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Critiquing is an interesting thing. It’s putting yourself out there for others, and it’s reading what others have entrusted to you. It’s a way to improve your writing. But I’ve found that I learn just as much by critiquing others as I do being critiqued by them. I may even learn more! It’s because I’ve learned to see my own faults in their writing.
I don’t sympathize with their main character, and realize that my MC is exactly the same.
I read a scene where the POV head-hops and I finally *get* why that drives my critters crazy. (My name is Rebecca and I am a recovering head-hopper)
I read sentences that over-explain a concept and I think of all the times I do that in my WIP.
Redundant, I write, and then find I’m doing the same thing (talk about redundancy!).
And the worst: I get bored reading a scene, but expect my critters to love my favorite chapter in which literally nothing happens to move the story forward.
But the more I critique other people’s work the better I become at finding these flaws in their babies, and the better I can find the flaws with mine. And that’s not bad considering I was taught to write like a scientist (have you ever read a scientific paper? And understood it? Then you know what I’m talking about).
What lessons have you learned from critiquing other people’s work?