OMG! My Book is Terrible!
Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. DOWNLOAD IT NOW. You’ll also get weekly articles on writing sent to your inbox. I remember the moment I handed the manuscript of my first book over to my husband for his feedback. I asked him to give me the truth while hoping he’d like it and only say nice things. But that would have been too easy! I hovered as he read it, watching his face for any expression. My heart leapt when he laughed and plummeted when he frowned. I kept wanting to ask him what he thought of it, but I was scared to because he said nothing – not a single thing as he read through. I knew then that the feedback wouldn’t be good. I was right. The best thing he said was, “Well, I finished it.” ‘OMG,’ I…
How to Deal with Criticism of Your Book
Last week I did a post on the necessity of getting feedback on your book from beta readers and/or professional editors in a developmental edit, but what if you get negative feedback or criticism? How to deal with criticism of your book? Feedback you take as criticism can make you very disappointed, depressed, even devastated. I totally understand this because I’ve written a couple of books that I’ve archived, and probably will never finish, because the feedback from my beta readers indicated that the books had serious flaws, ones I couldn’t fix easily, ones that would take more time to fix than I was prepared to put in on the project. Getting that kind of feedback is always disappointing, but we need to be prepared for it because the aim of having it read by a beta reader or developmental editor is that they point out the flaws in our…
The Classic Defensive Maneuver – do you do it?
The classic defensive maneuver is classic because it’s an automatic reaction many, if not most, people have when their work is criticised. It’s only those who have more self-awareness than usual or who have discovered that reacting this way does no good at all, and, in fact, often causes us to act in ways that when seen with hindsight are downright embarrassing, or, at the least, make us appear rather immature and inexperienced. The classic defensive maneuver seems absolutely right to the person offended by the opinion that causes the reaction. When in the grip of it, the sufferer sees nothing other than their own perspective, a perspective created by one single aim: to prove that one’s work is not as the critic says it is. When in the grip of the classic defensive manoeuvre we must, at all costs, retain our sense that the art work we have laboured…
Bad reviews? Watch out; defensiveness makes you blind.
Anyone in any creative field eventually receives feedback that is hard to hear. Not everyone will like your work, be it visual arts, music, theatre arts or writing. Bad reviews are not such a problem when they’re someone’s personal opinion—no worries, they just don’t like it. It’s not their thing—but when they critique your craftsmanship, you’re likely to feel it as a punch in the gut, especially if you’ve done your best to make sure your work is the best it can be. For most people, the first reaction is to be defensive. Because art is such a subjective field, we can always say that we have done something for which we’ve been criticised for a creative reason. In writing, we would say that it is a matter of style, or voice. This can be the case, but unless we have a full understanding of the point seen to be lacking and…
When negative reviews are kind
This post is part of, and an extension of, one I wrote for the Happy Honkers blog about when kindness looks like unkindness. When you publish a book, it goes into the public arena for review. That’s part of the deal, and negative reviews are something all authors need to learn how to handle. When you ask someone for a review and they say it will be an honest review, that’s what you’ll get, and you have to be prepared for the results, whatever they are. If you aren’t willing to get negative reviews then don’t ask those whose review policy clearly states that they will publish such reviews – like me. I’m talking here only about comprehensive reviews written by professional reviewers i.e. those who know about writing. They’ve given you 1 or 2 stars and a review which includes all your writing faults. It’s a painful shock,…
The Best Beta Readers are the Most Critical
When you ask someone to read your work, I suggest that you take the attitude that their criticisms will help you to make your book better. You should look forward to their criticism and understand that the harsher they seem, the better your book will be when you have fixed the problems. It’s better to have the criticism before it’s published than afterwards when it’s too late to fix it. This is why the best beta readers are the most critical and I always tell mine to be very critical and not to feel that they will hurt my feelings. Here are my suggestions for the kind of things you can ask them to look at. If you lose interest, please stop reading & I’ll send you a revised edition later. Tell me where I lost you. In general, does the story/plot work? Is there anywhere where it wanders or…
On dealing positively with feedback
Here’s the process I used to work positively with and apply my latest feedback.
What REALLY helps writers? Truth?
There is clearly a lot of support for writers within the writing community on the web, but if all we give each other is support, without real help, then not only are we not helping, we could also be hindering them as well. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be encouraging and supportive, no, no, no. These things are the very basis of our helping each other. What I’m saying is that support isn’t enough and that without real feedback on our work it could lead a writer to think that they are ready to publish when they’re not. I have been to blogsites where a writer has something up for you to look at. I read it and find flaws, but I don’t feel I can say so because all the other comments are glowing. I want to support the writer. I can see some good ideas there, but… in…