My mentoring session with WoMentoring started this week and though I knew
what to expect it was always going to be an emotional journey.
The basic idea of mentoring is
you work with a more established writer for a short period; getting advice on how to move your
writing career forward, receiving feedback on your work and assistance in whatever areas you are struggling with. It is usually
very individualised to your needs.
A big part of my requirements for my mentor was critical feedback on my writing.
I have been in Finland for 7 years now and I've fallen away from the old
writing groups, courses, literary circles I used to rely on to gauge responses
to my writing. I still submit pieces to publishers so their yes or no responses
are a rough guide, but not helpful in any real sense.
I've submitted my
work to group criticism almost from the beginning of my career. While at Uni pursuing my
English degree, I joined a writing group and attended any workshops that
visiting writers were offering. In Scotland, I took advantage of similar
experiences: the great Scottish poet Tom Leonard ripped my poems apart back in
1992 and I still look back on it with a weird sense of pride.
I know what to
expect and how to handle it, but like I said, I'm out of practice so
that first reading of my mentor's comments on my poems felt like a kick to the
stomach. I did send an email afterwards explaining some missed references, but
then I just left the poems alone. On paper at least, I was rolling them around
in my head constantly. I was gutted, I always wish for gushing praises, but I
know that's not what I really want or need. I need someone to look critically
at my work and point out the weak lines, the problematic areas, the chaotic
jumble of ideas in need of a focus.
I did a free
writing in a cafe while waiting for my son that evening and I did rant a bit
about how she couldn't see this or understand that, but after an hour my
conclusion was she couldn't see my references or understand my images because they
weren’t clear enough. My writing was at fault.
Criticism is
personal, it is the critic's opinion and they are flawed and human, just like us.
The critic brings their own style, interests and experiences into a poem and
this colours how they respond to it and how they criticise it. And even a
writer as good as Tom Leonard may have a bad opinion of a poem that does work
for other people. Just because they suggest a change, it doesn't mean you have
to follow those recommendations to the letter. Though Tom was right on the
money with my work, I was a young, naive writer who had received nothing but
praise from my University lecturers over the years and I needed to see where my
work was failing. It was a brilliant wake up call, if very scary.
Over the years I
have learned to take in criticism and use it to re-examine my poems. I don't
automatically change everything they point out, don't rip away all the lines they
don't like or rewrite as they see fit. If I did, I wouldn't have much of
the poem that was mine and I wouldn't be following my own writing
instinct.
So yesterday, I re-examined
my mentor's comments and went back to the poems. There were lines I agreed were
forced, so they went, to some extent. Sometimes I kept part of a line as it had
something needed saying, just in a different way. There were lines that were
just filler, so they went.
Two of the three
poems she critiqued went back to bare bones and I'm still trying to figure out
which way to go with them. I need to recapture the original spark that caused
me to write them which can be difficult years after the fact. The other poem I
kept most of what she didn't like because there was a major reference that
wasn't clear, so I'm rebuilding, focusing on that metaphor.
Finding someone
who provides good criticism of your work is hard. I tend to avoid family and
good friends. They usually don't have the knowledge to respond to poetry in a
helpful manner, don't want to hurt my feelings, think that praise is helpful.
I go with writers whose work I admire and whose opinions I trust, writers I
know who won't let their egos or professional jealousy colour their view.
Writers I've worked with for years.
Praise is good when it’s deserved and specific, so you can see
what is working. General praise of the ‘it’s nice, I like it’ variety doesn’t help
you improve. Vague critical comments are equally unhelpful. You need to know
what lines aren’t beautiful, which aren’t getting their point across, aren’t
carrying their weight. Fix-its needed to be given sparingly, don’t tell a
writer how to fix their poem. Point out what isn’t working for you and let them
find a solution, in their voice and style, if they feel it's needed.
When I had my first collection accepted I paid a poet I knew well
to review it. Her comments and criticisms pushed me in the right direction to
make the collection the best I could. Positive critical feedback helps you
grow as a poet, negative feedback can stunt your growth.
Writing groups are not always the best atmosphere for improvement.
I have been to some where all they wanted was praise. Any comment that was
critical was automatically shouted down with more praise. No one walked out
wanting to improve their work. I’ve been to others where the comments were so
negative and full of ‘fix-it my way’ type feedback that everyone left hating
their work, they could only see the negatives. Finding a group that offers a
good balance is difficult and I’ve been very lucky to work with facilitators
who know how to create a good group atmosphere and with fellow writers who know how to
provide helpful feedback.
Accepting criticism of your work and using it to re-evaluate your writing is a necessary and important step to moving into the more public realm of writing and being published. Learning to deal with the fear and exposure can help strengthen your voice, so it's worth building up that slightly toughened skin. But don't be afraid to stick up for your writing, sometimes you are the expert of your own work.
Good luck
