Ignore this type of writing feedback!
Not all writing feedback is good feedback
Feedback is a necessary part of writing a book. Since your story and characters live in your head, you’re not always going to explain things in ways that someone without the same information can understand. Feedback partners can tell you honestly what’s missing from your story, but sometimes feedback leaves you with a mountain of self-doubt. How much of it should you really take into consideration? Not everyone is good at giving feedback and some feedback is just not helpful. Here are four types of feedback you can ignore:
1) The steamroller
You’ve probably run into this problem when sharing your writing with other creatives. And don’t be mad, because it comes from a good place. Creative people get excited and inspired by other creative people! It’s as contagious as a yawn. But, if someone is giving you overly specific direction for your story, it may feel like they’re overriding your ideas or taking your story in a direction that doesn’t feel right. Remember, there is no single way to solve story problems. What a good feedback partner should do is point out an issue they see and then offer a potential solution. It’s your job to fix the problem, but that doesn’t mean you need to fix it in the exact way they suggest. If someone is taking your story and characters toward their vision, they are not being respectful of yours. When I offer feedback to my clients, I always point out the issue and then suggest a solution. I emphasize that the solution is only a suggestion. Most often my clients find their own unique way to solve the problem and it works just as well!
2) The hyper-critical
Getting criticism is a fine balance between being open to your own shortcomings and having the confidence to know what your strengths are. Feedback partners should be sensitive enough to give criticism that takes into consideration your skill level, draft status, experience and strengths. They need to provide honest feedback without completely discouraging you. A hyper-critical feedback partner lacks empathy and it shows in the way they deliver feedback. They’ll make negative generalizations about your writing, without pointing to specific examples in the text. They rarely point out what’s working, and they seem to be searching for all the ways you’ve failed. They also give feedback in a condescending or belittling tone. If you have this type of feedback partner, stop showing them your work immediately! You don’t need to put up with this type of feedback. Remember, the way they’re giving feedback has more to do with them than you. Perhaps they have experienced a lot of criticism or held themselves to unreasonably high standards. Now they are projecting those issues onto you.
3) The style eraser
Be careful of feedback partners who get so much into the weeds on sentence structure that they remove your creative style or voice. Honestly, a beta reader should not be changing your sentences in any drastic way. They should be providing you with in-document comments about the plot, flow, style, prose and narration of your story. If you have someone other than a late-stage editor getting nit-picky about sentence structure, they most likely have a keen editorial eye or background. That’s okay, but beta-reading is not the place for this type of editing. If someone is adjusting too many of your sentences, they may inadvertently be removing your creative voice or style. In fiction, style and voice play a big role in drawing readers in. No one is going to enjoy reading a book that is technically proficient but is stripped of style. Let this type of feedback partner know that you’re not looking for sentence-level edits.
4) The sugar-coater
This is someone who only gives you glowing feedback. Yes, it feels wonderful, but guess what? This person is not being honest with you. They may be afraid of hurting your feelings or they may be people-pleasers, afraid to disappoint anyone. This type of feedback is not helpful because it doesn’t help you improve your writing. We all have areas we need to improve. There is no writer in the world who gets everything perfect on their first try. Having someone who encourages you is great, so maybe save your writing for this person when you need a confidence boost. But someone who can’t be honest with you does not make a good feedback partner!
Normally, getting feedback is a great thing. It helps us see our novel from the perspective of someone reading and understanding it for the first time. Just make sure you have the right feedback partners who will encourage you and be honest with you. If you’re looking for objective, gentle and honest feedback for your manuscript, check out my services page.
