It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!
This month's optional question is: What was the most inspiring feedback you received from readers, including agents, editors, and beta readers?
That's a hard question to answer because it's been so long since I've actually gotten any feedback on my writing. And like many of you insecure writers, I'm sure, what I tend to remember the most is the bad feedback. That's definitely happened more than once and has thrown me off my game, making me question whether I should be writing what I'm writing in the first place.
But inspiring feedback? I'll have to go into the archives...
Ok, so I literally had to go into the archives because I could not think of a single piece of feedback that I found *inspiring*. The truth is, I haven't had enough pieces of writing that people have actually read to even get feedback, good or bad. I had writing classes in college where we did give feedback for others' works, but none of what I wrote was all that memorable. There's also a few snippets in the reviews for the Hero Lost anthology that mention my story "The Last Dragon," but that's about it.
There's also that really stupid thing I did where I sent the second draft of Uneven Lines to some friends and coworkers as I rewrote/edited it. Only ONE PERSON even acknowledged that they finished it. That was about it. Now that I'm thinking of it, actually, I did get a fun in-person response when I sent out a particular chapter that ended a bit dramatically. When I next saw one of my coworkers she screamed at me "WHAT DID YOU DO?????" Now that's the kind of response I could live for...
But I've only had one actual beta reader who is actually a writer, and read the whole thing, and gave all sorts of feedback, good and constructive. I saved all of her emails with the feedback and as I was reading it over to write this post, I came across my favorite part, and what I think finally answers the question:
"What can I say about voice, Sarah? Sometimes writers just get things right and there’s nothing a beta reader can do but read. Jordan’s voice is just that. It's almost diary like, but not always progressive. Things don’t always happen to move the story along in the typical sense but his voice sure as hell has momentum. He’s a very witty guy and it’s fun to be inside his head. Voice is not easy and I hope that when you write your next story Jordan isn’t too hard to shake off. When you have someone down to a T, they are not easy to get rid of, sometimes their voice stays with you forever… "
I love this feedback and I'm glad I found it again. Jordan's voice was really one of the few things that I felt I got right in this book and that I was proud of myself for. It's something I think I can do well when I put my mind to it. And that last part really hits me right now because I feel like I have lost that voice.
Maybe I should print this quote out and frame it. Maybe if I look at it every day, I could get that voice to return.
