The Unbreakable Rule

I was giving feedback to a student whose work I've in the past enjoyed, but the latest submission was, frankly, not that good. Certainly not up to the standard I expected to see. What had happened?

He looked sheepish and explained. He'd had this bit of feedback and that. Someone else had said something. He'd taken it on board, then realised he was near the deadline for submission. Quickly he edited the text moving bits around, changing the order. Drat, over the word count. But he wanted to submit those scenes. Equally quickly he went through again cutting phrases he thought he could get rid of, then printed it out without reading through, and bunged it in the post. He was, he said, hanging his head, embarrassed to have submitted it.

It wasn't that bad. But it did show all the signs of a piece that had been hacked around. Non-sequiturs abounded, locations were never fixed, new characters suddenly popped up from nowhere. Confusion reigned in this poor reader's head.

Most of us are short of time. Most of us are rushing to meet deadlines. Shoving something in the post and hoping it will do is never a good option. It wastes your time and postage. It's frustrating for the reader. If you're in a workshop situation and getting feedback, you get stuck in the situation of nodding your head and repetitively saying, I know, I know, while the reader thinks, well if you know, why did you do it?

I don't think there are many rules about writing, and most of them can be broken. But this rule is one that shouldn't be broken. Never, ever, ever send work out without slowly reading it through aloud and checking it makes sense.

Dictatorship and Me

When I'm starting a new class I usually declare that it is not a democracy, but a dictatorship, my personal fiefdom. Students must do as I say - there will be no dissent. It always gets a laugh, although actually I'm quite serious - classes should be led, or it all ends up a shambles. But what is democratic is taste. There is no 'correct' opinion.

There may be a concensus of opinion - many people enjoy reading Lord of the Rings, for example, fifty years after it was published. But equally many think it's a load of old tosh and not worth destroying trees for. I love Captain Corelli's Mandolin, especially the beginning, but there are lots of people out there who couldn't get past the first chapter. And take the Da Vinci Code, one of the best selling books ever, the one that writing tutors say: read, just because of the page turning qualities. Well, those qualities completely passed me by - I only read to the end because, as a writer and creative writing tutor, I felt I ought to but I was yawning most of the way.

So if anyone tells you your work is wrong, poor, bad, shoddy, inept, bland, dull or generally not quite up to scratch, take a deep breath and try not to let your writer's soul shrivel and die. If you speak to lots of people, who are knowledgeable about publishing and they all say the same thing then yes, you should give careful consideration to what they're saying. But always remember it's only their opinion. They could be wrong. Unless they're me of course, in which case, my opinion goes.

Being an Active Seeker of Feedback

Right. You've selected some potential readers, handed over copies of your precious manuscript, and have arranged a meeting when they're going to give feedback. Stop. Think beforehand how you're going to react, because your behaviour will dictate whether the exercise was good, or a waste of everybody's time and energy.

The thing is, your friends love you. They must do, because they've just given you at least 8 hours of their time to read your manuscript. The last thing they want to do is upset you. So, if you give any hint that they have just skewered you right through the heart, they will back off and start murmuring platitudes. (The best one I've heard was some poor soul who apparently commented on the worst novel I've ever read that it was 'almost good and nearly interesting'.) It's like the friends and family you see supporting some pretty average singer on the X Factor; either they're seriously deluded when they claim their grandson/best friend/baby brother is brilliant, or they love them and don't want them to be hurt. If you really want feedback to make your novel better, you're probably going to have to accept with a smile some comments that make you want to die.

Come prepared for this, and prepared to steer your reader. Asking them if they liked it is just asking for the answer yes. Besides, you don't want to know if they liked it (unless they're prepared to offer money for it) you want useful feedback you can act on. So prepare some questions that will encourage them to expand. A possible list might include...

Which was your favourite/least favourite character?

What did you like/dislike about them?

Were there any places where the pace seemed too slow/too fast?

Could you understand what was going on and where all the time?

Could you picture the characters/locations?

Did the plot make sense - did you ever get lost?

Was there anything you particularly liked/disliked about the story?

If you had to sum up the novel in three words, what would they be?

You're more likely to get honest answers to questions like these so be prepared to hear some things you don't like. But, even if you're in agony inside, remember that it's all useful information that you can choose to act on or not. Don't get drawn into an argument about how X was obvious, listen, make notes and then later on decide if you want to make changes. Writing is all about re-writing and good feedback is golden.