Most Common Query Flaws I See as a Pitch Wars Mentor

If you don’t know what Pitch Wars is, you probably should! It’s a contest that hooks querying authors up with established authors and editors to help their books become “publishing” ready. Read more about it here: http://www.brenda-drake.com/2017/06/pitch-wars-2017-details/

My job? First, I get emailed a bunch of submissions from people who are interested in me as mentor. They come in very much like a query to an agent. Query, and first chapter. I read through all my submissions and am allowed to choose ONE to mentor. The amount of submissions vary year to year, category to category and mentor to mentor but so far I’ve averaged around 80 submissions. That’s 80 query and chapters to read through in a couple weeks, and that’s not including the full manuscripts I’ll request. And honestly? The hardest part is choosing only one.

No, not kidding. I’m convinced that the quality that comes in through Pitch Wars is higher than the average slush pile (not that I can compare, I’ve never peeked inside and agents inbox but I’ve heard stories!)

So how can you stack the deck? How do you make sure your query is on my list of "Yesses!"? How I pick my "THE ONE!" is honestly pretty personal, just whichever story I connect with for whatever reason. But you can do a lot of things to make sure you're at least one of the stories I agonize over not picking. So here are some of the most common issues I see in my submissions. You may noticed they go a bit beyond the basics, because, like I said, the qaulity in Pitch Wars is pretty high!

1) Confusing query

Some books are easier to pitch than others, that’s a simple truth. I’ve written books nearly impossible to write a great query for and others that just flow from my little typing fingers like honey. To you, as the author, it all makes sense. You know this story in and out—but I don’t. Sometimes it’s really hard to take a step back and look at it through fresh eyes to see the gaps in logic. It probably makes perfect sense in the book, but in this tiny one page summary… it doesn’t. The solution? Other people need to read your query and not just your critique partners. You need fresh eyes, someone who knows nothing about your book (also, preferably other writers. Non-writers just don’t quite understand what is expected out of a query) that can point out places they get confused. 

2) The story is missing the “why?”

 I’ve noticed this a lot, I remember tweeting about it as I read my submissions last year. Most of you understand that you need “stakes” in your query, but stakes aren’t quite so powerful if we don’t understand why _______will happen if your character doesn’t ______. How does it connect? One big one is, why YOUR CHARACTER needs to be the one to do it. What are his personal stakes in this? Why was he chosen? Why not someone else? If there are 100 people out also trying to save the world, well, if your character fails, someone else may succeed. That sucks out the tension.

3) Confusing first pages

One part of this are pages that don’t fit the query. This can get tricky with multiple POV books but if your query hooked me, I want to start reading that story, not a different one. Make sure they feel connected. Another part is trying too hard to hook with high intensity but not grounding the reader. It’s VERY important that we understand the surroundings, characters and their immediate goals right away. 

4) Overlooking character

Plot vs Character is an old debate and personally, I’m hooked by great ideas. I love concepts. What ifs. Something new and exciting! But if I don’t care about the people involved in those great ideas? It’s all for not. I won’t keep reading. Personally, I don’t think plot and character should be fighting each other, they should be working together. You need BOTH. Personal stakes are just as important as external stakes. 

5) Pages that require the query to make sense

Something is stated in the query then it’s just assumed we’ll know that in the pages. Your pages must stand alone. Don’t look at them like a pair, look at them individually. Will my pages hook a reader if they haven’t read the query? Will my query hook a reader without knowing anything about the story? The story is the important part, the query is just a tool used to convince people to read your story.

6) Not showing us what’s special

This is honestly the number one reason a query goes in my no folder. There have been millions of books published. There are thousands upon thousands of books being queried right now. If your book doesn’t stand out, if you don’t show me something, anything new, for me to latch onto, it’ll get buried alive. It won’t stand out on a book shelf, the same way it won’t stand out in the slush pile. Often, we find trends in our queries. Not publishing trends, just things that for whatever reason, several people decided to write at once. You’ll hear mentors talking about these, “A lot of red heads in my queries this year.” “Wow, that’s the fourth friendly ghost story I’ve seen so far”. Those things don’t mean the kiss of death. One of those friendly ghost stories might be AWESOME because it has something super unique about it that the others don’t. It might be an *amazing* voice or writing style that flows with the story (my very first mentee was like that. About a girl who sees a boy’s spirit. Not overly unique. But her setting and voice and atmosphere was THROUGH THE ROOF and I couldn’t get it out of my head). But not everyone has that kind of writing style (I don’t) so you find another way. A twist, a unique setting, an unexpected tone. 

