I've been thinking a lot about bubbles, lately. Protective bubbles. I recently read a post about book reviews and whether or not an author should read them once their book is out. This post doesn't have to do with only published authors, however. I want to talk to everyone today about the bubbles you write in. Do you write in a bubble?
Davin and I have talked about how we both need a bubble in which we write. When I'm working on a rough draft, I'm pretty fragile in the emotion department. I don't want to be poked at by people criticizing my work - even if it's work that's already published. Well, especially if it's work that's already published because, you know, I can't really go and change any of that stuff. It's kind of permanently out there. When I put Cinders out there last year I read EVERY SINGLE REVIEW I could get my hands on. It was like this hunger I couldn't quell. I wanted the validation that my work was good enough since I had self-published it and didn't have the validation of a publisher. I've made it clear that when my novel, Monarch, comes out I won't be reading the reviews unless my publisher sends them to me or they are part of my blog tour or from a friend or family member. That might be all of them at first...but, my point is that I learned from from my Cinders experience that once you read a certain amount of reviews, you pretty much know what everyone else is going to say. You start to see a pattern, and there doesn't seem to be much reason to keep reading the reviews if you know the bad ones are going to start nagging on you. Read 50 5-star reviews and 1 1-star review and the only one you'll remember or care about is that 1-star. I'd rather stay away from that, personally.
For those who aren't published yet, maybe it's not reviews that you wish to avoid - but reader feedback on other work you've put out there on your blog, or beta readers giving you advice, or even blog posts you read every day which might make you start doubting your ability. You might read a post about some rule you're breaking, and lo and behold, you can't think about anything else as you write your draft. All of a sudden you are stunted and your creative energy withers. That happens to me all the time.
So what's best? Do you think you need a bubble where you can write your drafts? I know it's good to be aware of what others say out there, and it's wonderful to grow from feedback, but I think there is a time and a place for those things.
I learned long ago that I need to avoid passive feedback as much as I can. It becomes a trap for me. I'll seek feedback, and I'll take it good or bad. But just looking at chatter about me or something I've done will drive me up a wall. Definitely not healthy or useful.
ReplyDeleteBut, as I know you've said elsewhere, I don't that that stuff has much relevance to the author anyway. Most of it is buzz, not information.
I absolutely need the bubble to write the first draft and maybe through the second. When you're ready to share a wip, you have to be very careful of who reads it and of the feedback received.
ReplyDeleteI know many authors who do not read reviews, period.
On blog posts, silence is almost worse than a negative comment. We all want to be read yet at the same time fear it.
Still, there's nothing I would rather do than write.
I think the worst thing about those reviews is that it can be so destructive, as you said, wither. For that, I think the protective bubble is essential.
ReplyDeleteI just posted something on my blog that I'd been writing and re-writing for the last few months. It has to do with the place of art and how the audience plays a part, negatively or positively. And I think these are all related. On the one hand, we want to reach out, to be understood, to share something we and our audience both "get", on the other hand, when the response is carelessness or rejection or indifference, we feel as if we're mortally wounded.
Nevets: Yeah, it's the passive feedback that is hard for me to deal with during certain times.
ReplyDeleteYvonne: I'm glad I'm not alone in that! I think it's important for authors to know where they stand on this so they can go about writing in the best way possible for them. It's hard to write if you're bombarded with distractions and tension.
Yat-Yee: I should go check out that post of yours! It sounds fascinating. I know that is is part of what we do as writers - put ourselves out there and get feedback - but I do agree that getting careless responses, rejection, or indifference, is something we must grow a thick skin for. Still, that's what the bubble is for, in a way, to protect ourselves when we don't have the time or energy to keep up that thick skin for a time.
While this may sound somewhat cynical, for me, it’s all about perspective. I spent maybe 1,000 hours working on a novel. A reader spent 2 hours reading it, or much less if they didn’t like it. They spent maybe 5-15 minutes posting a review on amazon.com. They then went on to thinking about other things entirely, and most likely never gave my work another thought.
