This post was very timely for me. I have received the good news that a manuscript that I submitted several months ago is well received. In the near future I will get to read the feedback and constructive criticism from the publisher’s readers. I am thrilled that things are going so well and also preparing my stance concerning feedback, especially since the work included personal essays. Lessons on personal distance and framing needed changes in terms of better loving my future readers is just what I needed in this season.
This was a great post, Jonathan. You had me chuckling out loud with the whole plumber exchange. What a great way of showing a better and more healthy way of looking at criticism. And such wise advice on considering who our readers are and who we ultimately want them to be. I loved it all. Thank you, thank you. :)
As a writer, I don't feel I bristle when critiqued, yet had a unique experience recently. Upon submitting a requested article for publication on a site, they required my article to go through an AI generated pre-screening. The screening told me my sentence length was perfect, but I needed to use more transition words. I ran through the article and added more transition words until getting a green smiley face. I then noticed my sentences were no longer the correct length. They were now too long. After 2 hours of fighting the AI monster, I communicated that I was no longer interested in submitting my work! Ugh.
Curious what your thoughts are on AI critiquing a writer's work.
Thank you for this, Jonathan. It was helpful how you articulated "love" as the best reason to write, as opposed to all the self-____ reasons we might be tempted towards. I just finished E. Lily Yu's, Break, Blow, Burn, & Make and was deeply moved by the way she named "mature love joined to wisdom" as what's too often missing in contemporary writing, and what's needed most.
I am wondering about your reasoning that writing is more "personal" than plumbing. You said "I realize that the work of writing is quite a bit more personal than the work of plumbing. Nevertheless, you are not your work." I have the sense that many people think of their work, whatever it is, as intensely personal and that criticism of their work is a criticism of them. Can you help me understand your thoughts on writing being more personal than plumbing or medicine or law or manufacturing?
Hi, Christen. I agree that everybody, whatever their line of work, might take criticism of their work as a personal affront. But I also think that people who do creative work are likely to make things worse for themselves by identifying too closely with the artifacts that they make. A plumber knows that, however seriously he takes his job and however much pride he takes in his work, the plumber is one thing and the plumbing is another. A healthy and well-adjusted manufacturer of rubber ducks knows that she is not a rubber duck. But it can be very difficult for a writer or artist to feel the same healthy separation between the self and the things he or she makes. Having said that, I'm not sure an artist can or even ought to feel as separate and distinct from the things he or she makes as a plumber or a manufacturer does. For an artist, the artifact is a product of a unique point of view in a way that tight seal on a water line or a well-draining bathtub isn't. That's what I mean when I say that writing is more "personal" than plumbing. But even if a writer can never be as separate from the end product as a plumber or rubber duck manufacturer can be, I think it's always healthy to move the needle in that direction, toward a healthy separation between the maker and the thing made.
You also mentioned medicine and law. Now I'm wondering if that kind of work, where there is no truly separate "product" (a widget, a repaired faucet) truly is "personal," making it even harder to separate criticism of my work from criticism of me. If you don't like my bedside manner, that's a whole lot like saying you don't like me. If you think I gave you bad legal advice, to me that feels you think I'm too dumb to be a lawyer. I'm just thinking out loud here, but it seems to me that criticism hits different from "This faucet is leaking." If the faucet is leaking, I can go fix the faucet. On the other hand, if I am a nurse and my bedside manner is bad, I've got to fix myself. Again, I'm just thinking out loud, but maybe the point (or part of the point) is that when you do creative work, you find yourself stuck between those two ends of the spectrum. You're making things, but it can be hard to feel separate from the things you've made. When people react to or criticize the things you've made, they're reacting to the thing, not to you as a person. The more plumber-like we react to the criticism of the things we've made, the healthier we'll be.
Thanks for asking, Christen. It was helpful to think some more about this.
I will think about this some more. I deal a lot with entrepreneurs of various sorts and also with engineers who are designing consumer goods. I think about how the engineers feel who are designing Musk's Space X Starship who receive criticism from, well, just about everyone. Being in consumer goods manufacturing, I see the disappointment when the new model of something doesn't even get nominated for whatever the relevant new product award is. I suspect it's the same for writers.
I have a lot of people come in who have designed new consumer goods. Some of the ideas are not good. But most of these inventors and entrepreneurs feel like their idea is their "child." I often wonder how I can be better at telling them -- "Look. This is a terrible idea for these reasons (). Save your money and go invent something else." They're creative and I am sure if they just incorporate these additional considerations into their next thing, it will be better. But I don't know if there is a good way to tell them that if they can't separate themselves from their work. I'll incorporate your thoughts into my algorithm of how to say it and see if it goes better next time.
