How to Receive and Navigate Feedback at a Pennwriters Meeting
Stepping into your first Pennwriters feedback meeting can feel a bit like opening a critique letter from your favorite editor: exciting, terrifying, and full of possibilities. Whether you’re brand new to the craft or simply new to receiving live critique, learning how to accept and interpret feedback is an essential skill for every writer. Done well, it can accelerate your growth and deepen your confidence. Done poorly, it can feel overwhelming.
This guide will help you understand how to approach the feedback process with clarity, balance, and resilience.
Before the Meeting: Set Your Mindset
1. Remember Why You’re Here
You’re not attending a feedback meeting to prove your story is perfect. You’re here to improve it. Feedback is a tool and not a judgment of your talent or worth as a writer.
2. Clarify What You Want
If the meeting format allows, tell the group what kind of feedback you’re seeking:
- General impressions?
- Plot clarity?
- Dialogue?
- Consistency in POV or pacing?
This helps ensure the comments you receive actually support your goals.
During the Meeting: How to Listen Productively
1. Don’t Defend—Listen
If someone misunderstands something in your piece, that’s valuable information. Resist the urge to jump in and explain what you meant. Instead, listen for patterns. If multiple readers stumble at the same spot, it’s a sign the text, not the reader, needs adjustment.
2. Look for Repetition and Consensus
One person’s comment might be preference. Three people making the same observation? That’s a trend worth paying attention to.
3. Separate Craft Feedback from Personal Taste
Some comments reflect objective craft issues (clarity, structure, pacing). Others are simply a matter of style. Learn to identify which is which:
- “This sentence is confusing.” is Craft
- “I prefer shorter sentences.” is Taste
Both can be useful, but they’re not equal.
4. Take Notes — Even on Things You Disagree With
You don’t need to commit to using every suggestion. But if you capture all the feedback during the meeting, you can reflect on it later with a clearer mind.
5. Pay Attention to Emotional Signals
Do certain comments sting? That may indicate an area where you’re deeply attached to something or where you subconsciously sense a problem. Neither is bad; both are worth revisiting later.
After the Meeting: How to Process and Apply Feedback
1. Sit With It
Avoid tackling revisions immediately if emotions are high. Give yourself time to let the feedback settle so you can evaluate it calmly.
2. Review Your Notes with Neutrality
Create three categories:
- Must Fix (clear issues, repeated comments)
- Worth Considering (helpful but not essential)
- Not for This Project (interesting but not aligned with your vision)
You may be surprised by how many comments feel more manageable when sorted this way.
3. Preserve Your Authorial Voice
Your story should not be revised by committee. You are the final decision-maker. Accept suggestions that serve the story; set aside those that dilute it.
4. Look for Underlying Problems
Sometimes a suggestion you disagree with points to a real issue, just not the one the critiquer identified. For example:
- A reader says, “Cut this scene, it’s too slow,” but the real issue may be unclear stakes, not pacing.
Always ask: What is the root cause behind this comment?
5. Express Gratitude
Pennwriters feedback groups are built on generosity. A simple thank-you reinforces the collaborative spirit and keeps your connections strong.
What Feedback You Should Consider
- Repeated comments from multiple readers
- Concerns about clarity, logic, continuity, or pacing
- Confusion about character motivations
- Structural issues that weaken the narrative
- Feedback that aligns with your own instincts
These are often the kinds of notes that lead to meaningful improvements.
What You Don’t Need to Focus On
- One-off comments that contradict your creative intent
- Feedback rooted in a reader’s personal genre preferences
- Suggestions that turn your story into a different story
- Notes that conflict with your story’s purpose or theme
- Critiques that target style rather than substance, unless you asked for that
Not all feedback is created equal. Your job is to discern, not to obey.
Final Thoughts: Feedback Is a Conversation, Not a Verdict
Receiving critique is a skill, and like any skill, it gets easier with practice. Over time you’ll learn to recognize which comments elevate your writing and which you can gracefully let go. Pennwriters exists to support writers at every stage, and feedback meetings are one of the most powerful tools we offer.
So take a deep breath. Bring your curiosity. Keep your voice. And remember you’re not alone in this journey.