comments in the document, or just a summary of notes). Give them a deadline. Make sure your manuscript is clean, double-spaced, and in a common format like .docx.
- Watch Out for the Cheerleaders: While supportive friends are wonderful, they might avoid telling you uncomfortable truths. Look for people who are willing to be honest and constructive, even if it might sting a little.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you’ve written a science fiction story. You might ask a big sci-fi fan for feedback on your world-building, a literary friend for insights on character depth, and someone who doesn’t usually read sci-fi for clarity and how engaging the story is overall. You’d include a note saying, “Specifically, I’m worried about whether the time travel mechanics are understandable without too much explanation. What are your thoughts on that?”
How to Take It: Processing Feedback Without Going Crazy
The moment of truth arrives. Your story is back, covered in comments. This is where a lot of writers mess up, letting their ego get in the way of actually improving.
The First Read-Through: Just Take It In, Don’t Start Analyzing (Yet)
Don’t jump to arguing with or immediately taking every single comment to heart. Your first read should just be about absorbing it. Read through all the feedback, even the stuff that makes your stomach tighten. Let it wash over you. Don’t defend, don’t justify. Just understand what they said.
Here’s an example: Someone writes, “This paragraph is confusing.” Your immediate thought might be, “No, it’s not! It’s perfectly clear!” Instead, consciously tell yourself, “Okay, they found it confusing. I need to make a note of that.”
The Cool-Down Period: Deal With Your Emotions, Not the Text
Give yourself some space. Step away from your computer. Go for a walk. Do some chores. Let that initial sting or feeling of defensiveness fade away. Trying to logically process feedback when your emotions are running high just doesn’t work.
Here’s an example: After reading a particularly harsh critique, close the document. Make some tea. Let yourself feel frustrated for ten minutes, then consciously shift your focus. “Okay, being frustrated isn’t helping me. What’s the real issue here?”
Breaking It Down and Organizing: Finding Patterns and What to Focus On
Once you’re calm, go back to the feedback, but this time, look at it critically (not self-critically). Your goal now is to find patterns, not just individual comments.
- See What Everyone Agrees On: Did several readers point out the same problem (like, “The pacing was slow in Chapter 3,” or “I didn’t understand the villain’s motivation”)? If they did, that’s a very strong sign there’s a real problem that needs fixing.
- Group the Feedback: Put similar comments together.
- Plot/Structure: Pacing, plot holes, rising action, climax, resolution.
- Characters: Motivation, believably, voice, character arc.
- World-building: Consistency, clarity, how immersive it is.
- Prose/Style: Word choice, sentence structure, flow, writing voice, exposition.
- Theme: Clarity, how much it resonates.
- Focus on the Praise First, Then the Problems: Start by noting what they loved. This is great for your morale and shows you what you’re already doing well. Then, tackle the areas that need improvement.
- Separate Solutions From Problems: Someone might say, “You should add a scene where X happens.” That’s a suggested solution. Your job is to figure out the problem they’re trying to solve (“The reader felt X wasn’t developed enough”) and then come up with your own, possibly better, solution.
Here’s an example: Three out of five people who read your story mentioned that the inciting incident felt forced. That’s a pretty clear agreement. One person suggested, “Maybe the alien could actually break the lamp, not just trip over it.” You’d write down the problem: “Inciting incident feels forced/unbelievable.” You’d save the suggested solution for later, but you wouldn’t commit to it yet.
The “Why” Game: Digging Deeper Than the Surface
Someone might say, “I didn’t like your main character.” Don’t automatically change your character. Ask why. Were they unlikable, inconsistent, underdeveloped, or did that specific reader just not connect with them? Asking “why” helps you address the root cause, not just the symptom.
Here’s an example: If someone says, “The dialogue here is clunky,” ask yourself (or even politely ask them, if it’s appropriate), “Is it clunky because the words are stiff, or because it’s too much explanation, or because it doesn’t sound like real people talk?” The fix for each of those is different.
Actionable Information: Turning Feedback Into Revision
Now that you’ve processed the feedback, it’s time to map out how you’re going to improve.
Prioritize and Plan: What to Tackle First
Don’t try to fix every single comment at once. You’ll just overwhelm yourself.
- Big Picture First: Deal with plot holes, character inconsistencies, and major structural problems before you start polishing sentences. What’s the point of meticulously shine a scene that might need to be cut entirely?
- Issues Everyone Noticed: Start with problems that multiple readers pointed out. These are almost certainly real issues.
- Impact Versus Effort: While important, think about how much work is involved. A major plot overhaul takes a lot of time. Small tweaks to word choice are quicker. Balance them.
