of course<\/em> they are going to say you are brilliant, even if you aren’t!”<\/p>\nOne of the best bits of feedback I ever got from my wife went something along the lines of, “I don’t like the characters at all, but this is the best short story you’ve written to date.” (My mom has said similar things over the years.)<\/p>\n
I think my wife’s feedback is the best example of what a trusted reader should do–she didn’t let her dislike of the subject matter affect her editing.<\/p>\n
She was able to separate personal opinion from what was wrong and right.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
I have another trusted reader named Mark, a friend who has been there almost since the day I decided to take writing seriously.<\/p>\n
I’d be hard pressed to find a more widely read person no matter how far I traveled. His mind works in ways my mind doesn’t; if you cracked his head open, I’m convinced you would find a machine unlike any ever seen.<\/p>\n
I don’t think any writer knows my writing and what I set out to do as well as this Mark.<\/p>\n
When I’m writing something complicated, he is the audience I have in mind, the person I’m setting out to impress more than anybody else. When Mark critiques something I’ve written and gets to a place that I tried something new or gave it my all, I watch him closely.<\/p>\n
Sometimes there’s a slight pause, a raising of the eyebrows with an intake of breath, and maybe even a slight grimace. He doesn’t need to tell me what to fix; simply knowing that look tells me I can usually make that section stronger.<\/p>\n
And when he gets to one of those sections, pauses, and smiles a bit — I know I’ve impressed the guy I sometimes write for. (And I know I’ve done my job!)<\/p>\n
*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
Your goal as a trusted reader: be the reader writers sometimes write for!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’m currently getting feedback about my novel-in-progress from some trusted readers. I’ve mentioned trusted readers before. As notes have come back to me, I’ve thought about what makes a trusted reader. The best advice I’d give to somebody wanting to be a trusted reader: Tell the writer what’s wrong — not what you would do. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Book](\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/bookedit.jpg\" "\\"book-with-post-its\\"")
I’m currently getting feedback about my novel-in-progress from some trusted readers.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=thejugwri-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002SF9YT8\")
(affiliate link).]<\/p>\n