So, partly as a result of my previous post about getting feedback from adult readers, I accepted the offer of a few friends who said they'd be happy to read my a novels. I've got 2 readers - both colleagues - reading Hacking the Dragon and 1 reading Big Brother's Little Sister, with his 13 year old daughter reading it, too. I'm hoping that a good FB and Twitter friend will be happy to read the latter, too - she is, after all, the person who after whom the main baddy is named.
And 1 of them has already finished, and read the book really quickly. I'm very, very grateful, and looking forward to his feedback. Very much. Except that I'm also quite nervous about it. He's already mentioned that he found it a real page-turner, which is a great relief. In fact, it's probably the very best thing he could have said, because the thing I'm most interested in, as far as my readers go, is that they want to read to the end and find out what happens.
But what else? Is the characterisation awful? Is the plotting obvious, or just unconvincing? Is the pacing too quick, too slow? I don't know. Maybe there are some plot points that don't hold together.
We'll see - I have only myself to blame for asking for more feedback, but if I'm ever going to be a published author, or expand my readership beyond a few friends and family, then I need to be ready to accept that other people are going to read it. And that they won't like everything they read. Sometimes because what I've written needs work. Sometimes because the style doesn't suit them. Of course, in the latter case, it's their fault, because my writing is, in fact, perfect, and doesn't need any work at all.
Or something.
Anyway - I'm looking forward to hearing the feedback. Whatever it is (almost).
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- MikeCamel
- Sci-fi and Young Adult author: sometimes both. Dad, geek, diver. Tea, no coffee. @MikeCamel
Well, I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. But having sat on the sidelines as a great many author friends have received feedback, there are a few things I've learned which may put it in perspective. Some of it may be obvious, but here, for what it's worth, are a few observations.
ReplyDelete1. Any feedback is only ever one person's opinion. It doesn't reflect what others will think. All opinions are valid (even the opinion of an idiot); not all have value. You are entitled to sift and evaluate and if necessary ignore feedback.
2. The best advice I've ever heard about writing was this: "The most important thing is that you have something worthwhile to say and a clear voice with which to say it". Any feedback that dismisses what you chose to say in your writing is irrelevant. Feedback that sharpens and clarifies your voice isn't.
3. The worst advice about writing, ever, without exception, is this: "Everybody has a book in them". Some people don't have a book in them; they just have body parts. Other people have a book in them, but unfortunately it's a 1985 phone directory or the Littlewoods catalogue, and we'd all do just fine without it. This is not addressed to you, of course. It's just fun to say.
4. There's a world of difference between beta-reader feedback, Amazon reader reviews and those elusive professional reviews.
I've read the first few pages during a rather over-booked day. You have, my goodness you have, the voice to say whatever you are going to say. That is perhaps the most important thing of all.
Ben - thanks. I am touched and humbled. And on tenterhooks!
DeleteBen - thanks. I am touched and humbled. And on tenterhooks!
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