After three months of intense writing, I am taking a week off while I hand Earthcrosser over to my test readers.
Finding good test readers can be a challenge. Most people don't think about what they read. On the other hand, there are people (like me) who always think they know just what the writer should have done to make the book better. That can be even more frustrating.
What sort of feedback have you had from test readers, and was it helpful or not?
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I'm always too shy to let my stuff fall into foreign hands if I know they don't know what they're talking about. Even for the writing conference, I was scared stiff that I would take faulty advice. Most of my readers, however, don't really know what to look for and just give a chuckle while handing it back. My main problem with test readers is sorting the comments. I have to step back into an impersonal and unbiased attitude and see if what they suggest or point out is relevant or right for the story, and then let my struggling artist burst forth and fix it.
While I got good comments at the writing conference, I threw a lot of them away. I don't mean to cause offense, but I think that lots of us were intent on impressing each other and so we pointed out a lot of things that didn't really matter. Although most of the comments did, and were great. I'm just saying, we still had to sort through the comments, because some of them didn't work. And they told us some of them wouldn't.
I am purposely avoiding adding examples of test reader feedback. I always avoid it because the criticism is always one of three things: The reader knows what they are talking about and I feel stupid for letting them read it in the first place, or they don't know what they're talking about and I stop listening, or they say something that makes me want to curl up in a ball and die. like,'you're trying too hard to be funny' That one always kills me. There are only really two people I trust with my story. My sister and my best friend. They are my exclusive test readers.
So I guess what this all boils down to is that you just have to know about your test readers to know if their comments should be trusted.
And now that I have babbled on about it, I think I should go to church. Have a nice day :)
I've often found that a test reader will make a suggestion, and then later as I think about it I'll realize that they could tell something was wrong but they did not know what it was.
Like the first agent who gave me feedback told me my book was "too young for her taste." I went back and read the manuscript myself, and I found the characters were reacting to everything in a very shallow and immature way. So I can see how that would make the book feel "too young." But that's not what she said.
I think the best use for test readers is to identify things I might want to take a look at. At the workshop everyone had a fit about the ice, but no one said what the real problem was. Later I realized that hauling ice was an unnecessary complication to the story, sort of a weak link between the exposition and the initial action that took up space and made everything look flimsy. It was easy to take it out.
I'm sorry for all the things I pointed out that didn't really matter. I had someone read the first five chapters of my new book and she just shredded them. After feeling angry for several hours, I revised the first chapter trying to address all her concerns and it turned out HORRIBLE! So I had to wait a day, forget about everything, and try it again.
On the other hand, I've had some comments on my work that really, really helped me. Likewise, I hope I said something at the workshop that helped somebody.
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