blog How to Get Good Feedback on Your Writing — Asking the Right Person the Right Questions

[Svrtnsse]

Svrtnsse submitted a new blog post:

How to Get Good Feedback on Your Writing — Asking the Right Person the Right Questions
by Nils Ödlund

One of the first things I learned when I got into writing was that I was supposed to ask others to read my stories and give feedback on them. Apparently it wasn't enough that I'd written something – others were supposed to give me their opinions on it and I might even have to [gasp] change things. It was implied my story might not be perfect, and that I would need the help of others to identify opportunities for improvements.

In fairness, that's actually kind of reasonable.

Writing is hard, and you often get completely wrapped up in what you're doing. You spend a lot of time with your characters and your story, and it's easy to forget that a first time reader won't be nearly as familiar with your creation as you are. They may not even be all that interested to begin with.

So how do you find out if your story is good enough?

Well, you ask someone to read it and tell you.

When I put it like that, it sounds pretty simple, and it sort of is. Unfortunately, it gets complicated real fast.

Giving feedback is easy. Giving good feedback is not. Receiving feedback can be emotionally draining, and accepting it difficult. Acting on received feedback can be both. Even deciding whether or not to act on the feedback you've received can be a challenge.

Too much feedback can be confusing, and too little can be misleading.

In short: feedback is hard too.

What can you do to make sure you get good feedback...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.

 

[Svrtnsse]

You pick them on the beta tree.

Jokes aside, finding beta reader can be tricky. My best suggestion probably is to talk to people who enjoy reading and ask them if they're interested in helping out. This can be done both with people you meet in the real world, and ones you meet online.

You can also ask publicly, for example here on the forums, if anyone's interested in test reading for you. The risk with this is that you'll get replies from people who are interested in helping out, but who just aren't a good match for the story you're writing.

 

[Black Dragon]

As Nils said, you can find beta readers here at the Mythic Scribes forums. We have a Critique Requests forum where you can make connections and possibly find someone to help. This forum is not visible to guests, however. In order to access it, you need to join the forums and then post 5 messages. After an hour passes, you will have access to Critique Requests and other secret areas that the general public cannot see.

 

[argentquill]

I'm very new to writing, and know little about beta readers. This article makes solid points I had not thought of, but want to use. Thank you for posting.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I'm very new to writing, and know little about beta readers. This article makes solid points I had not thought of, but want to use. Thank you for posting.

You're very welcome, and best of luck with your writing.

 

[Clansman]

Relatively new here. Very interesting post. I've just finished my novel (I've written a number but this is the first one I've stuck with and finished). so I really need to find some one (or some people) to give me their opinion (s). Thanks for the post. I'm off to follow the link you gave. Thanks again.

 

[Clansman]

I followed the link and found your article very helpful, thanks. I tried to ask a question there a few times, but kept getting a nonce is invalid message, whatever that is.

 

[pmmg]

Hi Clansman,

If you make five posts, you will become capable of posting stuff in areas not seen by the general public. I would suggest that you post up a first chapter or so there and see what people think.

Sometimes you can catch me in 'Sure I will read your stuff' mode, but right now I am in 'Writing my own stuff mode'. I cant speak for others here, but some sites are more geared towards reviewing and critiquing than others. MS does not have great tools for it. You might want to look at a site like Scribophile as a path to more feedback.

 

[Clansman]

Thanks.