Getting Criticism From Someone Who Can't Read Will Only Teach You To Create Terrible Work

The writing process requires two entities: The writer and the reader. Writing is a cycle, and without a good reader and writer, the magic of the writing process shuts down. We live in an increasingly aliterate world. People might know how to read in the most practical sense of the word, but they lack the sophistication to absorb complex work. Bad readers are everywhere. Not all feedback has merit, so the workshop process isn’t always easy to navigate. You’ve got to assess the value of criticism. Not all of it is helpful.

Poetry is the perfect example. Poets outnumber poetry readers, and most of those readers are poets themselves. If you believed everyone’s criticism of your poetry, you would stop writing it. In this space, terrible readers are even more common. Satire is another tough niche. We’ve forgotten how to read it, so if you’re an ambitious writer, you’ve got to find the right audience for your feedback. This is why we seek out feedback from entire groups of people, and not just individuals—the majority is almost always right, especially if they’re writers themselves.

Some might say the reader is always right, but if they can only read at fifth-grade level, they’re not going to do a particularly good job of grokking your sonnets. Every developing writer needs access to an entire community of excellent readers. This is one of the most valuable things you’ll ever have, so you’ve got to place yourself in these spaces. Sometimes, that means attending a lot of boring open mic nights. Sometimes it means attending a busy workshop. Sometimes it means getting into a writing group on Facebook or Fetlife. Whatever you choose, choose good readers. Find out what they read. Find out what they write. Actively assess whether their criticism is going to serve your goals. The world doesn’t need more McPoems.