Was It Worth It? First Draft Feedback #AmWriting

14 May 2018 60 Comments

by Ritu in #AmWriting, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #AmWriting, Alpha Readers, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Feedback, First Draft Wins, Rewriting, Titles

I shan’t lie to you.

Much as I thought I’d be able to keep myself busy whilst waiting for feedback from my two wonderful alpha readers, that little niggle stayed there…

What if it makes no sense?
What if they don’t like it?
What if I don’t get any feedback because it was that bad?
What if I’ve totally wasted eighteen years of my creative life working on a project that wasn’t even worth it?

One had already told me it would take a little time to get through reading, due to their own writing commitments, and as I really value their feedback, I was fine with that. I’ve taken eighteen years to get here, after all, a few weeks more shouldn’t matter!

The other said they’d get to it as soon as they could but it would take a few days.

That’s okay.

I could wait a few days…

And I got my first ping in my inbox just a day or two after, with some initial observations.

Maybe think about changing the title, it doesn’t do justice to what has been read so far.

Okay, I get that. Wedded Stress was a working title that I came up with all those years ago, and I was prepared for the fact that I may have to change it if it didn’t suit the end story. It’s just so hard to stop thinking of my WIP as Wedded Stress, but old habits die hard. So, I’ve been thinking of other titles…

More show and less tell.

Again I expected that, especially at the beginning of the story, as my writing was pretty immature back then.

A few bits to mull over…

I waited with baited breath for the full feedback, and this morning I got it.

I celebrated with a rather naughty breakfast!

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And the reason for my elation?

Let me use my reader’s own words…

“Ok, finished it and I think its ACE! Bags of potential and you need to do something with it because the world needs to read this. Fabulous novel idea.”

It was followed by some really constructive feedback about where I could tighten things, add descriptions, develop some of the characters further, and there is a niggle with POV (Point Of View) but the reader loved the characters!

“They come to life and I don’t think you need to get rid of any.”

And the end statement just made my day…

“I think its an excellent story and as a first draft it’s stunning. A lot of it is written really well so I don’t think you have huge rewrites.”

Relief, that I haven’t wasted my time!, and hopefully I don’t need to rewrite it all
Gratitude, as my reader used precious time to read my WIP, and gave such helpful feedback
Pride, that my writing has been given such praise, even in its rawest form
Impatience, as I wait for my other reader to let me know what they think

So the folder came out, the post-its and new erasable highlighters too! I am prepared for the next stage of changes, which I will start after the Bash this weekend!