So think about this, just assume, for arguments sake, that there are several other books being entered into Pitch Wars with a similar story as yours. How will yours stand out? You wrote a mystery with a whodunit, why will I choose yours over the other 5? You wrote a romance. Why is yours the one I’ll remember over the others? No, you don’t need to add in Cyclopes clowns to make me remember you. Make it something real. Something engaging. Something that gets my mind spinning through the possibilities. What will engage and hook one mentor will be different for another, so don’t worry about that. Not everyone will love your work. Just make sure, somehow, it stands out. Show me what is special about your story. Show me how your future publisher will market you. 



If you can stand out, explain the story in a way I can understand, include compelling emotions in your characters,  with decent writing and it all fits into my wishlist, you'll very likely find yourself in my (much too long, I'm sure) want pile!

This year, I'm mentoring YA with the lovely Rebecca Sky, you can find out more about the submissions we're hoping to receive here: http://www.rebeccasky.com/gallery.php

Good luck Pitch Warriors!

Let's Celebrate The Season With A Holiday Writing Contest!

Contest Rules:

1. Write a 100-word story using the following words:

• Santa
• Reindeer
• Elves
• Candy Canes
• Sugar Cookies

2. Post your story in the comments section OF THIS BLOG POST.

3. Include your email address in case you are the winner. (Email addresses and story titles do not count as part of your 100 words.)

4. Contest closes on January 2, 2017. The winner will receive a 5-page middle grade manuscript critique from me, Stefanie Wass, a three-time Pitch Wars mentor and member of the MG Beta Readers team.

The dreaded "I just didn't connect" rejection and how to up your chances!

How many times have we heard that standard rejection, "I just didn't connect with it" or heard the word "SUBJECTIVE." These are realities in the publishing world. They're legit reasons for rejections even if we don't full understand them. 

Truth is, sometimes there is nothing you can do to make a particular person love your work. That's the nature of art.

 Some people are going to love it, some are going to hate it, some will be neutral (this is a life lesson all authors learn when they start getting reviews!) So sometimes that's what we mean when we say "it's subjective." I'm sorry, you're just not "the one". 

During #pitchwars someone compared the slush pile to dating... and boy what an analogy! So let's play with that, shall we?

Sometimes mentors, agents or editors have to say no to books that they know are fantastic. Books they know deserve to be chosen. Because there is another book that just connects... for whatever reason.

Let's think of submitting your work like a first date, and all the things you should keep in mind to up your chances of a love connection-- do's and don'ts.

Step one: Basic hygiene

This one is simple. Wash your hair, brush your teeth, wear deodorant. In publishing? This can translate into grammar and punctuation or even into character motivations that make sense, staying away from cliches, plot that moves forward etc.

Step two: Be Interesting

On a date, if you have nothing to say about anything, we may start getting bored. Naturally, people are going to be more drawn to someone like, say, a fire fighter, than an accountant who has no hobbies-- simply because they want to know more about them. "Is it scary?" "Have you ever saved someone's life?" if exciting questions start running through someone's mind, that's piquing their interest and they'll hang around a little longer to see what's around the corner. 

In publishing, this is premise and the promise of plot. Something that makes us want to keep reading just to see what's going to happen. 

Step three: Personality

Here's where things get sticky, because there isn't one right personality. 

 You might be funny, or witty, or sarcastic, or deep, or intelligent. The main point is that you stand out and draw people in. That people enjoy talking with or about you.

This is the voice/tone of your story. You know that guy who everyone else thought was hilarious but really just annoyed you? Or the weird girl no one else understood but was your absolute best friend?  We are all drawn to different things. We come at it from different perspectives so we see things differently. That's okay. Just makes sure you HAVE a personality. 

Some people like spicy, some prefer sweet, some love sour, and some want savory. Don't add chocolate to your curry sauce just because someone wants something sweet. Your goal is simply to not be bland.

The last and most important step is.... Emotional connection

That thing that's SOOO important but SOOOO difficult to pin point. I'm not even going to try to come up with dating examples because I'm pretty sure I'll fail. It's that thing that takes you from stranger to relationship. From crush to a meaningful part of your life. In books, sometimes it can be kind of accidental, you just happen to hit the right topic or remind the reader of something that really resonates with them. Sometimes we can't do anything more to help someone fall in love, we just have to wait for the right timing. 

