by Zoe Richards
•
13 Jun, 2023
Feedback is a bit of a rollercoaster, isn't it? I've had some that made me so happy, and others that made wonder why I've bothered writing. And I'll admit it, once I got feedback that stopped me writing for a few years. In truth, though, all the feedback I've received on my writing has got me to where I am now, and much of that is down to my attitude to feedback. Let's face it, if we don't ask the right things when we're getting feedback, we may end up getting responses from people that are no value to us, or that cover things we don't need to know about. I was coaching one client who was really confused with what I was telling her about the grammar norms for the UK, and what one of her beta readers was telling her. It turned out the beta reader had been a school English teacher, and was correcting the punctuation based on what the school curriculum prescribes ... and in case you didn't know this, that's not always correct for the world of publishing. My mum was a typing teacher and she drummed into me that I need to leave 2 spaces after a full stop - turns out that's not correct for the publishing world, and I have had to retrain myself too only leave 1 space. When it comes to feedback, then, unless you want guidance from a proofreading perspective, it's best to tell people not to do that for you, but instead to concentrate on the answers to specific questions. In this episode I go through 2 key types of feedback, and give you some questions you can use to help you get feedback that is helpful and meaningful. I also give you a couple of tips for when you get conflicting feedback - which you will do, for sure. I mentioned the Cheshire Novel Prize in the episode, which gives every entrant feedback on their writing. Here's a date for your diary - entries open on 01/01/24. It's well worth entering just for the feedback, and who knows, you may get long listed or shortlisted, like 2 people who have worked with me on the Writing Reboot. Here's the link to the Cheshire Novel Prize - https://cheshirenovelprize.com