Finally letting go of the Story

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Turndog-Millionaire

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I think this should go here, but if not please feel free to move. Just thought I'd share my current experience and see what others thought.

Finally approaching the end of editing my first book and gave it to my friend to Beta read last night. Quite nerve wrecking really, because although I've posted exerts online before for critique, this is the first time I've let anyone read the whole thing. It's like letting it fly the nest :)

I'm not 100% happy with it but I feel it has to go at sometime (it's been fully drafted twice by me) so why not now. Just thought I'd share my feelings and if anyone else had any stories of first letting their story fly the nest. Couldn't imagine sending it out to someone i didn't know. I'm hoping a friend will ease me into the impending critiques and rejections :)

Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
 

gothicangel

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I'm going to be posting the first chapter of the book I'm editing on SYW soon, and already suffering the anxiety.

Re: letting a friend critique. Are you confident that they will honest and brutal, or just say what you want to hear [in fear of destroying the friendship?] And do they read a lot? Experienced?
 

Turndog-Millionaire

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I'm going to be posting the first chapter of the book I'm editing on SYW soon, and already suffering the anxiety.

Re: letting a friend critique. Are you confident that they will honest and brutal, or just say what you want to hear [in fear of destroying the friendship?] And do they read a lot? Experienced?

It's a little tense isn't it?

And yes, i'm quite confident she will be honest, but maybe not as ruthless as someone i didn't know would be. I plan on sending to a few Beta Readers in the next few months, so i'm edging in to being brave :)

But yes, she's a good friend but not afraid to say how it is. Also a keen reader, so although not an expert, i think she'll give me a good insight into how the story comes across to an literature fan. The 'Experts' can have their input later :)

Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
 

elindsen

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I feel you. For my first ever publication, I just sent it to magazines (it's a short). Once it was accepted, I felt a little bit better about others reading it, but not much.

My second book is coming out soon and the nerves are still there. I can't imagine never having those. Hell, I showed the book trailer to my bff's mom and was nervous as hell about that lol :)

But you're right. Much like a baby, they must go one day. You have to let them grow up, so to speak. I found a friend who is fine being honest was a good way to break into it.

Hopefully the experience will be good.

Good luck!
 

Makai_Lightning

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Haha, well for me, as soon as I've started writing something fairly consistently and have a decent start, I'll be showing it off to some friend or other like, "hey so I started this story, tell me what you think so far and if there's something I need fix? Is it engaging?" which is meant for more holistic feedback than a more specific crit, which I start asking for after I've more or less finished and have edited to a degree I'm fairly comfortable with.


The first, I usually start writing 'cause there's an idea or some spark of something that I get really passionate about, but after I've got some of that down on paper I wanna see if it ignites any kinds flare from my potential audience or if it's just me. The second is when I've actually started trying to make the writing work.


I'm not really too nervous about it if it's anyone who I know actually likes the genre I like, unless I haven't given them any of my writing before, in which case I'm never very sure what to expect. But usually I'm more excited than anything else. I glow when I get suggestions on stuff to fix, because when it's an ongoing project of mine I love working on it, and I'm excited to make it shine. I never go in with the expectation that I'm infallible, so I'm not really afraid of hearing less than ideal things--I know that I can still work on it, and if this project doesn't work out, maybe I'll learn something I can use on my next thing.

The only time I get nervous is when I give stuff out to people who don't normally read my genre, or if I wrote something in any genre I'm less familiar with. The first, because I worry they won't understand me or the audience I'm more probably writing for (especially since I tend towards fantasy or the like, and I worry that no matter how good something might be for people who are down with that kinda thing, it will always just be inherently silly and juvenile to anyone else), and the 2nd because I'm afraid I don't understand the audience as well as I could. But in that case I'll still probably do the same thing with my writing, just be shyer about it.
 

Drachen Jager

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Friends are the worst readers. I have rarely got anything useful out of them.
 

Turndog-Millionaire

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Makai_Lightning, i think your outlook is very admirable. I'm certainly excited too, because i feel like my story is entering it's second stage. Progress is always good, but also a tad scary

As for friends being readers, well i guess i'll find out early next week how useful it is. But i'm hoping the people i trust will give me a solid start and something to work on.

Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
 

Phaeal

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It makes me more nervous to give material to friends than to agents or editors. In my experience, professional interactions are far less fraught with potential drama than personal ones.

The pressure's not only on the writer. Unless she's used to doing betas, your reader is probably as nervous as you are: What if I don't like it? How should I point out problems? Should I just say I like it and so avoid hurting Matt? I have a friend who's put off reading an acquaintance's MS for over a year due to worry about how he should respond. And no, as I tell him, your acquaintance hasn't forgotten that you have the MS. Your acquaintance is slowly building up a reservoir of resentment that will eventually drive her to the top of a clock tower with a sniper rifle.

But anyway. I'm sure that won't happen to you. ;)
 
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dbmcnicol

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My non-fiction didn't seem to hold the terror of non-approval for me as much as my fiction does. I tried to get hubby to read my first chapter but he wants to wait till I have several or get stuck somehow. Time will tell....
 

Turndog-Millionaire

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It makes me more nervous to give material to friends than to agents or editors. In my experience, professional interactions are far less fraught with potential drama than personal ones.

The pressure's not only on the writer. Unless she's used to doing betas, your reader is probably as nervous as you are: What if I don't like it? How should I point out problems? Should I just say I like it and so avoid hurting Matt? I have a friend who's put off reading an acquaintance's MS for over a year due to worry about how he should respond. And no, as I tell him, your acquaintance hasn't forgotten that you have the MS. Your acquaintance is slowly building up a reservoir of resentment that will eventually drive her to the top of a clock tower with a sniper rifle.

But anyway. I'm sure that won't happen to you. ;)

haha thanks for that. hmmmmm, moe nervous now then ever???? :)

I must say i'm not expecting too much from my friend, i'm just hoping she will come up with a general opinion (third set of eyes) about my story and if it is in fact half decent. Does it flow? Are the characters believable? Is the situations i out them in interesting enough?

I'm also hoping she will come up with a few red marks for grammar and what not, but that's not my main hope. The tech side can be beta reader number two i guess. I'm just hoping i can have some reassurances that the story is in fact ok, and if not, a few ideas on how to maybe improve it from a readers point of view. If that makes sense?

I think it makes sense in my head anyways. Maybe :)

Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
 

chevbrock

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Sometimes, it can be quite refreshing setting it free. Even if you don't get "OMG this is the best thing I have ever read", the red marks can give you direction and something solid to stand on, if you feel you were at sea before.

I've found friends are okay to say if they like the story or not, but not the nitty-gritty of your writing. Most of the writers on this board are both incredibly knowledgable and respectful.
 
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