But I'll tell you a secret.  Most of the time it comes down to relating to the characters and their goals. So how do we do that? Here's the part you don't want to miss. 

The thing that is most likely to HOOK those readers at all levels, to give you the best chance at falling into love: 

Emotional stakes

So you know how in pitches we tell you we need to know what happens if they fail? The world ends, they freeze to death in the icy tundra, deadly virus spreads across the world, dictator gains power and enslaves millions etc etc. But it can't be only physical. There needs to be emotional stakes also.

Don't just think about the premise as the idea- the logical "will this concept sell?" because just as important (sometimes more) is that you aren't just hooking the head of your readers-- but their heart.
Sort of like the hot millionaire who loves puppies- he sound *amazing* on paper. But it's the broke musician who steals your heart and won't let go. Don't be the millionaire. Be the musician. (I mean, be both if you can but if you have to choose...)


So, I don't care if you've written a survival story where the whole point is them making it through the icy tundra to safety, there still needs to be something emotional at stake. There's a sick little sister with you  and your mother just left you both but you haven't told your sister yet so that's hanging over your head, and all the while you feel responsible for her but your afraid he's going to let her die less than two days into that responsibility *weeps*. All this on top of freezing temperatures and fighting off wolves etc. (also mind you that it doesn't need to be sad like that, there are a million types of emotions you can use) The DEEPER you go with those emotions the more likely you're going to connect to someone

When Things Don't Go Your Way

A few days ago my Twitter feed lit up with all kinds of Pitch Wars excitement when the names of the mentees for this round were announced. There were hundreds of congratulatory tweets, dozens of celebratory gifs, and all kinds of people expressing supportive happiness.

There was a flip side to all of these virtual high-fives, however. Many people who submitted their work to the contest weren’t chosen by a mentor.

If you’ve been writing long enough, you’ve had rejection or disappointment smack you in the head a number of times. There’s just no way around this. It’s happened to all of us. We know reaching our writing goals is a long process and involves a lot of hard work. We’re all familiar with the backstories of the bajillionaire authors who struggled mightily when they were getting started. Knowing this doesn’t make the rejection sting any less though, especially when the struggle is a part of daily writing life.

Putting a lot of hope into a contest and not having it pan out isn’t fun. I don’t make a habit out of buying lottery tickets, but when the jackpot gets up into stratospheric dollar amounts, I figure, eh, why not? I know I’m not going to win…probably…but I’m still a tiny bit disappointed when my numbers don’t come up, even though all I lost was maybe a few bucks. Something like Pitch Wars, or any of the other contests out there, are great opportunities, but that’s all they are. Opportunities. Chances. Nice chances to be sure, wonderful chances, but not guarantees of anything else ever happening as a result. Contests are only one way for writers to get that first foot in the door. After all, how many book deals had been made, or query letters answered, or conference pitches nervously delivered before Twitter had even been thought up? I don’t mind saying that some of my earliest attempts at queries were done on paper for crying out loud, with envelopes and stamps and everything. Taking a long time to make any kind of progress in writing is much more the rule than the exception.

So why do we continue trying? Why enter the contests, or write the queries, or make the pitches when they don’t lead to anything, and a lot of the time it feels like they never will? Why even bother writing when the odds are stacked so high against you?

Because your other choice is to not do these things. To put aside the hopes and dreams and just write for kicks, or not write at all anymore. I’m guessing for most of us that really isn't much of an option.

If you didn’t make the Pitch Wars cut this time, think about why that could be. Look for a way to grow and improve from this setback. Hopefully you got some kind of feedback, but if you didn’t, look for people you trust to give you some, or give yourself enough time away from your manuscript so you can come back at it with fresh eyes. Maybe try another contest, or go back to the query trenches. It could also be that the best move is to give the manuscript a rest and try working on something new.

You may not have reached the goal you were hoping for this time, but you didn’t really lose anything, either. This was just one opportunity. Others are definitely on the way. Just be sure you’re ready for them when they cross your path.

