Part EIGHT of my series of WRITING FROM THE BONES UP: How I Write.

Here’s a true story. A writer friend who was snapped up by an agent and got a book deal just after Pitch Wars, was once told by a bunch of people in a writing group that her idea for a novel would never work and she shouldn’t even attempt it. This is a sad story, because the lovely writer listened to them, and didn’t write that book. (It has a happy-isn ending though, because she got an agent and book-deal faster than the blink of an eye on her first novel, but that is besides the point.)

A few (now) close writer friends told me that when they first heard the pitch for my book, (before we knew each other better), they thought ‘there’s no way she could pull that off.’ And they were pleasantly surprised when they read the book. So here’s what I’m trying to say… sometimes people’s feedback, even at the inception/idea stage of a story/book can be wrong for you and your book. 

Maybe my writer friends novel would have been over-ambitious for a debut author, maybe she wouldn’t have pulled it off. But she’ll never know because she never tried. And that my friends sucks. Because my view is that, at worst, she would have given herself a massive writers training by writing an audacious novel, even if it never got published. Plus that info makes me plain old angry. Because who are these people who decided her idea wasn’t going to work? The truth is as writers, sometimes we ask for opinions and sometimes we get them whether we wanted to or not. Which is why its integral IMO to filter those opinions wisely. 

I had over 30 different groups of people read my query / pitch and my first page. That was a WHOLE LOT of feedback mainly from writers or readers in the genre, and a handful from people who didn’t read in the genre at all. How did I process it all? 

QUERY/PITCH/SYNOPSIS

Feedback on these items is useful from people who know NOTHING about your book, because what you’re looking for is plain old ‘this makes no sense’ and ‘this makes sense to me’ feedback as queries et al tend to seem perfect to us authors and be convoluted/make zero sense to readers (we’re too deep in our own work to realise this, always get a whole bunch of outside advice, and when 3+ people make the same comment you probably need to fix it). 

THE NOT FOR THEM-ERS

I had a whole bunch of people read my first chapter, many of whom didn’t read in my genre. Interestingly my MC’s character polarised opinions. People either loved/adored her or really had issues with her. Those that didn’t take to her suggested she was ‘mean’ and ‘bitchy’. Those that loved her raved about her calculating manner of handling things. This feedback was VERY USEFUL TO ME. Because it showed me who my ‘ideal readers’ / audience / people / tribe were. If I had only negative feedback I might have needed to revise my MC, but since so many were overtly positive about her (without me asking or drawing attention to her manner) I knew that just like some love a MC and others want to strangle them, I had to listen to my ‘ideal readers’. This can be useful when you consider beta or CP’ing with other writers. 

Again, the bad feedback that I didn’t agree with was not a waste of time, indeed the ‘not for them-ers’ brought up a whole bunch ofother points that were extremely useful that I might have missed, but I read it all with a filter of ‘this is not their type of book,’ which leads me to my next point. 

THOSE WHO DON’T READ IN THE GENRE

My family and husband all read ACOM, not one of them reads YA. And no, they are not the type to gush blindly over my work. Instead I got 30 minute uninvited critical feedback sessions from both parents, and my sister, thats how the Grant’s roll.  Their feedback on issues in the book was absolutely priceless since they came at the book from a brand new perspective and were quick to point out things that genre-readers gloss over or might not have noticed. They are also the very best people to trouble-shoot with and brainstorm since they are not as emotionally invested in fan-girling over a character. Indeed my husband was my number one person to throw plot problems at whilst I drafted/edited the book. Having initially not read it, he was able to have an outside unbaised eye and offer me practical solutions that were so obvious I could have kicked myself. 

Whether you’re at idea/conception stage, working on a first draft, polishing/editing, or ready with a shiny completed novel, query or pitch, feedback is so important. Choose wisely when to ask for it, and which feedback to run with and what to put aside. 

CHARACTER 

Your character is another factor to take into consideration. We writers are a notoriously emotional bunch, thus knowing if you are emotionally strong enough at the time to take criticism or feedback is important. Some writers I know find that until a book is several drafts in, its too ‘vulnerable’ to receive feedback from others. Some people are easily dissuaded by others opinions. Some are so confident that they don’t need anyone’s opinions at any stage (I’d advise against the latter, most books can only benefit from outside eyes.). Get feedback when you are ready for it. Get honest feedback from people who will tell you the truth. But also try get wide feedback, from people who are supportive enough to want you to try things even if you will fail, and people who have no agenda or reasons to want to drag you down. People have biases which it is important to keep in mind. The literary community for instance is quite well known for looking down on commercial fiction, so a MFA writing group where they write Lit Fic might not give much helpful advice to someone writing YA SFF. 

WRITING GROUP VS CP’S

I have heard some horror stories about writing groups, but I also know famous successful writers who swear by them. YMMV. I am a proponent of finding writing partners or Critique Partners and sticking with them.