Nice things people say when they don't like your writing : by Will Wright punny pseudonym?
Every writer I know has done this. You've just finished the best thing you have ever written. So you bounce it off friends and family. You convince them to read your latest opus, waiting for them to catch the magic of your words, the subtlety of your approach, the wit, the humor, the brilliance that you poured onto the page.
And when they're done reading you get, "That was ... good." Good? ........That's it? That. Was. Good? Nothing else?
Well, having received my share of noncommittal feedback has led me to a number of conclusions. But the most important one is this: people who like you and don't like your writing aren't going to say anything that will hurt your feelings. Instead, they'll hide how they really feel. What this means is that you need a translator to convert what they say into what they really mean. Most of these responses are to the question - "So, what did you think?"
What they say: That was an interesting story.
What they really mean: This story piqued my interest. It's too bad that you wrote it. Maybe you should try submitting the story idea to a real writer.
What they say: I really liked the characters.
What they really mean: Man, this story stunk. What's something positive I can say, without lying?
What they say: I liked it. Maybe you should do this [insert whatever suggestion they have].
What they really mean: Man, this story really stunk.
What they say: How did you come up with this story?
What they really mean: Why did you make me waste three hours of my life reading this?
What they say: There's some real intelligence behind your writing.
What they really mean: Yeah, just like the guy who wrote my chemistry text book.
What they say: There were some typos and spelling errors. But overall it was good.
What they really mean: I was so bored; I had to count errors just to keep myself occupied.
What they say: I liked the part where [insert whatever part they liked].
What they really mean: Out of the 200 pages you gave me to read, I liked one page.
What they say: I'm not really qualified to judge writing.
What they really mean: Please don't make me lie to you and tell you I like this.
This reminds me of my kavitanjali days when I'd torture a couple of good friends...insist they read what I passed off as poetry and be terribly upset with anything vaguely negative they said. :)). I commend their patience! Have things really changed? I've just gone to prose from worse...oops verse!
Mean joke of the day: What do you call a midget psychic that escaped from jail? Small medium at large!
Every writer I know has done this. You've just finished the best thing you have ever written. So you bounce it off friends and family. You convince them to read your latest opus, waiting for them to catch the magic of your words, the subtlety of your approach, the wit, the humor, the brilliance that you poured onto the page.
And when they're done reading you get, "That was ... good." Good? ........That's it? That. Was. Good? Nothing else?
Well, having received my share of noncommittal feedback has led me to a number of conclusions. But the most important one is this: people who like you and don't like your writing aren't going to say anything that will hurt your feelings. Instead, they'll hide how they really feel. What this means is that you need a translator to convert what they say into what they really mean. Most of these responses are to the question - "So, what did you think?"
What they say: That was an interesting story.
What they really mean: This story piqued my interest. It's too bad that you wrote it. Maybe you should try submitting the story idea to a real writer.
What they say: I really liked the characters.
What they really mean: Man, this story stunk. What's something positive I can say, without lying?
What they say: I liked it. Maybe you should do this [insert whatever suggestion they have].
What they really mean: Man, this story really stunk.
What they say: How did you come up with this story?
What they really mean: Why did you make me waste three hours of my life reading this?
What they say: There's some real intelligence behind your writing.
What they really mean: Yeah, just like the guy who wrote my chemistry text book.
What they say: There were some typos and spelling errors. But overall it was good.
What they really mean: I was so bored; I had to count errors just to keep myself occupied.
What they say: I liked the part where [insert whatever part they liked].
What they really mean: Out of the 200 pages you gave me to read, I liked one page.
What they say: I'm not really qualified to judge writing.
What they really mean: Please don't make me lie to you and tell you I like this.
This reminds me of my kavitanjali days when I'd torture a couple of good friends...insist they read what I passed off as poetry and be terribly upset with anything vaguely negative they said. :)). I commend their patience! Have things really changed? I've just gone to prose from worse...oops verse!
Mean joke of the day: What do you call a midget psychic that escaped from jail? Small medium at large!
3 comments:
Well Anita, you do have a fine sense of humour...and that is not open to further interpretation!
A sense of humour is something nobody should have to do without!
AI, I'd have read this before sending you my story :P
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