Here’s an example: If several readers said, “The ending came out of nowhere,” that’s a big, structural issue. You’d prioritize planning changes to your climax and resolution. If one reader mentioned an awkward phrase in a single sentence, that’s a lower priority.
Don’t Explain: Let the Story Do the Talking
When you’re revising, your goal is to make the story clear, not to explain away every critique with new text. If a reader was confused by a plot point, don’t add a paragraph of exposition trying to clarify it. Instead, weave the information naturally into the story and the action.
Here’s an example: Reviewer: “I don’t understand why the character goes to the abandoned factory.” Instead of adding narration that explains her past connection, show her hesitating, touching a worn locket, and a brief flashback or strong internal thought that confirms her motivation.
Focus on the Real Problem, Not Just the Symptom
A common mistake is to fix the symptom without getting to the underlying cause.
Here’s an example:
* Critique: “The dialogue feels stiff.”
* Symptom Fix: Changing a few formal words to more casual ones.
* Root Problem: The character rarely speaks, so when they do, every line feels loaded with information.
* Root Solution: Give the character more chances to speak earlier, in less crucial moments, to develop a natural rhythm for their voice. Maybe add more action or subtext to their lines.
Implement and Iterate: Revision Is a Cycle
Revision isn’t something you do once and then you’re done. It’s a continuous process. Make the changes, let the story sit for a bit, then read it again with fresh eyes. Does the fix create new problems? Is the new version genuinely better? Sometimes, fixing one area might show a new weakness somewhere else.
What to Discard: Knowing When to Ignore Feedback
Not every piece of feedback is gold. This is probably the hardest part: figuring out which critiques are valid and which are just opinions or misunderstandings.
- Subjective Preferences: If someone says, “I don’t like fantasy books” and they rarely read fantasy, that’s probably not very helpful feedback if you’re writing fantasy. “I didn’t like your main character” might just be a matter of taste if they don’t give specific reasons (like, “she’s unrelatable because her actions don’t match her stated goals”).
- Solutions, Not Problems: If someone only offers solutions (“You should totally add a dragon!”) but can’t explain a problem (“The story needs more fantastical elements to make the setting make sense”), you can often just ignore the solution.
- Trust Your Gut: After you’ve carefully thought about and analyzed the feedback, if a piece of it just doesn’t align with your artistic vision and you can’t find a fundamental flaw it’s trying to address, it’s okay to put it aside. Your story is, ultimately, yours. But you should do this consciously, not defensively. It requires real honesty with yourself.
Here’s an example: If one reader loved your ambiguous ending but another demanded a clear resolution, and you intentionally left it ambiguous for thematic reasons, you might weigh the feedback and decide to stick with your original vision, just making sure the ambiguity is intentional and not just unclear.
Beyond This Draft: Keeping Up the Improvement
Learning from critiques isn’t just about fixing one story; it’s about growing as a writer.
Keep a Critique Journal: Track Your Progress
Keep a record of the common critiques you receive. Do you consistently hear about pacing issues? Character motivation? Too much explanation? Spotting these recurring patterns shows you your personal writing weaknesses, allowing you to deliberately work on improving them in future projects.
Here’s an example: Your journal shows, “Consistently told, not shown,” “Dialogue often serves as info-dump,” and “Endings feel rushed.” This tells you where to focus your learning and practice for your next short story.
Read Like a Writer: Analyze and Learn
Once you’re good at receiving critiques, you’ll start reading published works differently. You’ll notice how authors master pacing, develop characters, or subtly reveal backstory. You’ll identify the solutions they used for problems you might face.
Here’s an example: Reading a novel, you might notice an internal monologue about a character’s past. You think, “Ah, this is how they avoided an information dump that a reviewer might flag.”
Pay It Forward: Critiquing Others to Improve Your Own Skills
Critiquing other writers’ work is an incredibly powerful way to sharpen your own critical eye. When you pinpoint problems in someone else’s writing, you become better at seeing those same issues in your own work. It forces you to explain what works and what doesn’t, which strengthens your understanding of the craft.
Here’s an example: As you critique a fellow writer’s story, you might find yourself thinking, “This character’s motivation isn’t clear here.” That thought immediately makes you think, “Is my character’s motivation clear in my own story?”
In Conclusion: The Never-Ending Journey of Refinement
Learning from critiques is never truly finished. It’s an ongoing conversation with your readers and with your craft. It demands humility, resilience, and a solid commitment to getting better. Every critique isn’t a judgment; it’s like a flashlight showing you the way to a stronger, more impactful story. Embrace the feedback, learn from the patterns you see, and watch as your short stories go from good to truly unforgettable.