Creative writing feedback: when it’s good, it’s great, but when it’s bad, I believe that it can actually be toxic. As an editor, I’ve seen what can happen when a writer takes bad advice to heart–and as an author, I know all too well what if feels like to be on the receiving end of it.

My latest post, “How to Spot Toxic Feedback: 7 Signs That the Writing Advice You’re Getting May Do More Harm Than Good,” was published yesterday on the blog of Jane Friedman (writers, if you’re not already following Jane’s work, you should!).

The path to publication with your debut novel is seldom straightforward, but in my case, it was especially fraught—in part because I received a lot of feedback that wasn’t all that helpful, from people who didn’t understand what I was trying to achieve.

If you suspect you’ve been subject to this sort of feedback, first let me say this: you are not crazy, and the people who have given you this advice are not necessarily malicious.

But if you recognize the following characteristics in the critiques offered to you by peers, mentors, editors, or book coaches, it may not just be inept—it may, in fact, be toxic.

Read the rest of the post here.

(Photo credit: lovelihood via Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA.)