Do You Treat Feedback as a Downdraft or
Updraft?
Ever feel anxious about exposing your baby to the cold, cruel world?
After bleeding on your keyboard, sweating over word choices, and tossing and turning all night determining the direction of your book, do you ever feel distraught?
I certainly have.
Then you take a deep breath and invite the first set of outside eyes to view your work.
“I think your manuscript is good,” the person responds, not sounding totally convinced. “Have you ever thought about changing…?”
Ouch!
How do you harness the feedback to write a better book?
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Is it a Downdraft or Updraft? The Choice is Yours
I live at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The scenery is breathtaking—and sometimes I see things that take my breath away.
Like people who paraglide off the tops of mountains.
Imagine lifting off a mountaintop, pulled upwards by the force of the wind in your parachute. Updrafts can take you higher into the skies and a sudden downdraft can thrust you straight into the ground.
In the same way, your response to feedback (read: criticism) can serve as an updraft, driving you upwards in your writing pursuits.
Or, if you choose, it can serve as a downdraft, driving you deeper and deeper into discouragement.
Nobody likes criticism.
Yeah, yeah, I know you can read books to sharpen your skills, but still, we all need feedback from live human beings. Without it, we become delusional, and lose our sense of reality.
Quite often, I’m the first outside person to read someone’s manuscript. It’s a holy moment that I never take lightly.
Ninety percent of the time, the manuscript still needs work. Some people ride the updraft and take my feedback in stride. Others follow the downdraft, visibly wincing in disappointment.
Sadly, some ride the downdraft into the ground and give up.
Criticism of your manuscript doesn’t mean it’s a failure and you should quit.
Read that again.
Let's Ride the Updraft!
Here are some tips to dealing with feedback that will take your manuscript to new heights.
1. Toughen up
I’ll cut to the chase. You’ll never grow as a writer if you can’t accept criticism. You’re better off expecting it than being surprised by it.
Along these lines, expect negative reviews once your book appears on Amazon. It’s a rite of passage for every author.
If the three Amazon reviewers are fawning all over your book, no one is reading it. They’re just family members telling you what you want to hear.
The top authors in the world face criticism every day. Suck it up and join their ranks.
2. Separate your identity from your writing
You. Are. Not. Your. Writing.
Years ago, I ghostwrote a book for a very well-known religious television personality. During the week we spent together, he told me stories about past conversations with Elvis, his appearances on television, his brushes with
fame.
“Do any of these stories appear in your previous books? I asked.
“No, this is the first time I’m sharing them,” he assured me.
After I received payment for my work, the man hired his own writer who totally rewrote the manuscript and removed all those interesting stories—because they all appeared in his previous books.
Then he sent me a nice note, thanking me for my great work.
At that point, I decided to consciously separate my ego from my writing. If I didn’t, I’d be an emotional mess.
Your writing is a byproduct of who you are, but it isn’t who you are.
Last week, I took a last-minute trip out of the US and met the president of a foreign country to discuss interviewing him for a book.
I’m not joking—this really happened.
This week, I’ve been in discussion with our leadership team about moving forward. Another person has a different vision for the book than me. Despite my desire to write and publish the book, there’s a chance I may walk away.
If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. My ego is not invested in this book.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take pride in your work, nor should you lower your standards. But if you want to sleep at night, you want to separate your identity and self-worth from your writing.
3. Run your manuscript by a reader in your target audience
The worst thing you can do is release a book before anyone in your target audience has had a chance to read it and give you feedback.
Read that again, too.
This happens way too often.
Identify a reader in your target audience who you know will be honest with you. Never select a person who will tell you what you want to hear.
Usually close friends and family members aren’t a good choice—unless they’re like my mom. She never held back on constructive criticism. She was never mean, but she only spoke one language: “brutal honesty.”
I rewrote an entire book based on her feedback. Some of the best advice I ever received.
4. Test a chapter or two with a small group of beta readers
Assemble a group of three to five people in your target audience. Give them a few chapters or even the entire manuscript and ask them to give you their honest feedback.
Make sure you give them a deadline to get back to you or they’ll never read it.
Remember that most feedback is opinion. If one out of your five readers suggests a change, there’s a chance their suggestion may not be that helpful. Perhaps it is, but take it into consideration.
If all five of your readers—or even a majority—offer the same or similar feedback, you probably need to take their suggestions to heart.
But never, ever accept every critique as gospel truth. It will dilute your manuscript.
Even after a copyeditor has marked it up, I advise authors to only accept about 80% of the changes. Accepting 100% of the changes will suck the life out of it.
5. Join a critique group
Critique groups meet on a regular basis. Before every meeting, they email an excerpt of their manuscript for the other members to read and critique. Then they take turns discussing it when they meet.
A handful of writers in my local writers group formed a critique group, which has been extremely beneficial. They’ve also become cheerleaders for one another.
When dealing with feedback, I recommend asking two questions:
- Does the change make sense?
- Does the change fit in with the story or message I’m trying to tell?
Usually, people don’t have a problem answering the first question. But deciding whether a change fits in with your story or message is much more difficult. That’s why I recommend the 3-day rule...
6. Practice the 3-day rule
Make the recommended change(s) and live with it for three days. Fully commit to the decision—for example, if it’s a changed plot point, rewrite the story from that point forward.
Make sure you save a copy of the previous version.
By the end of the third day, you should know in your gut whether that decision was right or not. If the change feels right after three days, keep it. If not, see if you can do without it. It may be compromising the integrity of the story
you’re trying to tell.
Discuss the reasons you are uncomfortable with the change with the person reviewing your work. If you put forth a logical argument, they should at least listen to you, and they may come back with a few more points to explain their
perspective.
7. Hire a book coach
Employ the services of a person who has walked the same road as you, time and time again. Good book coaches know how to offer gentle feedback.
We don’t accept every manuscript that’s submitted, but we do accept good ideas and stories that still need a lot of work. A good story or idea can always be “coached up.”
Recently, we expanded our stable of book coaches:
Karen Bouchard is our master book coach and a multiple bestselling author.
Marianne Hering is our children’s book coach and the author of the wildly successful Imagination Station children’s series.
Keith Wall just joined us. He’s a 37-year veteran in traditional publishing, who's worked with dozens of publishers including Doubleday, Random House, Multnomah, and eHarmony. Frankly, he's
one of the best ghostwriters in the business.
For the time being, he's going to focus on religious nonfiction and mental health-type books. He's the co-author of a 15-book mental health series with Dr. Gregory Jantz.
You're going to hear more from Keith in the coming weeks.
