Feedback is VERY important.
Often, we can’t see our mistakes in our own work, but anyone else reading through our writing can. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve edited the same chapter several times, and I’ve edited out ALL of the mistakes, only to have a friend read the chapter and find seven missing commas and two words used out of context.
It’s incredibly frustrating, but also a bit relieving to know that even if you missed something, the next person might not!
You know what else is annoying?
Have you ever handed your manuscript to a friend or family member and asked them for some feedback, but instead they hand you back a stack of papers with red ink staining:
Every.
Single.
Page.
They hand you the papers and say proudly, “Well, I just left you a few comments and helped you with some of your editing mistakes!”
Now, your response to this will be different depending on if you asked this person to thoroughly edit your work, then you’ll probably be overjoyed to see that they took the time to actually do what you asked!
But what if you just wanted them to go through the book and read it just to get their overall opinion on the book? What do you do now? They practically rewrote your entire book, and now you’re going to have to spend hours looking over their comments and deciding if they’re actually worth keeping.
First off, before you do ANYTHING else, thank the person for A) reading through your work, and B) actually returning your work to you in a reasonable manner! They could’ve simply thrown out the manuscript and told you that your writing wasn’t worth their time.
Because let’s be honest, everyone has their own to-do list, (Especially adults) and if they weren’t reading your story, no doubt they could be doing something else like fixing their flat tire or even just scrolling on YouTube, watching some quick shorts for some stress relief.
They didn’t though…they read YOUR book!
So again, make sure they know just how much you appreciate what they did for you, and even if they didn’t do exactly what you wanted them to do, they did something, which is usually better than nothing. Even if they left you hundreds of unnecessary comments, the five they left you that improved your story could impact your success.
Gratitude is always a must, but choosing to ask the same person over and over again to read your book isn’t. How do you decide if you should keep asking a person to read your stuff? Well, that’s going to depend on several different factors, the first of which is how they respond not only AFTER reading your book but also BEFORE.
Meaning?
Did they seem enthusiastic to read your book when you first handed it over to them? Did they get right to reading it or did they take weeks to even start it? Sure, that individual might be busy, but if it’s been a month and they haven’t even mentioned your manuscript than maybe they’re just not interested. Another reason might be they’re simply too busy with their everyday life to add another task to their plate.
And that’s totally fine!
Just be sure to let them know you understand and then let someone else read the book.
Remember, if the person reading your book views the task as a burden, then they might approach the book with a tampered view and not enjoy it as much as they would if they had eagerly started reading it themselves. Unfortunately, though, if you’re on a deadline, you might not have the luxury of waiting months for your book to be reviewed.
So just move on!
But what if they not only ignored reading what you asked them too, but their comments and suggestions are harmful. And I don’t mean the “This sentence is just weird,” or the “I think this character is way too annoying” kind. I mean “This is pointless,” and the “You should just write something else, because this is just trash”, kind of comments.
How do you respond to those?
I’d just dive in and answer that, but I think I’m going to keep you in suspense and tell you next time! 😉
-D.P.
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