ReplyDeleteMy point is, other people spend WAY less time pondering your work than you do, and generally assign it much less importance in their lives. Whether it’s a positive review (or feedback) or negative, try to remember that those readers aren’t still sitting around weeks (or even days or hours) later harboring good or bad thoughts about your work – they’ve quickly moved on.
To heck with bubbles. I create stuff, I put it out there. Some folks like it. That makes me smile. Some folks don’t like it. That makes me shrug. Then, like the readers, I quickly move on.
Mizmak: It is about perspective, absolutely. I can move on quickly, too, like you - just not if I'm writing a rough draft. For some reason that time for me makes me extra sensitive.
ReplyDeleteMichelle: So, who sees your rough drafts? I show mine to one trusted friend who has always been great at constructive critques, and I don't feel vulnerable after showing them to her. I feel anticipation at what she'll come up with, as it's always good stuff.
ReplyDeleteMizmak: I have Alpha readers for the rough draft stage. Two at most, a reader and a writer. It works out well for me, and they are good cheerleaders as well as showing me what could improve without crushing me into the ground. Haha.
ReplyDeleteFeedback from people I choose, who know what feedback I'm looking for, is different than passive feedback.
Michelle: Okay, so the alpha readers are helping you out, and what makes you feel fragile during the rough draft phase is reading something negative (or passive) about your previous work. Right? I guess I don't have that kind of experience/feelings about my work; I don't think reader reactions have any impact at all on my current work, because as I stated, I don't think, in general, that most readers are terribly concerned about my work overall except in a pretty minor way.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just old and jaded!
When I first started out writing I didn't need a bubble at all. I was willing to throw my work out there, and the criticism, harsh or not, barely affected me. I came to realize, though, that the reason the criticism didn't bother me was because I didn't care enough about my own writing. I wasn't putting enough love into it. As soon as I started to write more honestly (define that however you like), I started to need my bubble a whole lot more.
ReplyDelete@Alex - for me the problem with passive feedback about work that's out there (whether it's positive or negative) or is that it pulls me mind out of the game. Suddenly I'm not playing my position, I'm watching film from last week and my attention is split and my focus is skewed.
ReplyDeleteTypically, passively-generated negative feedback is worse than positive, but for me that's mainly because I don't take positive feedback from strangers very seriously at all so I don't think that much about it. Negative feedback doesn't necessarily destroy my ego, but I do think about it more and try to figure out if there's something valid that I need to consider.
But for me -- and I think this is different than what Michelle's describing -- it's not about fragility, it's about distraction.
I never let anyone read a work that is not finished. That doesn't mean it won't end up being polished after any feedback but it will have a beginning, a middle and an end. My wife is visiting her parents in the States at the moment and I expect to be able to hand her a copy of my new novel when she walks back through the door but she knows next-to-nothing about it and hasn't read a single word so far.
ReplyDeleteI know some writers post bits and bobs on their blogs to get feedback but all that ever does is put me off. I'm happy to give others feedback if it helps them but I don't need it also a part of me feels that I need to do it on my own. I get annoyed by artists for example who enlist a band of 'helpers' and then claim the work as their own. They're not artists - they've become designers.
This is very true and hard to do. At the Rutger's One-on-One Conference, Deborah Heiligman talked about the "bubble" in her keynote speech. Here are my notes from it: http://tiny.cc/f6m24
ReplyDeleteHope it helps you maintain the bubble! I'm trying hard myself.
Dhonielle Clayton
teenwritersbloc.com
C.N. Nevets: Nice sports analogy. I hope Matt Hasselback is still hyped over over last week's upset when he takes on Jay Cutler and the Bears.
ReplyDeleteI guess I put much more weight on professional opinions when I'm thinking about what needs improving from the previous work to the current work, and don't think much at all about reader reactions, which is admittedly on the dismissive side. But I only have so much mental energy to expend on creative endeavors and already have a gazillion distractions (full-time job, medical concerns, financial concerns, a car that needs repairing, two aging dachshunds et cetera and I'm sure you all have similar issues in your lives) and when I'm standing in the pocket, I'm more concerned about that unblocked linebacker than I am about the fans who might starting booing if I get sacked again.
