Give Feedback!

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK:

- Give writing feedback to others.

Getting feedback is a great way to see the flaws in your writing you were blind to before. However GIVING feedback is an even better way of seeing them!

Of course, in order for your feedback to help you—and the person you’re giving it to—you need to identify what is good, helpful feedback and what is detrimental. Good feedback identifies the problem, and it does so in a tone that is honest, practical and understanding. There is no point saying a scene or character is ‘bad’ without identifying WHY.

The next important step is identifying a solution to the problem. Sometimes, it’s really difficult to identify how to fix a problem—and often the fixes are matters of opinion. EG: if a character is very boring and unlikeable, one solution might be to make him nicer. However, the writer may decide to make him meaner and more charming, with much greater success.

The reason giving feedback is more important that receiving it is that it is hard to objectively analyse your own work. However when you are looking at the work of someone else, you can see the flaws you would be blind to in your own writing. Being able to identify flaws in the writing of others is a great step to being able to identify it in your own work—and avoid the same mistake in the future.