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The Lure of the Red Pen

This week I had the privilege of critiquing a fledgling authors work. She had written 2,000 words and, feeling stuck, asked for someone to look at what she had already done. The teacher in me jumped at the chance!

After reading her very rough, very raw draft, my first thought was about how brave she was to allow me to read it. I may have mentioned in passing that I am a bit of a perfectionist, and I would never let someone read my first draft knowing it was full of mistakes, probably didn’t make sense, and had no polish to it. I also remember how terribly vulnerable I felt when I eventually allowed others to read my work. My confidence was a very fragile thing, and the slightest criticism would knock me back, often for days or even weeks.

I was so fortunate to have a wonderfully encouraging mentor when I first started out on this journey. Becky’s kind words and gentle nudges allowed me to keep going on the long road to completing my first novel. She praised me and asked insightful questions that made me look at my story in new ways. I think back to those early days and cringe at some of the stuff I put before her, but she was never once anything but gracious. I want to be just like her.

So, faced with this rough piece of work, I had to ask myself some serious questions, before I wielded my metaphorical red pen.

Firstly, what was important to focus on, and what should I ignore? A first draft is a bit like navigating unknown waters. You might start off with an idea of where you are going and have a route planned out, but you can quickly take a wrong turn, get lost, go up a tributary you never intended, and even end up in a completely different place. It is a voyage of discovery. The last thing you need is someone else coming in and telling you what your story is about, and the direction they think you should go. I know how I would have written this piece, but she is very different to me, so I have to respect her craft.

I also didn’t want to start correcting things like grammar and punctuation. (Although I did point out one word which was consistently spelt wrong.) That is one of the last things that an author looks at, when the story is complete, and the refining process starts. I didn’t want her to drown in a flood of nit-picking that ended up killing her creativity. She needs to be able to write freely, without thinking too much about word choice, or grammatical subtleties.

Over the past year in particular, I have been able to attend quite a lot of online training, and I have learnt a lot about honing my craft and improving my writing. Another temptation was to leap in with my new-found knowledge and overwhelm this padawan with the benefit of my wisdom and expertise. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Perhaps, if we develop a relationship and she becomes interested in improving, I can humbly offer my knowledge, but certainly not now. Like me, she needs to find her way at her own pace. Becky could have overwhelmed me with all the different ways my writing could be improved, but she didn’t. She focussed on one or two things in the story that would benefit most and gently made suggestions. The best way to do that is to ask questions. What is happening here? Why did the character do that?

The final thing I wanted to do was find some things in her writing that really worked well, that were astutely crafted or made me feel an emotion. It’s important to celebrate the things she got absolutely right. When I worked in schools, we were told to sandwich a criticism between two comments of praise. Some advocate a 5:1 ratio of good and bad. You probably already recognise yourself that if nine people say your work is great, you still end up focussing on the one who didn’t like it. As much as we all want to improve, we still need to know that the work we are producing has value.

The chances are this new writer’s work will change and evolve so much over the next year that I won’t even recognise it if I get a chance to read it again. My hope is that I will have helped her on that journey, not held her back.

2 Comments


jenna.priaulx
May 19, 2022

Hi Sue! Thank you for telling me about your blog :) I loved the read! And please, never hold back. I let a teachers criticism get the best of me before, I have vowed to never let it happen again. But I do appreciate all the gentle and helpful words you have said. It kicked my block to the curb, and I think I'll be ready and willing to sit down this weekend and write more. You are a phenomenal person! The world needs more of you!

Lots of love

Jenna💕

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susanmansbridge101
Jun 05, 2022
Replying to

Thanks, Jenna. I very much appreciate your encouragement and support. x

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