Pitch Wars and the Olympics

Did you watch the Rio Games? For the past two weeks I was caught up in the Olympic television coverage, from swimming to gymnastics, to track and field. I loved everything about the Olympics-- the coming together of nations for peaceful competition, the patriotism, the opening and closing ceremonies. But the thing I liked best? Watching athletes deliver a message I strongly believe in: Hard work can pay off. In the words of women's freestyle swimming gold medalist Katie Ledecky, who broke her own world record to win the first swimming gold medal in Rio, "What you put in is what you get out."

 

And that, my friends, got me thinking about writing.

This year, I am lucky to again serve as a mentor in the Pitch Wars writing contest. As a mentor, I have the impossible task of selecting one manuscript out of piles of submissions. It's heart-wrenching to think I can only pick one. Writers have written an entire novel and trusted me with their words. My heart breaks when I know I'm not connecting with a manuscript enough to say yes. It kills me to realize I'm going to have to pass, simply because I've fallen "more in love" with another novel.

 

My advice to Pitch Wars hopefuls who aren't selected? Follow Olympian Katie Ledecky's advice: Put in the hard work. Keep writing every day. Find beta readers. Attend conferences. Or maybe it's time to outline a brand new novel, like I did last fall:

Writing isn't for the faint-hearted. I've entered umpteen writing contests, and I haven't "won" anything more than a full manuscript request. But I have won other, perhaps more important things: Helpful critique, a closer connection with the writing community, and a chance to realize that the manuscript I thought was "the one" hadn't even been written yet.

 

Mastery of craft, like mastery of swimming or gymnastics, doesn't come overnight. Katie Ledecky started swimming at age 6. I wrote my first manuscript at age 40. We all have different timetables, but without putting in the work, mastery won't magically appear at any age.

 

So contest or no contest, my advice is to devote time to craft.

Print out your manuscript. Read it aloud. Flag troublesome scenes. Swap chapters with trusted beta readers. Read a ton. Write and re-write, a zillion times. Put in the work every single day and work harder than you ever thought possible.

 

I can't guarantee you'll find an Olympic medal hanging around your neck. But your writing? I bet it will shine.

 



Pitch Wars and all that Publishing Pressure

The first time I entered Pitch Wars, I failed monumentally.

My knowledge of query letters, pitches, formatting, and word counts lay right around absolute zero. Seriously, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew nothing. I was the Jon Snow of publishing. And it showed.

But you know what? I walked away with more than just a few mentor rejections. I walked away with a better understanding of everything I had originally messed up. I kept in contact with the people I'd met on the Twitter hashtag and we began swapping manuscripts. And when I wrote my second book, I vowed to enter the contest again and not wind up looking like a total noob this time.

My second Pitch Wars was with my current book, My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights. I finished my first draft just in time to get a couple of beta readers to give me notes. I was lucky enough to find a mentor (the amazing Marieke Nijkamp) who wanted my story. She helped me so much with developing particular elements of the story, and when it came time for the three-day agent round to go live, I was feeling good. Positive. Certain that Tights was going to get some serious attention.

The first day was crickets. The second, they brought their friends. By day three, the post featuring my first 250 words was so absent of agent love I was ready to shove my manuscript into a hole in my yard and let the earthworms turn it to compost. Mine wasn't the only one that didn't get any requests, but there weren't many that failed to. My mentor urged me to query. She told me to not give up because Pitch Wars was simply one avenue. Every query letter I could send out was another. And there were plenty of agents out there I could contact. Stopping then would've been like throwing the car in park and going home because there happened to be one single road closed between your house and Dunkin' Donuts.

So I dusted off my query-writing skills and wrote the best letter I could. I revisited my first page and changed a few things around. I queried a handful of agents and within a few weeks I had three offers of representation. I signed with Uwe Stender of the Triada US Literary Agency and he ended up selling my book to Random House two weeks later.

But imagine if I had thrown in the towel?

Actually, don't. Don't imagine that. Because throwing in the towel, especially that early on, is just silly. I didn't get my book published because of me. I got it published because of all the people surrounding my story who were willing to help me. Whether you self publish or traditionally publish, it really does take a village to get there.

My point is this:

If you want to have a book on a shelf, exhaust every avenue possible. There is no one road to get there. Relying on a single path is, simply put, bad planning. If you get into Pitch Wars this year, give yourself a huge pat on the back and get right back to work. If you don't get into Pitch Wars this year, take some time to feel bad and get right back to work. If you're not entering Pitch Wars this year, support those who are trying to and get right back to work.

