Revision, ugh, what a frustrating word. What do you do when a family member gives you constructive criticism on your writing? Is really another way to put it. You may be asking yourself if you even need to do a revision to your novel or if it’s fine the way it is. I personally thought I was done with mine. But it is my first official novel that I am trying to get traditionally published so I guess there was bound to be some changes that I needed to make. I mean nobody is perfect right?
So let’s start with the fact that as ya’ll may already know I have already submitted my novel to ten Literary Agents. That’s right the revision is coming after the fact. Not because of the Queries though. Instead it’s because I let a family member read it before it’s been published. My husband was the first and then another close family member was the second.
She ultimately enjoyed the novel but had some constructive criticism to share with me in regards to different aspects of the storyline. The beginning section turned out to be a little over descriptive, which made it a slow read to start but she says it picked up considerably afterwards. Which is great to know. There were some other key points we talked about as well that would give too much away if I described them here in my blog.
Now back to my first question. What do you do when a family member gives you constructive criticism on your writing? Well, the answer is simple, you take the advice with an open mind and thank them for taking the time to discuss it with you. The only way we all grow as Authors is to keep an open mind. The people in your life can be the most invaluable to your growth as an Author.
My husband was straight forward as well but not being an avid reader, and knowing the storyline already, there were some things that he missed that my sister in law picked up on. She is an avid reader. So that experience reading several different genres and having the outside prospective was key to her opinions as well. The outside perspective was because she didn’t know the in’s and out’s of the story beforehand like my husband did. He has endured (with a smile on his face and no complaints I might add), me talking about my novel in detail for six years. With that being said, I listened to her opinion in detail because it gave me a view from that different perspective.
Now some of you may be saying well, what if it’s all bad and it causes problems with that friend or family member? Well my advice to that question is this. Don’t let it. That’s right, the thing is that you are asking them for their opinion. If they take that time to give you their review, then you need to keep that open mind. It’s great that they took the time to pay that much attention to your work. It means they value the effort you put into it, which also means that you should value their opinion.
At the same time I can tell you this. If you are that worried about someone’s opinion, about it ruining a relationship or are afraid that they will be too critical, leaving out the constructive part, then don’t let them read it yet. Start with the people you trust the most. Or if that still makes you nervous just thinking about it then go with professionals. There are many official beta readers out there and/or other Authors who are very professional in their approach and some of you may be more comfortable going with one of them and that’s perfectly fine.
However, I felt like people I trust, my family members are the best for me to start with. Not in any particular order except the fact of course my husband being the first to read it because well he’s both my best friend and my husband of course he would be the first to read anything I write lol. My sister in law being second because she reads faster than anyone I know and I value her unfiltered opinion, she is always one to be very straight forward. Next will be my father, because he has supported my writing through my entire life and it’s about time he was able to read this part of my life that I’ve been talking about for so long.
My focus right now is getting through this revision as quickly as possible without missing anything. There are currently a lot of red marks across my manuscript right now of changes to make. I’m trying to thin out the beginning and I will take care of other things along the way. You don’t need to follow all the advice you are given but let it guide you to the right path for your novel and career. Basically its another re-read of my entire novel. If you have been following along, then you know that my novel is a little over 400 pages. My current changes will probably shorten it a little more and that’s ok. This will take a little bit but I am working on it every chance I get because it’s coming up on the time when I wanted to Query my next list of ten agents. But this revision will probably warrant an email sent to the previous list so they know that there were changes made. This has lit a fire under my butt so to speak and made it easier to make the necessary changes I needed.
Honestly, I’m not going to sugar coat it, there is a certain amount of fear that is accompanied with letting others read your novel for the first time. Fear of being told that you suck as a writer. Fear of being told that you shouldn’t waste your time. Fear of everyone hating it. That fear can take over if you let it. But you have to ask yourself, what if they love it? Constructive criticism can be a bad thing if you let it or it can help you become a better Writer, it’s your choice. Will you let it weigh you down or let it help you soar?
Thank you for reading my blog…Until Next Time…JUST KEEP WRITING.
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Tiffany’s Writing Journey 