I’m so confused…
Having dedicated readers from an online writer’s group critique one’s novel is a whole new experience for me. I’m not sure what to do with all of the ideas, suggestions, corrections, and criticisms. Each person has had something valuable to add; each person has also at some point missed something that I thought was startlingly obvious. My knee-jerk reaction is to rework everything to try and make it clear to everyone, but after much thought, it has become plain that that simply is not possible.
The assessments are in some cases diametrically opposed to one another. I made some changes based on one early reader’s comments – cutting out some episodes with minor characters to simplify a overly complex story line – only to have a current DR wonder where a certain group of characters were…why weren’t they represented? They were, until I cut them out to make more room for the main story line.
In another instance, a DR chided me for the quick emotional turnaround of the main character, thinking that it was an unbelievable episode because it happened in a matter of minutes. It would have been quite unbelievable if it happened in such a short time. I thought it was clear that the story had progressed from the middle of the night to morning. Several transitional sentences used a change in action and a visual description of the sunrise to cue the reader. Or, so I thought.
Such misunderstandings leave me to wonder if my writing is that unclear, or if readers are skimming or simply not picking up on the clues. I sincerely want to write well and plainly. I want to get the story across in an interesting way that does not underestimate my readers’ intelligence or offend their sensibilities overmuch. At the moment, I’m stumped as to what to do to accomplish that.
Overall, the increase in detail on this last rewrite has gone over well. Except for the sex. One reader said, “Too much.” Another said, “Too little.” Another one said, “Wrong kind.” I throw up my hands and say, “I have no idea how to write sex scenes. If they weren’t integral to the story, I’d cut them all out!” Kind of hard to do when the story revolves around the trials and tribulations of a couple of soul-mates, so I’d better learn. Sigh. Let’s not even talk about how I need to do a better job of making the physical details of an alien race’s sexual mechanics understandable…much less the differences in mores and cultural expectations.
It’s a good thing I’ve got 157,000 words down in a fairly readable form. I’ve gone too far to turn back now! And, really, much of the critting of the manuscript is spot on and useful. Several of the DRs put in considerable time and effort. Wrestling with their critiques will make me a better writer and will improve the story. It will also harden my writerly hide and force me to make some tough decisions about how to best tell the story.
For now, I’m considering all the different viewpoints and letting it cook while I wait for the last few crits to come in.
One of my creative writing professors (an excellent, hard-nosed editor) told my class that in order to use critique, you have to look at it from your own point of view. If you have doubts about how something in your story is working and several people express those same doubts, well, then, you know it’s time to cut it out. Reverse and invert and so on.
I’ve had feedback on my writing in live settings and online communities and my advice is to remember that not everyone who gives you their opinion is necessarily, well, knowledgeable enough to make the judgment. I had a few people tell me that I should have expanded on a side-character in a short short story; obviously, a short short is very brief and not about detail and character development. The “moment” was between the narrative voice and another main character. So I chose to ignore that.
Something that is VERY difficult to remember when you’re immersed in such a great community/environment is that you don’t have to please your readers. You need critique and feedback and that is why you are showing it to others. Base your changes upon it, but don’t let it rule the story. I say again, it’s difficult, because it’s not intentional, but it is everyone’s reaction: “I fixed it, is it better?” You want to finish this and publish it, I assume, not post presents forever.
Sex scenes are a tough call and difficult to write. I would say, since it’s not erotica but character- and plot-driven as you say, that less is ALWAYS more. Technicalities are not important in this light; it’s best to always write simply. If you mean alien as in science-fiction, I have to admit it’s not my main area of interest or specialty, but I understand how difficult it is to make the strange familiar, being primarily a fantasy writer myself.
I have to say, though, you have got a fair talent for post titles. ;) Hope I helped a little!
Thank you for your comment! You did help – quite a bit, actually.
It can be hard to keep a balanced perspective, since so much of what we do as writers is solitary and has little direct or timely feedback. I always contrast it with my music, where an audience lets you know right away if you are reaching them or a recording gives an unbiased record of a performance can be analyzed.
You are so right about the wanting to please the readers in a working crit group! It’s easy when two or three have the same opinion. (There’s that audience feedback at work in the writing arena.) It’s a lot tougher when the feedback is contradictory or just one person sees something amiss. As always, I keep coming back to, “What will best tell this story?” If I ask myself that long enough, I can get past all the other noise and distraction, and come up with a solution. (Eventually!)
I’m working in the fantasy genre, too, but some of my magical creatures vary a bit from the expected! Thanks again for your input.