Please don't critique this
One of my favourite parts of the Writing School, and it surprised me as well, has been the critique groups. Every Monday we get a writing assignment that’s due on Friday. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s we meet with 3-4 other staff and students. Each of the students bring their printed assignment draft and reads it to the group.
After several minutes of furious note taking on the manuscript, each member talks about what they liked about your work and what they thought could be improved.
Most of the time I’m working hard on Monday and Tuesday so I have a reasonable draft to show the group. Overall I’m pretty happy with what I come up with … inevitably though, I’m swamped with feedback about how my assignment can be improved.
Although I’ve written a lot of things in my many years, this is the first time that I’ve been part of a structured peer critique group. What I’ve found at the writing school, is that no matter how good I think my work is, the feedback is always invaluable.
I go away and make major changes. These could be to the characters, plot, opening paragraph, consistency points, scene structure, or clarity, but without exception, it has greatly improved the eventual outcome. I’m always much happier with the assignment I hand in on Friday after two full rounds of critiquing.
It doesn’t matter how many times I checked my work before the critique group, I have blind spots that elude me. It’s not an issue of improving so much that eventually I won’t need honest critique. I’ve realised that if I truly want to reach my full potential as a writer, that this is a permanent and vitally important part of my journey.
It’s the exact same principle with my walk with God. I have many blind spots and often my pride refuses to let me allow other people to speak into those areas. Of course God does eventually find a way to get through to me, but it’s a much more painful and drawn out process. Just like writing, if I want to be the very best son of the Most High, then I will need to be deliberate about humbling myself and being accountable to others.
After all, by definition, it’s impossible to see your own blind spots.