Balancing Readers
09/09/08 17:23 Filed in: Writing
A couple of weeks ago, I finished the first draft of
a Phillip Gold short story under the working title
"Violet". As is my wont, I circulated this draft
among my writing colleagues and asked for feedback.
Well, I'll be darned if I didn't get feedback — in
large portions.
So what do I do now? It's easy when the feedback is consistent from all or most of the readers. You just adopt their suggestions. But what about where one says, "do A", another says, "under no circumstances do A", and a third says, "do A but with the following twist"? Or what do you do when the readers offer consistent suggestions on a particular point but you feel that the suggestions would change the story from being your own to someone else's, that the suggestions conflict with your own personal writing style.
I find the latter two situations very hard but I have developed some strategies. In the first case, I generally try to consider all of the options, think about them in terms of their contribution to the story, their consistency with the tone I've established and whether or not they seem appropriate to me from a character standpoint (would my character do or say this?). I usually go with the option that feels "right" to me and often that means I leave it more or less as I originally wrote it.
In the second case, on the other hand, I have to get into a much more philosophical examination. It usually revolves around my goals in writing the story in the first place. I like and respect my readers and know they are making comments with what they consider to be the best interests of the work in mind. I also know that, in general, they make comments with a view to helping me get my work published. So I have to decide: do I choose what feels most comfortable to me or what creates the best chance for the story to be published?
I'd like to think that the two were always in line with each other. But they're not.
And I have to accept that I want to be published. So sometimes I have to sacrifice.
It's a tough life.
So what do I do now? It's easy when the feedback is consistent from all or most of the readers. You just adopt their suggestions. But what about where one says, "do A", another says, "under no circumstances do A", and a third says, "do A but with the following twist"? Or what do you do when the readers offer consistent suggestions on a particular point but you feel that the suggestions would change the story from being your own to someone else's, that the suggestions conflict with your own personal writing style.
I find the latter two situations very hard but I have developed some strategies. In the first case, I generally try to consider all of the options, think about them in terms of their contribution to the story, their consistency with the tone I've established and whether or not they seem appropriate to me from a character standpoint (would my character do or say this?). I usually go with the option that feels "right" to me and often that means I leave it more or less as I originally wrote it.
In the second case, on the other hand, I have to get into a much more philosophical examination. It usually revolves around my goals in writing the story in the first place. I like and respect my readers and know they are making comments with what they consider to be the best interests of the work in mind. I also know that, in general, they make comments with a view to helping me get my work published. So I have to decide: do I choose what feels most comfortable to me or what creates the best chance for the story to be published?
I'd like to think that the two were always in line with each other. But they're not.
And I have to accept that I want to be published. So sometimes I have to sacrifice.
It's a tough life.