1. I
know it is scary, but do try to go to groups where you can
receive feedback, it will be worth it most of the time to
help your writing be as best it can be.
2. Remember
that the comments are about the words, and not you. Sometimes
we think we have put certain things in a piece of work that
aren’t clear for a reader, and by listening to the
responses of people you can decide what may need adding
to work, or taking out.
3. Remember
time is precious in a group where everyone is there to receive
feedback on their own poems also, and try not to get defensive
and justify your choices to people (or go into why you wrote
the poem at length), as these explanations won’t be
there on the page, and don’t need to be heard. If
something happened a certain way in real life, remember
that this doesn’t mean the writing has to stay this
way, and be prepared to fictionalise and alter your work
(even when autobiographical) to make it stand as a piece
of writing. Also,
4. Avoid
the temptation to apologise or explain the piece of work
for feedback as you hand it round (the reader needs to come
to the piece in its own right, and make discoveries for
themselves, which will not be present when it is read without
you there to explain.) This is a hard one, because if we
feel a piece of work is flawed we want to apologise and
explain.
5. Don’t
be afraid to ask questions about feedback. Instead of spending
your precious group time talking about why you did the poem,
or defending it, use the time to ask questions about what
they have said about the work (do you think it will work
if I put something like this in? would that change the tone
do you think? Whatever will be useful to you.)
6. Take
the work you have that you feel needs feedback the most.
There is no point in taking a piece of work you consider
to be perfect and completed, as it will only annoy you if
negative comments are made, and you will feel reluctant
to change the work anyway which is a waste of everyone’s
time.)
7. Be
aware that there will always be members in a group who never
say anything about your work whatsoever. Try not to get
annoyed by this (I know it can happen, particularly if you
always make a point of trying to give constructive feedback
to them.) Remember, just as not everything you read is something
you would want to read again, everyone has different tastes
and interests (and there are some people who your work won’t
appeal to, and this is not necessarily a reflection on the
quality.) Sometimes I have said nothing about something’s
work, because I don’t feel anything in it needs changing.
8. Do
thank members of the group whose comments you found helpful
for their insights. (Remember, giving feedback isn’t
an easy thing to do, and there are issues of trust in any
group, you are putting yourself on a limb by bringing work,
but people who give feedback that challenges work are also
doing so, and it is these comments we often find the most
helpful and that a good group thrives on.)
9. Often
people’s opinions will contradict one other, and it
can be difficult to know what to do with this (and people
make comments we just do not agree with.) When I first started
writing I would try and use all comments, and would often
re-write things again and again according to the latest
set of comments, even when I felt I liked what I was doing
the first time. I ended up going back to work years later
and changing many of these elements back, because they didn’t
feel true to what I intended. If you are good at taking
feedback, and are usually grateful to hear it, you will
have times when you are surprised because a comment on your
work just seems wrong. When we are new at writing is difficult
to know who to listen to. Use feedback where you can and
it helps, but learn to know when to ignore it. As a rule
I would say if I know why I have done something a certain
way deliberately, and have reasons within the context of
the work behind it (which are valid ones), it is at these
times that I can choose to not use other people’s
suggestions (without being in danger of being precious about
the work.) Ultimately this is your work, and sometimes you
have to listen to yourself.
