Do You Let People See Your Work Before It's Finished?

Heh. Another night owl, eh? I'm just coming awake now (it's 10:30pm where I is). I'll probably be wide awake for another 6 hours or so.

Anyhoo...I don't show my stuff to anyone, finished or not. Probably because I have very few friends who are readers. Unles, of course, you count the good people of AW!

I think I only showed one friend my unfinished work. My sister won't read mine until it is on a shelf somewhere.

Yes.

I will show a work-in-progress to a person I trust. But only a scene, or the opening pages to see if the 'hook' is working, that sort of thing. I won't send someone all of a story or novel I'm working on until I have reached THE END and completed at least one major revision.

No.

Not any more. I did run the first half of my first book through a small crit group while I was writing it, but I didn't give them the ending and then they threw me out. Jerks.

Anyway, I now think that getting early crits is great for new writers. Especially if you can come into a group with different levels of experience. I learned a lot during my early crits. Once you get the hang of things (like POV and verb tenses!), I think a writer should wait until they're ready to submit to ask for outside opinions, if they ask for any at all.

And ever since I caught my husband trying to email one of my stories (that I later sold to Chicken Soup) to everyone in his address book, I don't let him read them until they're sold. I'm not going to let him make my stuff public domain. (His address book is full of "forwarders")

The sister that I live with reads everything I write - she's my Beta, loves a good book, hates to be bored - I give her each chapter as it's written then move on to the next while she reads it.

She's brutal, honest, and when things are going good - the best fan a writer could want

Nobody sees my wip. First group of folks that see my totally finished piece is from the pub I send it to.

Never. I have too much respect for readers to waste their time with early drafts. And unless it's a knock-out piece when I'm finished, no one will ever read it.

This reminds me of when my youngest boy saw me preparing meat loaf, my hands wrist-deep mixing meat and spices and eggs.

He said, "Yuck. That's gross."

Within a couple of hours, though, the loaf had transformed into a jewel of a meal and was ready to eat.

I'd be happy to show my wip's to anyone if I could find anyone interested. The only ones I find with any interest is in critique groups (on line and in real life), and since my schedule does not allow much participation, little of my work is seen, finished or not. I wish I had a family member interested in seeing my work.

NDG

Kate Thornton said:

Do you show your WIP to friends or family members or critique groups?

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Never. I don't even talk about writing to anyone, other than a few people on the internet. A few years ago I got burned in a critique group that met locally & that was enough for me.

Hate to remark this way in this topic, but:

There are too many beginners who push out unfinished work to boards, friends, relatives, while screaming "Is this good, is this good!"

(Odd that I find boards, sometimes, just as willing to praise crap as the writer's mother.)

Present your best effort--do not stop after the first draft. Usually, the first draft sucks.

Rich said:

There are too many beginners who push out unfinished work to boards, friends, relatives, while screaming "Is this good, is this good!"

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It's understandable though. At the beginning, you really don't have a sense of how good (or bad) you are and this is a way to begin to find out. But before long, I'd wager most writers start pulling back on that sort of thing and share when they need something more specific from the other person.

Rich said:

Present your best effort--do not stop after the first draft. Usually, the first draft sucks.

Click to expand...

Certainly when compared with a well-executed second draft and beyond.

It all depends on who. I have a few friends who are professional writers, and I trust their judgment (as well as their ability to understand the level of critique appropriate for a first draft versus that for a more complete project). Sometimes I show them things I'm working on, or look at their work in return. However, when it comes to anyone outside that circle, I keep it to myself until it's done.

Nope. I don't even show the husband until I've had a few revision passes. First drafts have a lot of wonderful energy but they are usually full of bonehead mistakes, cliches, and other flaws.

The only exception to that I'll make is sharing stuff written in writing practice group with other writers. It's fun to see how differently everyone deals with the same prompt, and we know they are just drafts and we aren't interested in critique in that environment.

I also have a superstitious attitude about talking about WIPs. I feel like if I talk about a piece the energy will be sucked out of writing it into talking about it.

I love writing at night, when no one else is awake, and the world (my muse) is free from cluttered thoughts...

Sometimes I will let people see my unfinished writing, but it depends on the person and the situation.

Apryl

Nope. Never.

I have a hard enough time showing finished works to people.

No. Nobody sees my stuff until after at least the second draft. Even I think it's crap until then!

Kate Thornton said:

Do you show your WIP to friends or family members or critique groups?

Click to expand...

I do. It's something I got into the habit of because of school, I think. My process usually goes:

-first draft
-second draft
-critique
-third draft
-submission.

I have two readers, both of whom I've had classes with for a long time. They each have particular critiquing strengths, and because we were in workshops together, I think they have a different expectation of work in progress than someone who doesn't write might have. They give me good feedback and I really like having someone to talk about ideas with.

When I finish a scene, I read it aloud to my husband. That way I hear mistakes or clumsy wording. He's way too enamoured of my writing to be a serious critiquer though.

I've lined up a few beta readers, but they are going to get the entire third draft rather than a bit at a time. Passing out bits is next to useless IMO, because you can't get a feel for how pacing, themes, etc. are working out.

I have a friend/beta who's a vicious editor and a good analyzer. I'll let her read things before the story is complete, but she knows the extent of the feedback needed at any particular time. Pacing, plain stupidity, or plot problems. It's proved very helpful. No one else gets to see it though.

As a new writer, I sent copies to family members and friends who were interested in my work. Of course, they raved and claimed they couldn't put my manuscript down. My stepmother offered hints on plot holes (with many long phone calls from across the continent and taking notes).

I was a little disconcerted when my dad sent the early ms to a writer friend, but she also offered good advice.

My private crit group is very helpful with early drafts, and patient when they see a lot of grammar mistakes. I just figure I can use all the help I can get.

Never. I don't even discuss my WIP with people until it's finished. My stories are never plotted, so showing someone an incomplete piece would be pointless. Much of the time my work doesn't meld and tie together until the very last period. I also edit my work continuously during the writing process, so much so that my completed work tends to change very little from the first draft.

I don't show anyone anything that is unfinished and I only show a few people my finished work (stuff I am about to submit or have submitted).
I love e-mailing friends and family links to my published work that appear online, but I've noticed that even though it's not that often people get less and less interested each time. Anyone else experience that?

Rarely. I might show the first few chapters to my wife, just to see if I'm going in the right direction, but I usually wait until I've got a complete, polished manuscript. My brother reads my stuff when it's done, and maybe a friend or two. But I've never been in a critique group that I found worth while, and I now avoid them.