What to Do with Bad Critiques (Hint: Ignore Them)

Jennifer Peaslee
3 days ago
3 min read

I've written about the importance of writing communities several times before, and that includes critique groups. Critique groups, especially when you're starting out, are crucial for getting feedback.

I go through a whole process when I receive a critique:

Read it
Argue with everything it says
Walk away
Re-read it
Agree with pretty much everything it says
Make changes, following my gut

But sometimes, I get a bad critique. Bad critiques are frustrating, particularly when you receive them on sites like Scribophile, which only allows so many critiques per piece.

And by "bad," I don't mean negative. Negative is fine and often valuable (so long as it's not only negative; I'll get to that later).

What Are Some Bad Critiques?

Rewriting your sentences to their liking

I have received several critiques in which the critiquer rewrote nearly all of my sentences, not because of clumsy sentence structure, or misused words, or really any reason other than the critiquer wanted to see the story written the way they would write it.

That is awful behavior. Please, don't critique like that. It's vital that you help develop the writer's voice, not change it to your voice.

All Negative, Nothing Positive

I have a writer friend who, following my advice, submitted one of her stories to a critique website. The feedback she received was awful. At least one person told her that she should give up on writing completely. (I felt so bad for recommending the site!)

If you write critiques that are 100% negative, then you are not a critiquer at all—you're just an asshole.

And I'm not just saying that because I have thin skin or think that everyone needs a head pat or whatever. As my friend Dashcomma points out in her latest post, it's important to note the positive in what you're critiquing so that the author knows what is working as well as what isn't.

Biased "Critiques" That Aren't About Writing

I genuinely feel this shouldn't have to be said, but it does: when you're critiquing, only comment on matters related to the writing.

For instance, when I submitted my story "Brownie Points" to a critique website, I received one critique that will always stick out in my mind. The critic, realizing that the story was about a complicated friendship with a bipolar person, wrote that it's useless to try to befriend anyone with bipolar because they will never be happy.

I have bipolar.

Did it feel good to receive that little tidbit, which had nothing to do with my writing? No, it did not. I did laugh, though, at the absurdity.

So keep your non-writing opinions to yourselves, because your critique isn't the time or the place.

When They're Trying To Sell You Something

Don't use your critiques as an excuse to self-promote your blog, your website, your book, your writing course, etc. Don't do it. Just don't. Do not.

So What Do You Do When You Get A Bad Critique?

You ignore it! That's the only thing you can do.

Don't reply and argue
Don't reply and disagree
Do thank them for their time, because they did spend time on it, even though their time would have been better spent elsewhere.

Writing without a paywall is important to me, but writing is work. If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I would be honored if you would consider donating.

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