Why You Need to Stop Asking: “Is my writing good?”
Greetings and salutations, Scribblers.
A few weeks ago, we posted a video on giving feedback to writers that will actually help them make decisions on what needs to be revised in their manuscripts. Today we’re flipping the script a bit and turning our attention to how a writer can ask better questions to their critique partners and beta readers to obtain feedback on specific elements of their story.
We’ve all handed over our writing to someone and asked “Is this good?” after which, we wait on tenter hooks for the reader’s answer. If you remember from our feedback video, we talked about judgments versus observations. When you ask someone “is this good?” you’re asking them for a judgment, not an observation. And, most writers aren’t going to tell you if it’s not good. They’ll hedge a bit and point out something they vaguely like rather than deliver a disappointing judgment even if that’s what they’re feeling. They aren’t lying to you out of meanness, they probably want to be genuinely encouraging and even telling someone “I’m not the right audience for this” can be mis-interpreted as being told your writing isn’t good.
Instead, you’ll want to ask more detailed questions that focus in on reader reactions or specific craft elements. A question I see pop up repeatedly when people are working with beta readers is “Where did you lose interest? Why?” Sometimes, we beta-read something and about half-way in we just don’t want to keep reading. If the author asks this question, now you can provide feedback using the notice, question, suggestion framework we talked about in the how to give feedback video and the author will have some specific elements to look at that might be causing the story to lag.
The possible questions you could ask are endless. You can ask questions about a specific character, such as
Did you understand why he quit his job and moved to Iceland?
What did you think their goal was when they told their boss about the scam?
Which character did you understand least? Why?
Or maybe they’ll focus on broader story aspects like:
Who was your first suspect in the murder mystery?
Did you understand how the magic system worked?
What did you think was the most important plot event in the story?
What stayed with you after you finished reading?
All of these questions will give you specific details you can use to make decisions about how you’ll revise. If everyone tells you their first suspect was the actual killer, that might lead you go back and revise and refine the red herrings so the solution is not as evident from the jump.
No matter what you ask, try to be specific about it. Just asking “is it good” isn’t going to give you useful feedback that you can take action from. And it can stymie progress because if people say “it’s good” you won’t have guidance on how to improve. And all authors are constantly improving and refining their craft. Having good critique partners and beta readers will help you continue on the path of progress. So ask them meaningful questions so you can both grow as writers.
Until Next time, Happy Writing Scribblers!
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