This week, for the first time ever, I had three friends read the first few chapters of my second draft.
Oh the anxiety. Oh the sweaty armpits. The beating heart and dry mouth as I waited, trying to distract myself with work, as they read.
They were fabulous.
The comments were constructive, they picked up on grammer issues- thankfully! - and were able to to identify when they heard me talking instead of the character. I blushed knowingly when a scene I wasn't quite sure about turned out to... well yeah- not work. AND they were able to tell me what they saw happening, or what behaviour didn't fit in with who the characters seemed to be. I took the advice in and you know what- THEY WERE RIGHT! A scene that "kind-of" worked just needed a character replacement to now it "actually" works.
Fabulous!
I thanked them profusely and they all can't wait to read what happens next?
I'm still scared of course, freaking out that they will hate it and my writing is complete crap, but I know it must be done, and I'm thankful that the ones I have shown it to are able to be honest and constructive. And I'm also glad I am able to take in what they are saying to me, consider the possibilties and go "WOW! You are RIGHT!"
I'd like to know: How did you feel the first time someone read your work? Who do you give your work to? Do you make many changes because of what people say?
Wow, that is completely scarely. I'm so glad you found useful friends to show it to that gave you positive feedback. It's really useful to find when a character is acting oddly in certain scenes, because I'm sure that I'd miss that too in my own writing. I still haven't shown my work to anyone, but I know a few friends that want to read it; I only want to show it to one of them. I feel like my writing is personal that I don't want to show it to certain people. I wonder if that happens to other people too.
ReplyDeleteyes it does! i know exactly what you mean! this was the first time im really openly shared any of my work and i was sweating big time! A few of my friends have expressed interest, and I just had to bite the bullet. this is my first really big piece, so yes I felt like my heart and soul were on total display. very vunerable. but you know its good when they say they understand a scene, or identify with a feeling- its very satisfying when someone 'gets it'. and it also good when they point out things (gently haha) that you didnt quite see.
ReplyDeletehey if you ever feel like you want a completly impartial almost invisible reader, for a chapter or more, if something doesn't feel right, i read anything! :)
You're completely right. When I read back on things, I wonder if another person that was reading the same thing would understand what's going on. That is the important part, I can understand your satisfaction :). Thanks so much.
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