Write On! :: Comments :: Types of feedback

In one direction, you don't want to overwhelm a potential editor, so you give small chunks; in the other, you want help with the larger issues of a story that by their very nature require large portions of the story, if not all of it, at once.

It's a tough call, really, and even in a critique group designed to handle entire novels, as critters "RFDR" is, you get one, maybe two people out of thousands who will step up to take it on. (Critters is a SF/F/H critique group that mostly handles short stories; "RFDR" is "Request For Dedicated Readers" - or somebody who will commit to seeing an entire novel through.)

For myself, well, I try to make myself the "other editor" for as much as I can, simply by leaving the story alone for a while to get some distance. Since I write SF, mostly, when I need an actual other person, I'll turn to critters. My boyfriend tries, but he can't point out exactly what's wrong, just that it isn't quite right. Helpful, but not quite what I'm looking for. I'm still working on him ;-)

--
Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?

I have already written about my circular email I send out, with chapters of novel for people to discuss. You say you give things to people and they flip through the first twenty pages and give up. Is this because you have circulated it to the wrong type of people, not enough people, or it doesn't grab these particular readers' attentions.
It takes a lot of courage to send out work, especially to people I know are going to be critical. Some of them I barely know but at some point have shown an interest. Many never make a comment and I suspect never even open the email attachment or envelope. I do get good results from some readers. The number of comments gives me a feel for how readable it was and since a lot of the people in my list are `just' readers, I get very useful overall comments; this character does not add up, this is too slow, I don't understand this chapter, I couldn't read this chapter it made no sense, this sentence is way too long.
I also think it needs to be made clear what the readers are expected to do. I know people that give critique sheets to their audience. Although many people might not like a novel, unless you prompt them they may not say why. Was it because the characters were terrible, the plot was a mess or they simply didn't understand the words.

In conclusion: You may find it useful to find a large(r) circle of readers. And/or find people who say `I like reading books but I couldn't proof read'. They often gloss over typos and bloopers without noticing but they will be quick to tell you if something is weak or does not add up.

Benjamin F Jones
[ Parent ]

Make a new account