Does your significant other read your work?

Nope. He's not much of a reader. He'll listen to my progress and cheer me on, but he'd rather eat tinfoil than read a romance novel. LOL

ETA: A very good friend of mine is editing me as I go. She's very helpful and I have infinite trust in her to give a professional critique.

Unfortunately I learned early on that getting a pat on the back, while worth everything in terms of self-esteem, isn't worth a lick of anything as far as improving my work goes. That's the exact reason I don't show my work to family. I'm afraid that no matter how much I tell them it's ok to give me honest criticism, they won't hit me as hard as I might need to be walloped if the draft requires revision.

As for criticism, look at it this way: you're just seeking advice. As the manuscript's creator you have the power to change (or not change) what you want despite what anyone says. You're just collecting views and adding them to your own to make a better choice. Use what you think is right and ignore what you think is bad advice.

Everyone's different. If getting a pat on the back helps you weather the crticism later on, definitely continue to get that. Just don't let one person's ideas convince you your story needs to die.

Charlie

My husband read my first romance novel in its entirety even though he doesn't enjoy the genre.

The only thing my ex-wife liked to read were the support checks.

Read

Only after it's published. I don't want her, or anyone else, reading it before this.

I read it to him.

My husband reads everything I write. And he is generally a good source of feedback.

I don't have an SO at the moment. No one in my family has read anything that I am attempting to have published.

Just my trusty beta.

My wife is my number one beta reader, and she won't hold back. I've changed entire novels, and trashcan'd them, based on her feedback. I have two other beta readers as well, but my wife is my best critic.

Not generally, but I will read them aloud to him. He has dyslexia and takes his time when reading. So, if I read it to him, he's able to see what the story is about, and I can catch some of the mistakes that way, too.

My DH is dyslexic, too. I talk things over with him and with one story involving our business, had him read the synopsis.

Ann

No. He reads BFF (big, fat, fantasy). He doesn't read my stuff.

Nope, my husband says he prefers to stay married. He supports me one-million percent and never says boo about all the money I've spent on classes, conventions, etc. He tells EVEYONE his wife is an author. Works for me.

Carlene

Yes, she does but only when I've been through it a few times and got it as good as I think it can be. Then she tells me what's wrong with it

My wife doesn't generally read my short stories, because I write them too quickly for her to keep up, as a rule. Now that my novel's done, however, she's reading it. I've even been reading bits of it out loud to her, and I cannot recommend reading your book out loud to your spouse highly enough. Boy oh boy do you find out if something sounds cheesy when you embarassedly read it to your wife/husband.

Only if I leave it in the bathroom.

Print it in very LARGE type and wallpaper the bathroom with it.

My SO is not a reader, so I recently asked if he would let me read one of my short stories to him. I was really just looking for the ego boost and had made the assumption he would just say "That's great, hon".

I was completely wrong. I finished reading the short story out loud and he immediately commented on a subtle character issue I hadn't noticed. Now, I make sure to read everything I write to him. He's become a very objective source of feedback. I sometimes wonder if it's because he doesn't read very much

PeeDee said:

Print it in very LARGE type and wallpaper the bathroom with it.

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Oh, now THAT idea I like!

Of course you'd have to make sure it was positioned correctly so that you didn't have the Big Whodunit Reveal tucked behind the toilet.

KatRiley said:

My SO is not a reader, so I recently asked if he would let me read one of my short stories to him. I was really just looking for the ego boost and had made the assumption he would just say "That's great, hon".
I was completely wrong. I finished reading the short story out loud and he immediately commented on a subtle character issue I hadn't noticed. Now, I make sure to read everything I write to him. He's become a very objective source of feedback. I sometimes wonder if it's because he doesn't read very much

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I think non-readers are very important. If you can impress (or at least, hold the interest of) someone who's more or less a non-reader (or just reads The Da Vinci Code, for example) then I consider that to be a good sign.

That is, unless you've had to dumb down your work to do it. That's no good at all.

PattiTheWicked said:

Oh, now THAT idea I like!

Of course you'd have to make sure it was positioned correctly so that you didn't have the Big Whodunit Reveal tucked behind the toilet.

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You would rotate the pages after he makes each trip to the bathroom. All he'd ever have to do is start glumly at the wall straight ahead (except he's reading, so he damn well better be something besides glum).

See, this makes the case for e-book technology.

We need a Potty PortaReader for people who only read in the can. You could mount it to the wall opposite the toilet, and include a remote for handy page turning.

My wife figured out a long time ago she simply didn't like what I write.

Shadow_Ferret said:

My wife figured out a long time ago she simply didn't like what I write.

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She wishes she'd married that nice Grisham boy.