I mean, who reads it first?

I live for the feedback when I’ve written something.  On my blog, the feedback is through the comments section and through my Stumbleupon friends.  It’s almost instantaneous and very gratifying.

My fiction prose is another matter altogether.  Common wisdom says to not let anyone see it until it is done, but I’m not known for being common.  Or particularly wise, for that matter.  When I’ve gotten a few chapters completed then I usually have Cory give it a read.  Sometimes her daughter Taylor has a look too.  Their feedback is invaluable.  I don’t write for them but I do view them as a sampling of how readers may react.  I remember the first time Taylor read some of my work.  According to Cory, her eyes got real big and she said, “Mom, he’s going to be rich!”  Hehe.  If that doesn’t inspire, then nothing will.

Who dat?

Your ideal reader should be a person very close to you.  A confidant, a supporter.  An editor?  Perhaps.  I don’t want them to be an editor as much as I do a kind of sounding board.  I’ll have editors and not only that, they are generally reading a first draft that will morph as the revisions move along.

The natural selection for your reader will probably be a spouse or SO.  This logical choice is most likely to give you the support you need and the most likely to tell you is something is amiss.  That works, because at this very vulnerable first stage, you don’t want a slasher.  I admit that to some extent this is an exercise in ego feeding and I’m ok with that.  The ego needs nutrition too, and I’ve got no illusions about this process or the feedback I’m going to receive.

Now what?

When I’ve turned over some of my writing to be reviewed by my ideal, faithful reader, I keep a couple of things in mind:

• I give it to them and leave them alone.  I don’t want to even be in the same room.  This is for my sake as well as theirs.
• I listen to what they have to say.
• I don’t defend.
• If I am looking for feedback regarding a specific part, I’ll ask about that directly.
• I thoughtfully consider any constructive changes they suggest.

Your ideal reader puts up with a lot of the idiosyncrasies that come with being a writer.  They take the kids to soccer practice because you are in a zone and can’t leave the keyboard.  They bring you a sandwich and a glass of milk when you’ve forgotten to eat for the last six hours.  They tolerate you cruising around the house at noon in your bathrobe while you grumble about being blocked.  Bring them into the fold.  Let them have a peek at your mistress.  They are in this as much as you are.