Will you read my book?

The writer who wrote the screenplay for A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE wrote an article last week that has been posted and re-posted and linked to all around internet, wherever writers tend to congregate.

The article is his take on why he does not read scripts from acquaintances or strangers. (I won’t link to it here because the language is VERY adult and the tone is–intentionally, I think–over the top but it should be easy to find if you’re really interested and want to search just a little.)

Personally, I really related to what he said (not necessarily how he said it). It’s something that all published writers hear and see every day–people we barely know asking us to read their work and give feedback on it.

Feedback itself takes a long time and a lot of energy and can also open us up to potential lawsuits down the line, so that’s reason enough to have a blanket “no thank you” policy (which I do have).

But as the article (and the comments that followed) pointed out, feedback isn’t really what a lot of people want. Nope. Most people who ask for this ask because they think published authors know some trick and if we’d just share with the person who is asking then they too will get an agent or a big-time publishing deal.

Nope. Sorry. It simply doesn’t work that way.

I decided to blog about this today because I really want all of you to know (especially those of you who are in your teens and maybe just starting to write yourselves) that getting notes or feedback from an author you admire is not necessary for writing a book or screenplay that’s admirable. You really, honestly do not need feedback from an author to be an author.

So how do you get feedback if you’re just starting out and you tried to email your book to your favorite author but it bounced back?

Well, I can’t tell you where you should go for feedback, but I can share where I went.

1. My mother.
Sure, maybe your mom isn’t an English teacher like my mom and so isn’t quite as comfortable with a red pen, but getting someone–anyone–to read your stuff is most likely where you’ll be when you start out.

It’s helpful not just for the feedback, but also because if you tell someone “I will have a draft ready for you by January 1” then you’ve set a goal and made a promise and now you have a DEADLINE.

Welcome the world of the working writer.

2. My local book club.
When I wrote my first book I was living in a tiny town that didn’t have a chapter of any writers’ organizations like RWA or SCBWI or any critique groups that I knew of. What we did have was a book club that met once a month at the local library, so that’s where I went.

And here’s the thing people tend to forget: you aren’t writing for writers. You’re writing for READERS. So go find readers.

I approached the book club and told them that I had written my first novel and asked if they would mind making my novel their book club selection for the next month (if I agreed to provide all the copies). They thought that sounded like fun, so that’s what we did, and it was incredibly helpful.

Everyone got a manuscript and a red pen, and I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without their help and support.

3. Contests.
I entered two contests before I started querying agents. One was for the Southwest Writers Association annual conference. It was great. I’d just “finished” my novel and sent off the first chapter and synopsis, just like I was asked to do.

Feedback came in two forms. First, from the fact that I didn’t even place in the competition. Second, in a lovely, handwritten critique sheet about WHY I didn’t place. I think entering the contest was twenty bucks or so and I feel quite certain that that might have been the best money I’ve ever spent in this business.

The second contest came at least a year after the first–after countless rewrites and doing things like meeting with the book club. This time, it was the annual contest from my state writer’s association. I entered the contest and told myself that if I won I would take that as a sign I was ready to start querying agents.

I did win. And the critique sheet this time included the question “Why hasn’t this been published?”

And that was when I knew I was ready to go pro.

Getting great feedback can be as simple as joining a critique group if you’ve got access to one. Go to conferences. Enter contests. But more than anything, remember that you don’t need the opinion of a working writer. You need the opinions of working readers.

And if you STILL think that you need the opinion of a published/working writer, then ask yourself this question: do you want their opinion or do you want their “connections”?

There is no substitute for hard work in anything in life, I’m convinced, and writing is absolutely no exception. If you want to be a published, working writer, you have to write. You have to rewrite. You have to research and read and listen and study and learn the craft yourself instead of working on your “networking” and telling everyone you know that your sister’s husband’s sister is Janet Evanovich’s dentist, so you’re thiiiiiis close to having a three book deal with Simon & Schuster

Nope. Sorry. It simply doesn’t work that way.