Learn as you go. Make friends as you try. Have fun writing and remember that every author started out unagented, unpublished, and with a head full of words and a gut full of hope.

Caught in the Contest Hype

It's that time of year again, where writerly folks are all abuzz about PitchWars. I mean sure it's exciting, if you get picked you get a mentor, some awesome manuscript notes, and access to an amazing list of agents reading your submission. It sounds like a dream come true, a match made in heaven, the stars aligning but wait...

Yes I said BUT

and this is a HUGE ENORMOUS BUT,

If that's all you're focused on, you're missing the point of pitchwars and writing contests in general. Let's be honest--and not to belittle PitchWars and other writing contests because I think they have great value to them--you can do everything PitchWars does for you on your own.

1) You can find an awesome beta reader (or several in fact) to help you shine up your manuscript.

2) You can edit and get additional feedback.

3) And you can query most if not all of the agents in contests and more on top of that.

So what do you need PitchWars and other contests for if you can do all this stuff on your own?

Networking - Writing is lonely. It's really easy to get lost and feel isolated, like you're the only one who has gone through this. But you aren't. Many others have. And contests are filled with mentors, hopefuls, and other industry people that are great to meet and interact with. Who knows, you might find your next CP match, an awesome beta reader, or some amazing fellow nerds like yourself. So get out there and talk to folks.

Editing tips - Contests almost always share tips and talk about ways to shine up your manuscripts. You can learn a lot of common mistakes to look for and make your manuscript stand out even more. I've picked up a ton of editing tips that I now use on all my work. So use this time to learn and grow as a writer.

Feedback - In many contests you will get direct feedback on a query, pitch, and/or opening pages. Use that to help hone in your work and make it pop from the first words. If you hook a reader right away, odds are agents will want to see more too. And if the contest doesn't directly offer feedback go back to the networking and find some new people to swap with to get that feedback.

Industry Wisdom - Many contests have writers that are further along in the writing process. Use them as a resource to learn about what comes next. What's it like to have an agent? go on sub? use a publicist? how do royalties work? etc. There's a whole huge writing world out there with tons of previous lessons learned, listen to the advice and gain a valuable perspective on the industry.

Reading material - Looking for new books to add to your to read pile? Looking to explore more in a genre? Need some research material? Contests are a great way to find new reading material. Whether it's the contest hosts/mentors' books, the books the participating agents are repping, or suggestions you get from fellow participants, contests are a great way to find tons of great reading material.

So the next time you find yourself biting your nails over a contest and freaking out about whether or not you'll get picked, take a step back. Look at the larger view of the contest. Get to know the participants, learn some new tips and tricks, and just have fun. Forget about who gets picked and who doesn't. Utilize all the opportunities that are right in front of you. And when you do, you'll be a winner whether you're picked or not.

A MG Pitch Wars learning experience - 2 things I've realized AGAIN

If you're reading this, you probably know all about Pitch Wars and what a  fantabulous of an experience it is for the mentees. But let me tell you something. As a mentor, I'm learning more about my writing and MG in general than I ever thought was capable. Who would have thought, that Pitch Wars is helping me, just as much as it is probably helping my experience.

When I chose my mentee, I based it solely on writing I know I would be able to help to the best of my ability. Primarily, it was writing I could connect with, and writing I knew could be developed to a point where agents would want to snatch it up and show it off to the world. A month into edits, and I'm finally ready to send her the editorial letter and my notes that I took as much time as possible with. I wanted to treat her book as if it were my own. In a way, I felt like I adopted it. And for those of you reading this, get ready world, because Andrea Pelleschi is going to take you by storm with her creative MG brilliance! (follow her on twitter btw if you haven't already - @AndreaPelleschi)

Ultimately Pitch Wars got me thinking about my own writing, and how it's been in an never ending state of evolution since I first wrote words on a page. So what exactly did I learn? Well..it's like going back to my roots, and I'm boldly going where no writer has gone before. BACK TO SQUARE ONE.

Strap in - it's going to be a bumpy ride.

First of all, after looking at all the entries into the competition, there is a definite key to originality. I've been in development of two new manuscripts right now, and one I'm absolutely shelving after fully realizing that while I love the story, the originality just isn't there. It's one thing to think of a unique concept, but it's another where you just taking a concept already done over and over and over again and just putting a twist to it.

