Midlist Writer: Different Readers, Different Critiques

Sunday, 18 January 2009

Different Readers, Different Critiques

The writers' group here in Madrid is still going strong. I now have three different people reading my Civil War horror novel. All of them are good writers, and all of them are coming at my text from very different angles.

One is an avid reader of military history and many of his critiques are about tactics, military procedure, etc. Another is an experienced science fiction writer who is making me look more closely at the motivation of my characters. The third has just started my book, and I've just started hers. She's very talented even though she hasn't been published yet, and because she has a background in writing advertising copy she really picks apart the building blocks of my sentences.

Together they make a well-rounded critique of my book, each one bringing their own interests and point of view to the text. While it's important to get several people to read your work, it's also important to find people with widely different backgrounds and viewpoints who will look at your work in different ways.

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