If you work in a creative profession you have to get used to dealing with feedback. And one thing is for certain; you will only remember the negative comments. The rare moments you receive praise for your work will flit from your memory within minutes. Adverse feedback can corrupt your soul for weeks.
After almost six years as a legal content writer, I feel, at last, I have the experience to write this article. If only for the fact that I no longer burst into tears and believe I am a complete fraud when a client is less than pleased with a blog or web page I have produced (I spent many years doing this).
Don’t get me wrong. I still feel like shit when I receive critical comments about my work. I stomp around, declaring that the client has no clue what they are going on about. I waste hours pouring over the piece, frantically justifying my choices in words or law, determined to prove that the client was WRONG.
But after a while (I am talking days, not hours), I calm down and can bring myself to look at the feedback objectively. And more often than not, the client is right, or I have not managed their expectations correctly.
If you are going to be creative you must accept that each article you write, play you act, dish you make, or picture you paint, is perfect only in your mind. Once you put it ‘out there’ to an audience, you leave yourself open their opinion; be that positive or negative.
Criticism can be brutal. My clients are Solicitors, Barristers, and corporates. They are always busy and pay me to do a job they have no time to do. Some of my clients are far better writers than I could ever hope to be. But they are lawyers; therefore, spending three to four hours creating a legal article that people want to read is not a good use of their £200+ hourly rate. Many people who review my work (often junior lawyers) have never met me; they probably assume I am working as part of a large firm churning out ten pieces a day, rather than spending hours toiling over how to make a legal concept understandable and interesting to a reader. Therefore, any negative feedback I receive is usually short, sharp, and pitiless. And I am a sensitive soul.
The first rule I have when dealing with negative feedback is the most obvious. NEVER, EVER respond with anything more detailed than an acknowledgement for at least 24 hours. You must work through your emotional response first, so you can objectively analyse what the reviewer is trying to say. Don’t berate yourself for taking the criticism personally – it proves you care about the work you do. I put my heart into every article I produce – damn right I take it personally if someone thinks it’s rubbish. Only when the emotion has subsided (and it will) should you respond to the client.
When you’re evaluating the feedback, you need to keep in mind that all art is subjective. I will sometimes receive a piece back where a client has changed almost every line. However, there is actually nothing wrong with what I produced; he or she would have simply done it differently. In this situation, I examine the client’s changes and try to incorporate their style into the next article I write. But I take the view that if a client wants to re-write a blog to suit their preferences, that is their choice. My job is to create an article using the brief given and my knowledge of the client (which is why I always meet new clients face to face). I will never write exactly how they would because I am not them. When you hire someone to do a job, you have to accept they will do things their way, which may be different from yours. As long as the desired result is achieved, does it matter?. Sometimes clients accept this fact, other times they walk away. This is no one’s fault – it is best the client finds another writer whose style is more suited to theirs. Unfortunately, not everyone will be enamoured with your work. Nurture those who are and let the others go.
The hardest feedback to deal with is when I have made a mistake in law or, upon reflection, the writing is boring, confusing, or has grammatical errors. This is where pride must be swallowed, and an apology made. You have to learn to forgive yourself. No matter how good you are at your craft, you will make mistakes and have bad days. Learn from them and move on. This type of experience keeps you humble. Remain open and gracious and be grateful someone has taken the time to point out where you can improve.
Winston Churchill said “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” It is hard to remain open to negative feedback, but unfortunately, praise teaches you nothing. Criticism hurts, makes you doubt yourself, and can ruin your day. None of this is fatal. Give yourself time and remember, “this too shall pass”.
It always does.
The Legal Copywriting Company is dedicated to helping law firms and barristers achieve their marketing goals by creating engaging, SEO friendly content for their website and marketing materials and managing their social media. To find out more, please fill in our contact form or email corinne@thelegalcopywritingcompany.co.uk or phone 01691 839661.