Hello hello, how’s everyone’s March been? I’ve been keeping busy and finally finished a dummy pitch! It’s a story that has been on my mind since 2018, and now it’s on submission! Hooray! It’s my first near-wordless picture book and I’m illustrating it in a brand-new style. I always find it interesting to hear different story journeys (from idea to submission) – I have heard as little as a couple of months to over 10 years! Anyways, I know it’s not anything yet, who knows when/IF it will get an offer? I have waited as little as 2 months to as long as a year (still waiting on that one! 🥲) Either way, wish me luck 🤞 I’m going to try not thinking about it in the meantime!
What else? I started a new freelance job - illustrating an easy reader for an educational publishing house. It’s nice to take a break from constantly being in my head with my own stories. Trying to create with so many self-imposed expectations, nearly drove me crazy last year! So yea, stretching my illustrative muscles this month.
I also went on a creative retreat with friends at the beautiful Sea Ranch! We wrote, drew, talked shop, critiqued each other, and had conversations wide and deep! Oh, and I dusted off some cobwebs and did a plein-air painting! Trying to capture a distant storm cloud here… lol it moved too fast!
Speaking of feedback, I think this would be a great topic to write about here!
Every successful author and illustrator accepts that revisions and working with constructive criticisms are big parts of the creative process. It’s how we learn and improve; it’s how we collaborate with editors and art directors; it’s how we ensure our ideas, designs, and stories read clearly to others; and push us to create our best work possible.
Creating something original is not easy, and our work is most likely very personal or dear to our hearts, so putting a piece of ourselves out there to be judged can put us in a very vulnerable position. We creators have to be courageous and develop a thick skin for the good of our craft, at the same time, we can’t let our skin harden and become armor, because we still need to be in tune with our vulnerability in order to create authentically. This reminds me of Brené Brown's quote:
"When we stop caring about what people think, we lose our capacity for connection. When we become defined by what people think, we lose our willingness to be vulnerable."- Brené Brown
This quote came from her talk about who you should invite as your critics. While slightly on a tangent from what I’m talking about but still very relevant and inspirational!
Regardless of a creator's experience or skill level, we can often be too close to our creations to objectively judge what is working and what is not; we can become attached or have stared at our work for far too long to notice obvious mistakes. That's why trusted critique partners are so important! They are who I would invite to sit in my arena (a reference to the video above).
We need people that are honest, kind, and knowledgeable in our field to review our work with fresh eyes and offer their thoughts. Working with agents, editors or art directors brings a whole other level to the table, these professionals provide their expertise from another perspective and I ALWAYS learn so much from them!
Even if I don’t agree with some critiques, which is certainly allowed because art is subjective and people are not always right, I still pay attention to it. Especially if that feedback has been brought up by more than one source. Perhaps the designs are beautiful but aren’t communicating the story properly, perhaps a specific part is meaningful to me but hinders the story arc, perhaps a joke isn’t landing, perhaps the story’s pacing is off, or perhaps there are glaring tangents in my illustrations that I can’t see, etc... all are important to know and consider!
When accepting hard-to-hear feedback, the best thing to do is:
Take notes. Sometimes a point might resonate with you at a later time.
Ask for clarification on why something is not working.
Resist the urge to defend your work and simply respond with “Thank you, I’ll think about that.” If you spend all your energy defending your choices, then you aren’t listening and missed the point of a critique. Your critique partners might be reluctant to offer their time and energy in the future too.
I usually sleep on it. By the next day, I’ll know which feedback to take to heart, and where I should stick to my guts. Sometimes we need someone to challenge our decisions for us to analyze why we made them and be able to justify why they deserve to stay. Sometimes we need to “kill our babies” for the greater good too, for those tough decisions, feel free to “sleep” on it for a whole week… maybe a month…
Try not to take the criticism personally, if it comes from an honest and knowledgeable source, it’s given to help you move your creations forward.
Without these constructive criticisms, the work is then created in a vacuum, we would have no clue if our creations can connect with others. Hey, if creating things is a hobby and it brings you joy, by all means, keep doing your thing! But if the goal of your creations is to be published and enjoyed by others, then it is absolutely crucial for you to learn how to work with feedback.
With over 10 years of teaching experience (from the Academy of Art University, mentoring at workshops, and now at Storyteller Academy), I have really honed my skills at giving critiques. It is a great skill to have! I am able to judge my own work more objectively and understand others’ feedback more. That’s another benefit of forming trusted critique partners is to practice critiquing others’ work! In return, you’ll get better at judging your own.
Here are a few tips on how to provide CONSTRUCTIVE feedback:
Ask the creator what kind of feedback they are looking for. If it is an early draft of a story, then they are probably hoping to hear if the concept and plot are working and if the overall heart of the story is connecting with you. If they are revising a dummy, then pacing, composition, and the balance of text and illustration come into play. If they are completing the final artwork, then maybe value, color, character consistency, and other details… There is no use critiquing the pacing of a story if the plot is way too complicated, just like there is no use judging the wall paint colors when the foundation of the house still needs work.
Start with what is working and why. That way the creator will know not to toss the whole thing and start over.
Identify what is not working and why.
Be honest – what’s the use of a sugar-coated critique? It won’t benefit the creator one bit.
Provide specific examples – A generic “Oh, I don’t really think the story is grabbing me.” doesn’t mean anything. What’s not working? The character motives? Lack of tension? Is the beginning too long or the ending too abrupt??? Or vague sayings like “the illustration doesn’t pop for me”, what does POP mean? Saturation? dynamic body language? dramatic compositions?
Be kind – Again, this creator poured their heart and soul into this draft. You wouldn’t want someone to dismiss or belittle your work either, so don’t do that to them!
Only give suggestions or brainstorm solutions if you know the person is open to it.
End your critique on something positive –reiterate what is working again, or what you like about it. We call this the “Sandwich Method”, starting with something positive, then the needs improvement part, and finally ending with something positive. We’ve all experienced enough impostor syndrome/self-doubt and our brains naturally hang on to the final emotions of an experience. So it’s really helpful to end with something good about the work, that way the creator won’t leave with the “negative” feedback looping in their heads towards a downward thought spiral! (Been there myself and its not fun!)
I’m lucky my critique group and partners formed naturally over the years through various kidlit friendships. If you are new, join your local kidlit communities like your regional SCBWI events. My SF/SOUTH region has a critique group form to add your name and contact info. I know friends who found their critique partners via online courses or events, like Storyteller Academy or 12x12. When you feel like you are stuck or are ready to query agents or submit to publishers, you can always pay for professional reviews or critiques too. I offer 30 min 1-on-1 Critiques too, you can book a session here. Eventually, you'll have feedback from your agent and editor as well to make your stories shine and ready to be published!
What were some of the best feedback you’ve gotten? OR what were some of the worst/unhelpful critiques you’ve received?
Please share in the comments! Let me start, I once had a reputable agent say my work is “not marketable”. That one hurt, and honestly not very helpful. Thankfully, with encouragement from my trusted crit. partners, I was able to take it with a grain of salt and keep moving forward!
Anyways, let’s end this on a positive note! Here’s a viral video of my weird cat Ori’s new obsession
I love your great advice on providing and receiving effective critiques! For me, the worst critiques are those that don’t give me a way forward but make me feel stuck. Like the whole “not marketable” comment -- it doesn’t give you the space to progress. Similarly, only providing the positive when someone is looking for constructive feedback doesn’t give people a way forward either.
Amazing article. Honestly it got me thinking so much about how I can improve how I take criticism.
I’ll be booking a one on one in a few months when I have time to work on an actual portfolio.
Thank you for the great advice 😀