Don't be Your Only Reader

Continuation of "How Do You Write Novels?"... 

 

#7.      Send your work to someone else

I cannot possibly stress this more:

DON’T BE THE ONLY ONE WHO READS YOUR WORK

A vast majority of the time, when writers feel like we’re writing crap and we’re not sure why, someone else can give us the answer.

And not just someone else, but anyone else.

I’ve sent my work to people who never read, and asked them what was wrong with it.

When they gave me their answer, I realized they were right.

The thing is, even if people don’t read a lot, even if they don’t like to read and think they know nothing about good writing, if they’ve ever been to school in their lives, they’re lying to you. They know what good writing is, because it’s been programmed into their brains.

So the suggestions they give can actually turn out to be incredibly helpful, and push the story forward in a way it might not have been able to if you were the only person who ever saw it.

I’ve sent my work to my best friends (a psych major at CBU in California and an artist here in ABQ), to an athlete, to a musician, and to ASL interpreters.

All of them have had wonderful insight when it came to my writing.

That character doesn’t seem very real.

This setting was hard to understand.

I don’t know where this is taking place.

I got bored here.

I don’t know what this is about.

I’m confused.

Any of those can be good insight, because they tell us what we’re doing wrong.

If a character doesn’t seem real, we need to add more personality.

If the setting is clunky, we need to make it more vivid.

Ground your characters.

Speed things up.

Be clearer, avoid vague and abstract terms.

Explain the situation like you would to someone who’s never heard of this stuff before.

You know those friends of yours? Usually, they’re happy to support you by reading whatever you write.

Anyone, even newbies, can tell us what’s wrong with a story, or at least give some insight as to what might be wrong.

Writing is not something to be shy about. If you’re a writer, chances are you know people who would love to read your work but are too shy to ask. So get off your high horse and go ask them yourself, because chances are, they’ll make your work ten times better than it used to be.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

{Rani Amber}