Be Brave: Why You Should Let Others Read Your Novel

The “Now What?” Months continue with Kim Votry, Young Writers Program educator & author of My Own Magic. Sharing your novel can be scary, but Kim shares just why fortune favors the bold writer:

Although much is said about the solitary lives of writers, most writers I know enjoy community, and thrive on the exchange of ideas that happens when we get together. I know my students do! I teach a year-long novel-writing class to kids in grades 4-8 and the workshop-style critique has become vital to our revision process.

I’ve heard many authors advise against seeking feedback until a complete first draft is produced. But that advice is only right for a certain kind of writer.

As an author myself, I write intuitively, instinctively, and sometimes don’t know my own themes and conflicts until someone else reads my work and tells me. My writing group has been invaluable in this regard. The group read my first novel as I wrote it, chapter by chapter (not even in the right order!), helping me identify themes and character arcs. Even with all that help, I finished that novel and still had to ask them, What’s it about?!

This month, the kids are critiquing each other’s first chapters. It’s scary, but they want to know what their peers think. Does it sound all right? Do you like it? We always begin with praise for what’s working, then discuss sections that are confusing or that need more work. When a writer is confident that their writing has been met with acceptance, they’re more open to constructive criticism.

When I wrote My Own Magic, I needed First Readers: kids who were the right age for what I had written. I needed to know if the story worked for them.

Thank goodness for the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program! Since My Own Magic is about NaNo in the classroom, I made a “readers wanted” announcement to the YWP community. People responded from around the world and, in the end, I chose about 20 first readers: total strangers who offered to read my novel. Their comments and suggestions made My Own Magic a better book.

Writers need feedback to make the writing better. How else could we know the wonderful sense of “of-course-ness” that hits when you’ve been describing your story to someone and suddenly you figure out how it needs to end? Or the joy of talking about your novel to a willing listener? Connect with other writers and make your writing better.

Kim Votry is an author, educator, and NaNoWriMo coach in the Pacific Northwest.

You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.