This post was very timely for me. I have received the good news that a manuscript that I submitted several months ago is well received. In the near future I will get to read the feedback and constructive criticism from the publisher’s readers. I am thrilled that things are going so well and also preparing my stance concerning feedback, especially since the work included personal essays. Lessons on personal distance and framing needed changes in terms of better loving my future readers is just what I needed in this season.
This was a great post, Jonathan. You had me chuckling out loud with the whole plumber exchange. What a great way of showing a better and more healthy way of looking at criticism. And such wise advice on considering who our readers are and who we ultimately want them to be. I loved it all. Thank you, thank you. :)
As a writer, I don't feel I bristle when critiqued, yet had a unique experience recently. Upon submitting a requested article for publication on a site, they required my article to go through an AI generated pre-screening. The screening told me my sentence length was perfect, but I needed to use more transition words. I ran through the article and added more transition words until getting a green smiley face. I then noticed my sentences were no longer the correct length. They were now too long. After 2 hours of fighting the AI monster, I communicated that I was no longer interested in submitting my work! Ugh.
Curious what your thoughts are on AI critiquing a writer's work.
A great reminder, thank you so much!
Thank you for this, Jonathan. It was helpful how you articulated "love" as the best reason to write, as opposed to all the self-____ reasons we might be tempted towards. I just finished E. Lily Yu's, Break, Blow, Burn, & Make and was deeply moved by the way she named "mature love joined to wisdom" as what's too often missing in contemporary writing, and what's needed most.
Really helpful insights! Thank you!
I am wondering about your reasoning that writing is more "personal" than plumbing. You said "I realize that the work of writing is quite a bit more personal than the work of plumbing. Nevertheless, you are not your work." I have the sense that many people think of their work, whatever it is, as intensely personal and that criticism of their work is a criticism of them. Can you help me understand your thoughts on writing being more personal than plumbing or medicine or law or manufacturing?
Hi, Christen. I agree that everybody, whatever their line of work, might take criticism of their work as a personal affront. But I also think that people who do creative work are likely to make things worse for themselves by identifying too closely with the artifacts that they make. A plumber knows that, however seriously he takes his job and however much pride he takes in his work, the plumber is one thing and the plumbing is another. A healthy and well-adjusted manufacturer of rubber ducks knows that she is not a rubber duck. But it can be very difficult for a writer or artist to feel the same healthy separation between the self and the things he or she makes. Having said that, I'm not sure an artist can or even ought to feel as separate and distinct from the things he or she makes as a plumber or a manufacturer does. For an artist, the artifact is a product of a unique point of view in a way that tight seal on a water line or a well-draining bathtub isn't. That's what I mean when I say that writing is more "personal" than plumbing. But even if a writer can never be as separate from the end product as a plumber or rubber duck manufacturer can be, I think it's always healthy to move the needle in that direction, toward a healthy separation between the maker and the thing made.
You also mentioned medicine and law. Now I'm wondering if that kind of work, where there is no truly separate "product" (a widget, a repaired faucet) truly is "personal," making it even harder to separate criticism of my work from criticism of me. If you don't like my bedside manner, that's a whole lot like saying you don't like me. If you think I gave you bad legal advice, to me that feels you think I'm too dumb to be a lawyer. I'm just thinking out loud here, but it seems to me that criticism hits different from "This faucet is leaking." If the faucet is leaking, I can go fix the faucet. On the other hand, if I am a nurse and my bedside manner is bad, I've got to fix myself. Again, I'm just thinking out loud, but maybe the point (or part of the point) is that when you do creative work, you find yourself stuck between those two ends of the spectrum. You're making things, but it can be hard to feel separate from the things you've made. When people react to or criticize the things you've made, they're reacting to the thing, not to you as a person. The more plumber-like we react to the criticism of the things we've made, the healthier we'll be.
Thanks for asking, Christen. It was helpful to think some more about this.
I will think about this some more. I deal a lot with entrepreneurs of various sorts and also with engineers who are designing consumer goods. I think about how the engineers feel who are designing Musk's Space X Starship who receive criticism from, well, just about everyone. Being in consumer goods manufacturing, I see the disappointment when the new model of something doesn't even get nominated for whatever the relevant new product award is. I suspect it's the same for writers.
I have a lot of people come in who have designed new consumer goods. Some of the ideas are not good. But most of these inventors and entrepreneurs feel like their idea is their "child." I often wonder how I can be better at telling them -- "Look. This is a terrible idea for these reasons (). Save your money and go invent something else." They're creative and I am sure if they just incorporate these additional considerations into their next thing, it will be better. But I don't know if there is a good way to tell them that if they can't separate themselves from their work. I'll incorporate your thoughts into my algorithm of how to say it and see if it goes better next time.
This was excellent. Thank you.