For the sake of simplicity, in upcoming chapters, I will combine writing and architecture into one term I can refer to as creatives.

Feedback can be a creative's desired friend or worst enemy. Unfortunately, feedback does not take the credit it deserves. It is, undoubtedly, feared and some creatives do not pursue their work in progress or creative development because of that fear. One can understand fear and methods of practice on how to handle it, which I'll discuss in later chapters. However, what I am referring to in this chapter is the understanding of feedback, how to give it, how to receive feedback, and how to ‌compile useful notes into one's reiterated creative process.

What is Feedback?

Feedback is when one seeks a singular or multiple criticisms regarding one's own work. It is essential for our creative development and knowledge expansion to understand what works, what doesn't, and why?

Types of Feedback?

According to my personal experience, I have analyzed three forms of feedback: constructive, deconstructive, and trolls.

Constructive feedback: constructive feedback is when you give someone useful notes‌. Someone displays respectable feedback and is as detailed as possible so the receiver can optimize a new perception of their work.

Preferred method: the sandwich method where you display what you liked about someone's project, then give your notes for improvement and finally end it on a pleasant note.

Example for authors: This is an interesting background story. It worked for me because it made me understand the villain's past and how they came to be. However, I recommend you maybe want to add some dialogues rather than completely stating the info. It will make the story even more believable and make us, as readers, empathize with the villain. It was actually an enjoyable read and I can't wait to read more of what happens to the villain who turned out not-so-villain anymore.

Example for architects: This project has potential. I ‌admire the attention to detail of your plans, and how you designed the space effectively. I recommend you'd want to try out different colours and materials for the exterior facade. This can help give justice to your concept and ensure the comfortability of users. Well done, and I look forward to seeing your rounds of improvements.

Is it desirable? Yes.

Is it recommended? Definitely.

Should I do it? Without question.

What if I don't know how to? It takes time and effort to ‌develop such a skill. Remember the old saying "Practice makes Perfect"? Well, there you have it!

Deconstructive feedback: deconstructive criticism is more of giving feedback, but you are basically downgrading the person and/or their work.

Preferred method: My advice is to develop thick skins for these particular feedbacks. It's not because the comments hurt, or actually, they do hurt like hell, but because you will need peace of mind to ‌filter out what is being said. This means that you will need to recompose what is being said about your work or areas that need improvement and concentrate on that instead of how they said it made you feel.

Example for authors: Your grammar is not transitional, and there are so many plot holes. Your characters aren't original and I have read those in fifty other books. What makes your story different? Why should I give the time of my day to even read this? Think of that when writing so that you don't ‌waste someone's time. You need more work on grammar structure, and please revise your spelling. In addition, your dialogue tags need revision, and it seems you confuse them with action tags.

Example for architects: what is this? Is this your plan? Where is your concept statement? Why did you create this room? Is this space even usable? There are so many mistakes that go re-do.

Is it desirable? No.

Is it recommended? Definitely. Why? Remember that thick skin I mentioned? Yes, you will need it as you may receive deconstructive feedback from your editors, project managers, publishers, readers, and beta readers. It doesn't have to come out as aggressive, ‌but it has the tendency to downgrade your work. That is why it is crucial to develop the skill to filter out undesirable words, yet make the most out of the helpful feedback that is given to you, regardless of its form.

Should I do it? Hell No.

And then there are Trolls: Trolls are people who just enjoy punching the soul out of your work, and seeing you fail is their success.

Do you know the example "Haters are gonna hate"? This applies transparently to trolls. Their primary goal and sole objective are to provide negative comments, and none are of actual value when you analyze them critically. That is when thick skin becomes of great value.

Preferred method: don't lend them your ear, or else they prey on you. If you show that they affected you on any level, they win. Unfortunately, matter how thick your skin is, on the long term, it can ‌affect you. What do you do? Smile politely and Ignore. The more you ignore, it will drive them bananas. However, the good news is eventually they will get bored knowing they can't get a reaction from you and leave you be. The bad news is, they just go troll on someone else. They are unimaginable!

Example for authors: Ew! Your writing sucks! You should stop before I pull my eyeballs off!

Examples for architects: I have seen nothing more humiliation in my career. You are a disgrace to the entire field. Do you call this a design?

Is it desirable? No.

Is it recommended? Hell No.

Should I do it? When hell freezes over, it's still a No.

So now that we established the ‌three forms of feedback, we can discuss how to give it.

I will exclude deconstructive feedback and trolls, as they are not effective nor efficient in any field; they are a waste of time, in my opinion. Therefore, I will plunge deeper into constructive criticism, how to give it, and what happens after you receive your feedback.

How to Give and Receive Feedback?

Giving feedback, when done carefully, can be of use to those who earn them. The benefits of constructive feedback are that we can apply the principles themselves in various forms and throughout our creative careers.

In which you give feedback, you may use the "sandwich method" which is shown in the image below.

Figure 3 illustrates the sandwich method feedback.

You don't have to do those specific details of feedback. Sometimes situations would only allow for: a positive opening, criticism, and a positive end note.

The links in the comments on the right show how the sandwich method works and how to use it.

Therefore, as stated in the above links, the sandwich method is one of the highly effective methods of feedback that big corps., multinationals, and local companies use when addressing their employees or anyone, regardless of rank. In addition, for us, creatives, we may receive it or encourage to receive it from our supervisors, mentors, editors, agents, beta readers, loyal readers, book club members, and/or trusted friends.

In which you receive feedback, you will need an open mind. Remember the filter I recommended in the deconstructive feedback section? Well, we will need it as well in the constructive part. Why? This is a very tricky subject. Therefore, we first need to establish between receiving feedback and taking it to your advantage versus people's opinions influencing your decision.

What do you mean? It is easy to get influenced by decisions and mostly hesitant from various feedback. Sometimes, opinions don't align and would give you contradictory perceptions. If you are open to experimentation, then it shouldn't be a challenge. Though you will need to stop experimenting at some point and start producing outcomes.

However, for those who aren't open easily to experimentation, there is a way. That is using one's filter of words. How do you do that? If there are various sources of feedback, acquire them. Then cut yourself off everything for a few hours from all means of distractions: emails, social media, and sit with yourself. Re-read all the ‌feedback critically, analyze them and add your personal notes. Then, set these aside, look at your project, whether writing or architecture and start using your newly developed critical and analytical skills. That is when you may come up with new theories and realizations.

After that, you choose which comments align with what you have analyzed and discovered your project needed to develop. That is when one learns how to shuffle feedback and use them whenever needed in their rightful time. For example, some feedback may seem out-of-place in Project X but when one re-shuffles, they will discover it is very efficient in Project Y.

Tip for creatives: Do not throw or ignore feedback. Even if one may think it is out of place, it may be in the current moment for the project at hand, but not necessarily in other projects. All feedback is valid if one knows where to place them correctly.

Another tip: Architecture and Creative Writing are similar in their foundations from the creative process to feedback to the research, which is covered in the next chapter, to understanding to produce the "most optimum" product. In addition, when used wisely, one can bridge the creative gap between both fields and gain more expertise that will help one gain a "creative edge."