A twist can only go so far. Of course, we'll all borrow from other works, but we need to make it our priority to separate ourselves from them as far as possible. That was one issue I did see with the entrants. It's one thing to compare yourself to a work, but it's another when I feel like I'm reading something I just read a few months ago with different character names and macguffins.

So take a look at your MS. Is it REALLY that different from the rest out there? If not, get back in there and "make it so" - see what I did there?

YES YOU CAN!

Another thing I learned? Do NOT forget your voice. You can have the greatest concept in the world, and your writing technique can be stellar, but without that voice, a MG novel is just going to fall flat. I turned down a few entrants just because their voice wasn't their yet. Voice is something that takes a LONG time to work on. I'm talking months upon months. And it isn't a very natural thing to develop. It sort of just hits you one day.

Hell, even with the MS I'm working on now, the voice needs a lot of work. I'm trying to develop it from CN which is on submission. I feel like it would be awkward if I use the same voice in one book as I did another. The characters are very different, and the voices NEED to be different as well.

Take your time, let that voice flow from you, and be natural. The only advice I can offer is to just try writing without thinking. You might find your voice coming out. Edit afterwards. Don't worry about what's on the page. Just write the first thing that comes to your mind.

Finding your voice ....it's seriously as hard as this...

These may seem like two very self explanatory things, but I'm telling you it gets lost in the creative process. We get so self absorbed with our own stories that we sometimes forget the important key things in developing a story that would connect with readers. And isn't that what it's all about? Forming that connection? 

I don't know about you, but I'm back to the drawing board. I will put my MS on the back burner for awhile, and create something new yet again. Need to focus on those important bits...are you with me!???!?!?!?! Of course you are...so now let's play with some cats.

Hard-to-take critiques

Every new contest brings a lot of emotions. Some good, some not so good. Too many hopefuls are riddled with strong feelings of disappointment and heartache. Even worse are the ones that allow sticky feelings like anger to take over. 

What we do is so personal, so it’s very hard not take rejection personally.

Because no one likes to hear that they’re not on the right track, especially when the feedback we get was something we so didn’t expect.

First reaction: Denial.

“No, that’s not true. They just don’t get it. They’re WRONG!”

Yeah, maybe that’s true. They could be wrong. But you should never assume they’re wrong. There is always something important to learn from another person’s perspective. Even if it just means being prepared for more of the same perspective later.

Second reaction: Anger

"How could they say that? They’re just jealous fools! I hate them"

Sure, there are the occasional times where a critique isn’t fair. You hit a sore spot with a reviewer. They were in a REALLY bad mood when they read your work. They really like making people angry.

Or… maybe you’re just not thinking clearly. Maybe your own emotions are too high to really get it right now.

Third Reaction: Bargaining

“No, no! They just didn’t read it right. See this makes sense because I said this. If you knew this about my character you wouldn’t ever have thought that!”

Okay, now you’re just making excuses. It’s your job to make sure they are getting it. If they aren’t, there may be something you can do to fix that.

Fourth Reaction: Depression

"I suck. I’m horrible. I’m never going to get anywhere!"

No. You just have more to learn. There is ALWAYS more to learn.

All the above reactions are normal and natural, but they’re not rational. Sometimes the truth in those comments don’t sink in at first.

What you should do: Stop!

Do not react, at least not publicly. Let the words settle. ESPECIALLY when it comes from an agent or editor. DO NOT respond right away if you’re feeling any strong emotions.

Sometimes what you think is an acceptable response can come off way different when you’re upset. So just give yourself time to cope and accept it. Let yourself freak out, become angry, sad, whatever it is, on your own. THEN respond (or don’t, depending).

You are completely welcome to disagree with the feedback you received—so long as that is a rational response, after you’ve taken some time to understand what the review is really saying.

You might be able to guess the next step on the list of reactions of hard-to-take critiques. 

Reaction Five: Acceptance

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Acceptance can come in a lot of different forms. It doesn't just mean "Yes! They're totally right!" It could also mean, "Okay, I see why they said that. I just don't agree." or even, "I see what they're saying but I'm not sure I agree yet. Maybe I should get another opinion."

 

The point is taking a good long look at the feedback both to understand what the reader is really saying and to decide if it is really something you want to use. Not all critiques are correct. A lot of them are simply opinion. But so long as you are look the at feedback in a rational way, you are totally good to go.

This is where we all want to be. Rationally prepared to take on the critique and make ourselves better. Now it’s time to learn something!