Taking Writing Advice, Life Advice, and Everything In Between …

Yesterday, I hosted guest blogger SaraLynn Hoyt on my blog, and she wrote about ensuring that indie pubbed books are high quality. At the end of that post, I disagreed with one thing she said: that you should make the changes suggested by your critique partner (or editor).

I definitely agree that you need to fix problems with your story, but not every issue a CP or editor raises is actually a problem. I’ll go even further and say that even if your CP or editor says everything is great, that doesn’t mean the story is done.

Why? Because one of the major components of being an author is to understand the story that you are trying to tell. And also to understand that you are the writer. Editors often don’t write. Most CPs do, but they have their own unique way of looking at stories.

My personal rule of thumb is to very carefully consider each and every comment that a reader makes–but I may decide that the comment doesn’t need to be addressed (or that it needs to be addressed in a different way, which I’ll discuss below). If two readers make the same comment, then I will absolutely do something. Two=change. One=my best judgment.

This is a rule that developed when I first started critiquing with Dee Davis and former Whiner Kathleen O’Reilly. (Hands over ears now, Dee). Sometimes I would ignore their issues. But if they both had the same issue, I’d address it. If two people are confused are annoyed, chances are the rest of the world will be as well.

But the even bigger issue is that you as a writer have to understand that no one knows better than you what your story should be. I have spent weeks tweaking a story that my editor thought was done because I wasn’t happy with some element of it. I have completely ignored suggestions on how to fix a story–and come at the problem from a different way. Editors and beta readers are very often not writers. They know that something is off and they will make a suggestion. But that suggestions may not be the solution.

Or they may articulate a problem (this scene seems draggy), when in reality the scene doesn’t drag if the writer had properly set up the backstory so that the reader understands the underlying tension between the characters in the scene. Ditto character development. “Your heroine is a bitch in this scene” may really mean “I don’t understand her motivation and backstory.” It may not be the scene that needs to be changed but elements of the story leading up to the scene.

So that’s my take on revising–listen, analyze, and then do what’s best for the story that you are trying to tell.

The same advice applies in life: listen, analyze, and then do what is best for you. Sometimes it’s hard to ignore well-meaning advice from others. Sometimes, though, you have to in order to make your book–or your life–the best it can be.

How do you writers deal with comments on your drafts? How do you readers deal with suggestions about your life? Share!

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