Mark Henrikson's Blog - Posts Tagged "peer-review"
Writing Process – Peer Review
This will be a short one because it is almost self explanatory. Find some friends, relatives, colleagues, complete strangers on an internet forum and have them read your book.
You’re not looking for tedious line edits (if they happen to find any by all means point them out), you are looking for high level feedback. Does the plot flow, is the dialogue decent, are the character motivations and actions realistic. The more critical the better.
I always have my older brother give my books a first read. He is really good about giving general comments at the end of each chapter about what he liked, what was confusing, what was boring, and so on. Most important of all, he is not afraid to hit me with both barrels if something stinks. You don’t want ‘oh this was great, way to go.’ You want it was decent but you need to address these things and the longer the list the better.
If you have just one set of comments coming back then it is easy. Go through it and decide if the items they point out need to be addressed or not. If there are multiple sets of reviews then you need to take it chapter by chapter. Read all the comments, decide on changes and then go to the next chapter. Don’t take it one set of comments at a time. Here’s a hint, if several people point out the same issue, you have a problem that needs fixing no matter how attached you are to the way you did it. If it is just a question of style or taste preference, then take it or leave it.
Finally, don’t forget to thank your reviewers. Reciprocate the favor, buy them dinner, send them a card or signed copy of the book when finished. Whatever makes them feel appreciated because they did you a huge favor.
Next up: Line Editing
You’re not looking for tedious line edits (if they happen to find any by all means point them out), you are looking for high level feedback. Does the plot flow, is the dialogue decent, are the character motivations and actions realistic. The more critical the better.
I always have my older brother give my books a first read. He is really good about giving general comments at the end of each chapter about what he liked, what was confusing, what was boring, and so on. Most important of all, he is not afraid to hit me with both barrels if something stinks. You don’t want ‘oh this was great, way to go.’ You want it was decent but you need to address these things and the longer the list the better.
If you have just one set of comments coming back then it is easy. Go through it and decide if the items they point out need to be addressed or not. If there are multiple sets of reviews then you need to take it chapter by chapter. Read all the comments, decide on changes and then go to the next chapter. Don’t take it one set of comments at a time. Here’s a hint, if several people point out the same issue, you have a problem that needs fixing no matter how attached you are to the way you did it. If it is just a question of style or taste preference, then take it or leave it.
Finally, don’t forget to thank your reviewers. Reciprocate the favor, buy them dinner, send them a card or signed copy of the book when finished. Whatever makes them feel appreciated because they did you a huge favor.
Next up: Line Editing
