Asking someone to read—for the first time—something you have written is always a nervous making time. Over the years, I have developed some rules for myself when doing this.
- Choose one person. Too many readers can be confusing.
- Make sure your MS is in standard readable form. (I recall someone once sending me 200 pages of single spaced, half-inch margin text. Unreadable!)
- Choose someone you trust. You need to trust them to say negative as well as positive things.
- Choose someone whose literary judgment is good. Not necessarily your best friend, but someone who has the skill to analyze writing.
- Do not tell this person what you have written. Present the work, not your judgment. Let the work speak for itself.
- Let them follow their own schedule to respond.
- When you get a response NEVER argue. Always thank.
- Take time to think about your response before rewriting. Criticism is not necessarily correct. Some parts of the criticism might be useful, others not.
- Focus on the big aspects of the criticism, not the small points.
- Remember, being judged is never fun, but always necessary.
- If you are going to have a long wait for a response, start something new.
1 thought on “Guidelines for That Reader”
Wise words on being judged, its necessity and its terrors. I’d be interested in how you feel about writing groups, those that meet regularly over a long period of time to read aloud, criticize and support.