Surviving The Scrutiny

The scariest, most awful part of writing is when other people are reading it. The irony is that we usually want other people to read our stuff (that's why we let them read it), but in the beginning, these people are not casually reading your stories - they're scrutinizing them.

Scrutinizing is what your peers do to you in a workshop. They pay close attention; they take notes on every line; they question every inconsistency and incongruity. (Well, that's what they should be doing in a workshop.) Scrutinizing is what your editors do. They find every single mechanical error,every heavy sentence, every awkward phrasing. If there is any kind of issue with your writing, a scrutinous reader will find it.

Such scrutiny can break so many writers. We get so connected to our work that it is hard to separate ourselves from it. When people take a shot at your writing, you take it personally. After a bad enough experience, you either never show your work to anybody (except your yes-men friends) or you ignore everything that everybody ever says about your work.

Both of those are bad ideas, but if you had to choose one, go with the latter. One of my professors actually told me and my fellow writing majors that a workshop is where everybody reads your work, tells you how they think you should change it, and then you ignore all of them and do your own thing. It was funny enough to remember when we actually were doing those workshops and helped us survive (those of us that did survive).

The trick to surviving the scrutiny is to remember that it is just searching. People are not trying to attack you; they are trying to help you. They are finding the problems so you can fix them and make a better piece of writing. Some people may be more crass than others, but try to not take it personally. Your writing may be a part of you, but it is also separate from you. You are not words on paper. If people don't care for the words, that doesn't mean they don't care for you. You can change your words without having to change yourself.

Find that balance between ignoring scrutinizers (especially negative nancy's and people with terrible suggestions) and accepting where your work could be improved and ways to make it happen.