Handling Feedback - More Fun To Give Than To Receive

Writers cannot produce quality books alone; they need a set of honest advance readers to help improve the story and a qualified editor to hone and polish the manuscript.

Advance readers are divided into two groups. Alpha readers see the manuscript in the early drafting stages. These readers overlook mechanical errors of spelling, grammar, and punctuation and read a messy story to address structural issues and assess the plot and character arcs. Beta readers get the manuscript much later—after the author has completed several drafts and a few self-editing passes. Beta readers will look for fine detail errors, pointing out jarring language, mechanical mistakes, and spots where slight improvements will tighten the story. Paid editors often get the manuscript last, but ideally, a professional editor should be employed at every stage of the manuscript’s development.

Alphas, betas, and editors are an author’s essential team to produce a quality story. Fresh eyes, outside perspectives, and unique opinions are important.

How writers handle the criticism offered by these three groups varies. Having someone point out the less-than-stellar elements in your work-in-progress can feel like an attack. Insecure writers get defensive and argue that the commenter knows nothing about quality writing and doesn’t understand the deeper themes of the novel. They then ignore everything the reader said—a dangerous attitude that produces badly written books. A smart writer will consider the readers’ remarks and apply the suggestions to improve the manuscript.

I’m an editor and a writer: I dish out the critiques, and I have to endure them, too. Editing someone else’s work is WAY more fun than receiving criticism of my own.
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Taking correction is hard. First, acknowledge that even kind comments and suggestions can hurt. It’s okay to feel the sting of a critique. Then, recall these important elements I tell my Play On Words clients.

1. You can disagree with the reader. You don’t have to change anything you don’t want to change. It’s your work.
2. Keep an open mind. Complaints usually come with valid reasons, and corrections or rewrites are necessary.
3. The reader does not mean their comments as a personal attack. They want to help strengthen your writing.
4. Taking private, constructive criticism and fixing the problems is better than getting slammed in a public review when it’s too late to correct issues.
5. Think about comments you dislike for a few days. Given time, you may see why the reader criticized that area of your story.
6. You are too close to your writing to spot the mistakes. Readers notice annoying repeated phrases; inappropriate or jarring content or language; lagging or boring text; plot inconsistencies; confusing scenes; and inconsistent or irritating characters. Listen to them.
7. A pool of knowledge is helpful. While you can research extensively, you will never know everything. A reader might point out content errors of which you were unaware.
8. Take plenty of time to consider the best way to make potential changes. Nothing must be changed within seconds.
9. Save text you cut now so you can reinsert it later if you decide the change was unmerited or you don’t like the results.
10. Once you make changes, you will usually see how they have strengthened and improved your manuscript. And those improvements will encourage you!

Employing advance readers and editors at every stage of your manuscript’s development will benefit you and your writing, and your post-publication readers will thank you.