Critique: How Soon Is Too Soon?
I’ve been reading Stephenie Meyer’s partial draft of Midnight Sun, which was leaked on the internet when she sent out a review copy to someone she hasn’t named. Last August, she posted something on her website about the leak, and how it stopped her, at least at that time, from completing the book, which covers the same events as Twilight, but from Edward the vampire’s perspective. In her post she says:
So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn’t like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn’t dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.
Obviously, this violation of her trust (not to mention her copyright) was egregious. And public response to work in progress is different than the comments of trusted critique partners.
Still, it got me thinking: When is the right time to get critique on your writing?
In the critique group I’m in, most of us are writing the next 20 pages to meet our next deadline to submit pages. So we’re showing 20-page sections of our novels long before we’ve even finished our first drafts.
In interviews, Meyer has (very politely) made it clear that she’s the person who tells the Twilight story. In one interview in particular, she was asked about fan response to Breaking Dawn; apparently, some fans objected to her ending of the series. Meyer (again, very politely) told the interviewer that she decides what happens to these characters; she knows their minds. And while fans and others can have opinions about her work, ultimately, it is her creation.
So what is the right time to show our work to other people?
Some of this depends, I suppose, on whether we’re writing “on the fly,” or working from an outline or other preliminary work to set up the story arc.
On the “pro” side of showing pages sooner rather than later, I’d put deadlines (my group has them, and they do help productivity) and the chance to catch problems earlier rather than later in the writing. My critique group often offers insights that open up possibilities I had never considered.
On the “con” side, I have just one item to list, but it’s the same as one of the pros, just turned on its head. Because the work is so preliminary, it is subject to influence beyond what it would be if the story were more complete/solid. In the past, with a previous novel in which I wasn’t as certain of the outcome as I am in the one I’m working on now, I sometimes felt my critique group had better ideas than I did. And the novel felt less like my vision than like trying to “get it right.” Perhaps that’s why it ultimately failed.
I’m writing my new novel much differently than the previous one, spending a lot more time on preliminary work, solidifying the story in my head before I write a lot of scenes. Perhaps all of this up-front familiarity with my story will take away any argument for the “con.” I have a while to figure this out–my next deadline is months away.
Meantime, I’d like to know: When do you show your work to others? As soon as the pages are written, or after a draft is done? Why? Leave your thoughts on the right moment for critique in comments.