You know those people who want you to read their manuscript?

Darzian said:

Send them all to AW.
We'll handle them.

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QFT

I've been in this situation a few times. I had a coworker send me her very first story she was entering into a contest.

It had to have been the worst story i've ever read, 100% pure tell, tells about tells, flashbacks of more tell, and prose so purple that I see afterimages of Barney the dinosaur when I blink...

So, I gave her a critique being as positive as I could, telling her that she has a good story she just isn't telling it in an active way and I put a heavy emphasis on the fact that all us writers just starting out do that and that she just has to do the learning curve.

I then gave her this website/link.

I also encouraged her to enter the story and to keep writing.

HOW TO HANDLE THESE REQUESTS?

IMHO, it depends. If a friend asks me to read something they wrote I will. If it is long, I will at least tell them I can crit the first few pages.


I then am as positive with my feedback as I can be without lying, but I also make sure they get the negative crits they need to grow as a writer. Then I hand them this site and put the ONUS of becoming a better writer on them and not me.

I give them two MUST READ books and I frame it in such a way as "Don't ask me to read anything else from me until you read these two books (Elements of Style and any "how to write fiction" book) and I also MANDATE that they become a member of AW..."

I've found this weeds out the real 'writers'. Out of 3 people who have approached me on this subject only one has done what I suggested and they are on their way

Mel...

Queen of Swords said:

I don't know how anyone can just ask a writer to read their manuscript.

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I think it's because they believe you understand the process and what it takes to write publishable work, regardless of whether or not you've been published. I used to agree to read whole manuscripts but now I only agree to read the first few chapters. Maybe I'm a wimp but I don't like to turn down those who are in the same position I was in a few years ago. People are anxious for some kind of validation that what they're doing isn't a complete waste of time and you're the closest thing to the publishing industry they have. I've discovered some extremely talented writers, those who write far better than I do. That's exciting. I encourage them to continue but ultimately being published is about perseverence, tenacity and being able to take criticism and fairly hard knocks. Reading a few chapters takes only a small amount of my time and if I'm firm up front that that's all I'll read and my comments will be general, I don't mind doing it.

Queen of Swords said:

Yeah, you know them. They find out you're a writer (or worse, that you're going to be published) and suddenly they want you to read this story they've been working on for the past three years, or the novel they've got under their bed. Not fun.

But there's something worse. Much worse.

My friend and ex-coworker, who's a wonderful person in every way, asked me to read her daughter's manuscript.

This was at a party, so I just stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights. No, a deer under those circumstances would have more dignity. I gaped like a goldfish. I think I mumbled some assent, because we moved on to some other topic of discussion and I am really hoping she will forget about this.

Next time I'm just going to take a leaf out of that recent Salon article and say that I have a policy of not commenting on what I read. And once I get an agent, that'll give me a sure way out. "My agent says that if I read anyone's unpublished manuscript, he'll fire me". Yeah.

I don't know how anyone can just ask a writer to read their manuscript. I mean, I love my friend. But does she know whether her daughter's genre is one I normally read? What does she want from me - a critique or a pat on the back (for her daughter, I'm guessing the latter)? I can't even rant about this on my blog because she reads that!

...sigh...

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I get this occasionally; I'll usually offer to read a few pages, or a single chapter. Sometimes I have to explain that this is a norm in the field, but it saves me a lot of time, without making me look like a complete schlong to people who aren't aware of how time consuming a detailed critique is. Also, of all the times I've offered this, I've only been taken up once or twice.