I had my writer’s group last night and I’m still thinking over all the feedback I got. I love how a good critique can make you excited about your book all over again. Anyway, it’s my first time meeting with this group and I noticed something. I’ve decided there are three different types of feedback.
The first is the action-oriented. These folks notice what the character is doing all the time. How are they moving? Where are they in relation to stuff around them? Does your character suddenly have three hands – holding a knife in one hand, a gun in another, and a phone in the other other hand? They notice whether what you’re saying makes physical sense. This is really valuable, because some readers do this too – they put themselves in the book as they read. If your stuff doesn’t make physical sense, these readers will notice. I’m not great at this, so I really appreciate when someone else points this out. It can prevent some embarrassing moments!
The next is detail-oriented. These folks notice every word, every sentence, every punctuation mark. Do you have typos? Did you accidentally type a word twice? Did you use the wrong verb tense? This stuff can be fixed, of course, by a copy editor, but it’s nice to have a heads up before you get that far. (If you get that far.) These are the sort of mistakes that readers notice and wonder why you didn’t have an editor. I’m pretty good at this, but no one is perfect at spotting their own misteaks – err, mistakes.
The last is big-picture-oriented. This is where I generally fall. Do I like the main character? Is the setting well thought out? Am I emotionally invested in the story? This is what I notice as a reader, and it’s what I notice when I critique as well. If this doesn’t work, then I don’t care about how great the action is or if the copy editing is perfect. If I don’t care about the characters, if I can’t imagine the setting, if your plot doesn’t make sense, then I won’t enjoy it. Period.
If you are a writer and you don’t currently belong to a writer’s group, I really recommend that you look for one. Live and in person is best, but online works too. You need someone who tells you what works AND what doesn’t. If they’re just going to tell you everything is great, they aren’t really helping you. And if they tell you everything sucks, you’re just going to give up. Find someone who can give it to you straight but not make you want to hit the delete button.
Good luck, and happy writing!
Speedy Reader 