They're all coming back home to roost.
Somewhat like the buzzards returning to Hinkley, Ohio (albeit several weeks later--I can't believe I missed Buzzard Day, which was March 15), my manuscripts are slowly returning from my beta-readers.
I sent drafts of my science fiction novel What's Bred in the Bone out in March, to a collection of willing souls. Some are published writers, some are working-on-being-published writers, some are much-prized living embodiments of my "target audience," and some are simply friends who've been hearing me talk about "the book I'm writing" for years, and were curious. A few are even friends of the volunteers, who became interested.
Some wanted e-book format, some wanted Word documents, some PDFs, and a few wanted hard copies, which I put in binders with a quick-and-dirty cover so they'd be quickly able to distinguish what side was "up."
One and all, I deeply appreciate the time they've spent reading my manuscript and answering my questions. Not all have reported back in, yet, but I've begun reading the comments of those who've finished. They've proved quite interesting, and in many cases very helpful.
I'm a veteran of several decades' worth of writers' groups and critique partnerships, so I know how to compartmentalize (I learned that studying journalism!). It's still sometimes a challenge not to take it personally, but the writer with a tender ego is a writer afraid to grow.
I also know how to evaluate. Not all critiques are equally valid. Some seem to come straight out of left field. Some are internally contradictory. Oh, but then there are those other ones, the ones that hit you dead-center, with a deeply resonant, "Oh, man, s/he's right!"
Very few people will be able to resist at least a few little nitpicks, and there's almost always an "outlier," someone who gives such radically different feedback from what everybody else said that you wonder "what manuscript were they reading?"
At the end of the day, the best a writer can do is tell her story as well as she is able at the time, read or listen to every critique with an open mind and her heart safely tucked in a padded box somewhere, then make the changes that won't let her ignore them. And after that, MOVE ON.
IMAGES: Many thanks to the "Haglund's Heel" Blog, for the nice photo of the Hinkley buzzard; to Scribendi, via Pinterest, for the quote image from H. G. Wells; and to Pinterest again, for the "Read-Write-Revise-Eat-Sleep-Repeat" image (no other associated link still seems to work). I took the photo of my pile of manuscript printouts in recycled binders. Please feel free to use it if you like, but have the grace to give an attribution and a link back to this post. Thanks!
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| A Hinkley Buzzard comes in for a landing. |
I sent drafts of my science fiction novel What's Bred in the Bone out in March, to a collection of willing souls. Some are published writers, some are working-on-being-published writers, some are much-prized living embodiments of my "target audience," and some are simply friends who've been hearing me talk about "the book I'm writing" for years, and were curious. A few are even friends of the volunteers, who became interested.
Some wanted e-book format, some wanted Word documents, some PDFs, and a few wanted hard copies, which I put in binders with a quick-and-dirty cover so they'd be quickly able to distinguish what side was "up."
One and all, I deeply appreciate the time they've spent reading my manuscript and answering my questions. Not all have reported back in, yet, but I've begun reading the comments of those who've finished. They've proved quite interesting, and in many cases very helpful.
I'm a veteran of several decades' worth of writers' groups and critique partnerships, so I know how to compartmentalize (I learned that studying journalism!). It's still sometimes a challenge not to take it personally, but the writer with a tender ego is a writer afraid to grow.
I also know how to evaluate. Not all critiques are equally valid. Some seem to come straight out of left field. Some are internally contradictory. Oh, but then there are those other ones, the ones that hit you dead-center, with a deeply resonant, "Oh, man, s/he's right!"
Very few people will be able to resist at least a few little nitpicks, and there's almost always an "outlier," someone who gives such radically different feedback from what everybody else said that you wonder "what manuscript were they reading?"
At the end of the day, the best a writer can do is tell her story as well as she is able at the time, read or listen to every critique with an open mind and her heart safely tucked in a padded box somewhere, then make the changes that won't let her ignore them. And after that, MOVE ON.
IMAGES: Many thanks to the "Haglund's Heel" Blog, for the nice photo of the Hinkley buzzard; to Scribendi, via Pinterest, for the quote image from H. G. Wells; and to Pinterest again, for the "Read-Write-Revise-Eat-Sleep-Repeat" image (no other associated link still seems to work). I took the photo of my pile of manuscript printouts in recycled binders. Please feel free to use it if you like, but have the grace to give an attribution and a link back to this post. Thanks!
