To your writing career, critique is both unavoidable and indispensable. Unavoidable, because this is a free world. But why indispensable?

• The act of writing is probably very intimate and precious to you. And it's very good that this is so. But you may find it difficult to take a distance from your own creations and see their imperfections. Perhaps the first gain from having your work criticized is that it helps you improve. But it’s definitely not the only one.

• Very often the others will discover in your texts things you haven't planned or expected. You may see them describing for hours the intricate symbolism of your story and the subtle meanings of your themes, while you say to yourself, "What are these people talking about? I've never thought of such symbols and themes! How is that possible?" When you create your stories, your mind works at all the levels of consciousness. No matter the extent of rational planning and structure you give your story, you will still add an important amount of unconscious substance to the composition, generally through spontaneous and emotionally driven choices. You can't be aware of these non-rational elements because, by definition, unconsciousness escapes rational scrutiny. So when you receive a critique, you may earn something even more valuable: knowledge about the inner depths of your personality.

• For the mercantilist side of you, feedback can also be an easy way to identify and test your audience. You can't write for everybody, and don't even have to. If people tell you, "I hate your story," you must not panic right away. Instead, consider that maybe they simply don't share your preference for certain styles and themes. You just need to know what sort of people you're writing for.

• There are two angels out there: one is beautiful, the other is ugly. You'll have to face them both. Knowing how to deal with rejection is an important skill of any writer, and listening to criticism is, again, the first step to acquiring that skill. For a whole good year after I received my first rejection letter, I wrote almost nothing because the tone of that letter was, at least in my perception, arrogant and mean. Learning how to cope with the beautiful angel can be a painful experience, too. But right now we don't want to talk about that, do we?

How to take it?

• Be always grateful, and never lose your courtesy. It's true that some people take great pleasure at demeaning others. If you feel that someone is attacking you personally instead of offering you a fair critique of your work, say a polite thank you, and this will calm him/her down. Let them feel that you can assume, at least for five minutes, your condition as disciple and their status as expert. Most likely, you will have the chance to switch seats soon.

• Take it easy. While positive feedback can boost your self-esteem, you may feel deeply offended by negative comments. Take your time and reflect on what your reviewers have said about your piece. Decide what are the points you agree with and the points you don't. You only need to take those suggestions that are useful to you and help you grow. Try to find ways of improving your writing accordingly, and never let a negative comment affect your motivation. If you want to write action-driven stories, don't let yourself be turned down by the comments of someone who enjoys character-driven plots. Or vice-versa. Ultimately, you are the author and you must have the final word on your writing.

• Ask for more if you need to. If you feel you haven't grasped some of your reviewers' points, ask them to elaborate. Tell them to give you some examples, or to be more specific. Many tensions and useless arguments could be avoided if people learned how to make themselves clear.

Why give feedback?

• First, because we all need a fair trade. Thinking they will appear modest and well behaved, beginners often say, "I'm not qualified to offer a critique." They would just like to have their texts read by others and find out "if there's any good in it." But this is a mistake. With such an attitude they only look selfish and discourteous, since they aren't prepared to spend their time and patience reading someone else's story, thinking about it, and giving comments on it. Unless you can afford to pay your reviewers, you need to give feedback if you want to receive it.

• Second, because you need to develop your critical and self-critical skills. You are not just helping others; you help improve your self-editing skills, too.

• Third: it helps you see where you stand and build your scale of values. There will always be people who write better than you do, and there will always be people who write worse. This is not a race against other writers, of course. But to write well, you need a healthy self-esteem. Criticizing other people's work can give you the confidence to reach the level of someone whom you consider a better artist.

• Finally, critiquing can be a great opportunity to make new friends. In the publishing industry, social networking is very important, if not crucial. You never know who is going to open that door for you when you need it.

How to give it?

• Avoid such easy answers as, "Oh, I love that" or, "Oh, I hate that." You may read a story that was so well written that you think nothing needs to be changed to it. But maybe you could still elaborate a bit: Why did you like the piece? Why do you think it was so well written? What were your favorite parts? Any writer is impressed when you quote a fragment of their story. If you just say, "I like it, really!" they may think you are graciously avoiding giving negative critique.

• Be tactful. Writers are very sensitive about their work. Honesty is indeed essential to constructive criticism, but there are a thousand ways of being honest. According to Umberto Eco --one of the giants of modern semiotics-- it is not so important what you say as the way you say it.

• Never omit the good points. You have just read a story, and your first feeling is of total disgust. That story may indeed be a complete failure. Still, breathe deeply before you say anything, and try to search for the little positive side. Every great writer was once a beginner. And beginners can learn unbelievably quickly. So try to balance your discourse by mentioning such things as, "You have an ability to express genuine feelings" or, "You have a very interesting choice of subject." I am talking now from the abundant well of my own sins. This was one of the mistakes I perpetrated for a long time in a critique group I used to frequent. For some reason, I seemed to take it for granted that "the writer is already aware of his/her qualities, and I am here to help them identify their weak side." Imagine those young writers and guess how they felt when all I had to say about their texts was negative criticism. No, they didn't take it for granted. They may have been aware of their good side, yet were still expecting me to see it and point it out.

• Don't make it a personal business. If you have to make negative comments, avoid addressing the writer directly ("you say," "you think," "you fail to"); rather, try to show that you are criticizing the text, not the author ("this text is," "grammar needs," etc.).

• Do make it a personal business! If you have a positive comment to make, then it is a very good idea to address it to the writer in a personal way.

• Organize your discourse. You can bring structure to your thoughts if you have a list of items to look out for when reading a text for critique (such as: style, subject, characterization, or plot) and keep these elements distinct from each other. If a text has addressed a boring and overused subject, but was written in a pleasant and witty style, try not to let one perception overshadow the other.

• Mention the weak points not as failures, but as possible improvements. Instead of saying, "Your style brings up every homicidal tendency in me," you can put it simply, "This text needs some polishing here and there." If you are already familiar with that writer's work, it is a good idea to make comparisons with other texts of theirs, especially if you have noticed any improvement.

• Be specific. If you need to say the style needs polishing, point out one or two sentences that you think are wrong. If you need to say the characters were stereotypical, support your argument with an example. Failing to grasp a general comment that has been made on their work can be a very frustrating experience to a writer.

• Avoid overdoing it. If you pick up examples of bad writing, limit yourself to a reasonable number; there is no need to spend an hour and dissect the whole thing, except if you have previously agreed to edit someone's work thoroughly.

• Assume your subjective standpoint. Sometimes you can say, "I would do this in a different way," instead of bluntly claiming, "This is wrong." You may try to rephrase their sentences to illustrate your comments. But be aware that most writers feel uncomfortable when anyone attempts to rewrite their story.

• Take everyone from where they are. Give them what they need and as much as they can take. Don't venture into sophisticated criticism just to show a fourteen-year-old novice how competent a critic you are. Try to think up the level of that author. They don't need to jump to the top by a single leap; they just need to step to the next level.

Where to do it?

• Look for critique groups in your area or online communities that share your interests of genre and style. Sometimes it's difficult to find the right group in your neighborhood. It is better to join one even though they are specialized in a genre that is not your cup of tea than not at all. Chances are good you will find people who share your preferences and have joined the club for a similar reason.

And finally…

• Critique is important to your career. But if you feel you just need to work on your own and stay away from criticism, then do so.

• Trust your instinct.

There are multitudes of writing resources available on the Internet. Go to any search engine and ask for writer's resources, writer's markets, writer's contests, writer's conferences, etc

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