A light-hearted look at offering feedback.
Every writer gets feedback on their work at some stage of the process. Now I’ve got some books out, a lot of people send me material for feedback, and I’m happy to offer comments, but it’s quite interesting how many ways my comments are (mis)interpreted.
So just to be clear :
“Not my kind of thing”
MEANS - This isn’t the genre or kind of writing I normally read, so you need to take this into account when you consider my comments.
DOES NOT MEAN – I hate you and everything you stand for / write about.
“It could do with editing”
MEANS – It could do with editing
DOES NOT MEAN – Call yourself a writer? Why did you ever think you could write?
“You need to get someone to proof-read it”
MEANS - I’m not going to correct every spelling mistake and grammatical error. I’m not a proof-reader. There are others better qualified to do that, and they deserve to get paid for their skills.
DOES NOT MEAN – I will happily spend hours editing your work for free.
“I’m happy to look at the first chapter”
MEANS – I’m happy to look at the first chapter and tell you what I think.
DOES NOT MEAN – I will get your book published for you and pay for the cost of designing the cover.
“Try reading this other writer’s work and note how they vary the sentence length/ add descriptive details/ write in a concise manner which maintains the pace and flow of the narrative” (delete as appropriate)
MEANS – you need to read more and consider varying your own techniques.
DOES NOT MEAN – Write exactly like this other person so you too can be published.
“You need to work on your characters and distinguish their voices”
MEANS – I’m having trouble telling your characters apart.
DOES NOT MEAN – Tell me off for not understanding the inner world of your characters.
And in short, whatever feedback you get, DON'T take it personally.
Perhaps my personal painful experience of receiving feedback will help:
STAGES in FEEDBACK
I have learned there are stages in the feedback writers receive from a variety of sources, including publishers, agents and editors, and these can be roughly summarized as follows:
Noting a spelling mistake = there’s a lot more work to be done, but we thought you really needed to correct this annoying spelling mistake.
One line of comment = maybe not for us, but we thought it worth offering some feedback
A paragraph of comments = you have some potential, keep at it!
A page of comments = you might be onto something here!
Four pages of detailed, nit-picky comments that have the writer screaming in frustration = we love your work and really want it to be the very best it can be, and please don’t take these detailed notes personally – they are actually a positive sign of how much we love your work so much that we are willing to spend hours of our lives detailing the changes we’d like to see.
In short, if the feedback is detailed and critical enough to have you screaming, consider that a job WELL DONE, and pat yourself on the back.
Now get back to work and make those changes!
Every writer gets feedback on their work at some stage of the process. Now I’ve got some books out, a lot of people send me material for feedback, and I’m happy to offer comments, but it’s quite interesting how many ways my comments are (mis)interpreted.
So just to be clear :
“Not my kind of thing”
MEANS - This isn’t the genre or kind of writing I normally read, so you need to take this into account when you consider my comments.
DOES NOT MEAN – I hate you and everything you stand for / write about.
“It could do with editing”
MEANS – It could do with editing
DOES NOT MEAN – Call yourself a writer? Why did you ever think you could write?
“You need to get someone to proof-read it”
MEANS - I’m not going to correct every spelling mistake and grammatical error. I’m not a proof-reader. There are others better qualified to do that, and they deserve to get paid for their skills.
DOES NOT MEAN – I will happily spend hours editing your work for free.
“I’m happy to look at the first chapter”
MEANS – I’m happy to look at the first chapter and tell you what I think.
DOES NOT MEAN – I will get your book published for you and pay for the cost of designing the cover.
“Try reading this other writer’s work and note how they vary the sentence length/ add descriptive details/ write in a concise manner which maintains the pace and flow of the narrative” (delete as appropriate)
MEANS – you need to read more and consider varying your own techniques.
DOES NOT MEAN – Write exactly like this other person so you too can be published.
“You need to work on your characters and distinguish their voices”
MEANS – I’m having trouble telling your characters apart.
DOES NOT MEAN – Tell me off for not understanding the inner world of your characters.
And in short, whatever feedback you get, DON'T take it personally.
Perhaps my personal painful experience of receiving feedback will help:
STAGES in FEEDBACK
I have learned there are stages in the feedback writers receive from a variety of sources, including publishers, agents and editors, and these can be roughly summarized as follows:
Noting a spelling mistake = there’s a lot more work to be done, but we thought you really needed to correct this annoying spelling mistake.
One line of comment = maybe not for us, but we thought it worth offering some feedback
A paragraph of comments = you have some potential, keep at it!
A page of comments = you might be onto something here!
Four pages of detailed, nit-picky comments that have the writer screaming in frustration = we love your work and really want it to be the very best it can be, and please don’t take these detailed notes personally – they are actually a positive sign of how much we love your work so much that we are willing to spend hours of our lives detailing the changes we’d like to see.
In short, if the feedback is detailed and critical enough to have you screaming, consider that a job WELL DONE, and pat yourself on the back.
Now get back to work and make those changes!