Really, though, I'm much more of a baseball fan.
I work more the way Jim Murdoch does. I don't have alpha and beta readers and I don't make my written works part of a community. There are three people I'll let see novels before they're sent off to my agent. Mighty Reader is the first, of course, and she is my most critical reader. While I do post brief excerpts to my personal blog as I go along, I don't want anyone's feedback, not really. It's more like "I'm doing some cool stuff; here's a glimpse" more than "What do you think?" When I'm in the middle of the work, I don't want to know what anyone thinks. It's annoying and distracting and I will put my fingers in my ears and sing to myself until you shut up.
ReplyDeleteAs for reviews, I don't know. I've never had any. But I will likely read all of them and then ignore whatever the reviewers say. I'm certainly not going to shape my future art based on readers' opinions of already-published books. Reviewers are mostly talking to other readers, not to the writer.
@Alex - Strangely enough, I think that may be the first ever sports analogy I've ever used. I won't swear to it, but...
ReplyDeleteYour fans/linebacker addendum seems pretty apt, as I think about it.
@Jim, that example you used with the artists is an interesting one for me. I used to agree with you 100%, but nowadays I give more credit to the thinkers of ideas than the makers of objects from which those ideas come from--although that is surely an important component too. I think of Jeff Koons, for example, whose works are huge and sometimes require upkeep. He thought of the idea, and I think it's okay for others to help build and maintain it.
ReplyDeleteI believe in keeping inside the bubble when you're in creation mode. As Michelle says--your emotions tend to be raw at that time, and a thoughtless remark can derail the whole process.
ReplyDeleteI work this way when I'm directing a play. I always tell the actors that nobody directs but me--if any actor asks another "how was I? Did that work?" there is only one answer: "You were magnificent. Superb. Brilliant." When actors critique each other, it can stunt their progress and make them self-conscious just at the time they should be learning to inhabit their characters. The play as a whole will feel wooden and phony.
I think the same creative principle exists with writing. Only share rough drafts with a few very trusted readers. Self-consciousness destroys the creative process.
As far as reading reviews once the work is published/performed for the public, I'm of two minds. I try to shelter a cast from unjustly harsh reviews, but when major praise comes in--I know it makes the play that much better.
It's a great way to put it.
ReplyDeleteWe've talked about this and I totally agree with you. Reviews will change the way you write. And then you're writing to please other people, you become being untrue to yourself.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't mean you can't learn and grow, but I don't believe reviews are the best way to do that. Instead, I plan on having my friends, family, publisher tell me anything we need to learn from reviews.
Really great discussion, you guys! Thanks! I'd like to be like Scott and not need any feedback at all during my draft writing stage, but I'm just not like that. I do need encouragement, even if it's just a tiny bit. Maybe one day I won't, but I kind of hope not. I like to be interact with others when I write, and I do care what my readers think. I just think there is a time and a place for specific types of interaction. For me. Everyone is different, and I'm really happy about that. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm somewhere in the middle. I seek feedback from people I trust, but I'm also terrified at the idea of people I don't trust not to crush my soul seeing my work. I protective bubble is still really important to me. I'm not super protective of my projects, but the part of me that writes is still a wimpy kid afraid of bullies.
ReplyDeleteYes. Protect your bubble. I avoid feedback while in the midst of writing a draft. I avoid reading how to books on the craft and blogs about the craft, because then it starts me thinking. Am I doing this right? So I go into my bubble and write and try not to think about all the rules and save those for later.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. We need to protect ourselves to an extent. There is a time and place for criticism. We don't need it stifling our creative flow.
ReplyDeleteI have to write in a bubble or else I'd never finish a thing. And I've already decided, whether I self-publish or get a traditional publisher, I will not be reading reviews. What for? The book can't be changed, and no-one can please everyone all of the time.
ReplyDeleteJudy (South Africa)
Thank you for your thoughts, everyone! More people agree with me thank I thought. :)
ReplyDelete