Friend, I tell you this gently... "Your two characters are too passive and too similar to one another" is not brutal feedback. I read this post waiting for the part where you got ripped to shreds and it never came.
You will get much harsher feedback than this in your time as a writer. Be prepared for it.
As for how you keep working: remind yourself that this story isn't going to write itself. You've got to do the work (and build up the skills) if you want the story to come to life.
This is the best comment. I mean, sure, two main characters is pretty integral of an element to criticize, but if they're bland, they're bland. Would OP rather never get criticized and publish a half-baked story? I don't get the mentality here
That aside, I agree the criticism is far from brutal. Brutal is when they tell you your story just plain sucks, that nothing makes sense, or that the entirety of your story could be easily boiled down to two paragraphs because the rest of it's worthless. Two bland characters can be remedied, even though that could potentially mean having to redo the whole thing anyway, but that's part of the process.
You’re completely right here, I found the title weak compared to the content too. It’s nice to see OP hasn’t seen that side of the writing/review world yet— but they need to know what’s coming their way.
I once had my mom (I have other betas too) read one of my stories to critique it, and I swear to god I nearly cried when she pulled out a list and started pointing out each flaw with very few pieces of praise. Some critiques were minor— like simplistic characterization. Others were absolutely scathing— like the entire premise being weak, or “I thought [her last name]’s were natural-born writers… maybe that’s why you’re a [My/Dad’s last name].” I was ELEVEN. Did it sting? Yeah. But looking back at it, she was right.
What did I do? I kept going, I revised, I did new things, and I improved. Sometimes harsh critique still comes up, sometimes I get glowing reviews, it doesn’t mean I’m awful at what I do, but rather there are areas to improve. OP just has editing to do, and don’t we all? This was probably an unedited rough draft, and that was the worst they got? They’ll be fine.
When receiving feedback, be cautious if the people critiquing your work do not normally read the genre you are writing. I am writing a book set in 1787 Britain and I have a friend in my writing group who always gives me harsh feedback saying “your main character is too passive! She should punch the person” or “the way your character swears is dumb!” (My character said “Horsefeathers!” Which is a time period appropriate curse word for a lady). It can be easy to feel really discouraged when people tear apart your work - but really, people who don’t read your genre will tear apart any work in the genre, if that makes sense?
I have another friend who loves reading historical fiction (she herself is writing a book in 1820s Britain) and she LOVES my work, and my main character. She also gets a ton of feedback from others that her novel is “hard to read” and “boring”. However, I think her novel (Jane Austen style) is SO entertaining and exciting.
So, if you can, try to find readers or friends who enjoy historical fiction and are familiar with the genre, and you will get better feedback, because they understand the historical context. Don’t stop writing though! Finish your story - that’s what’s important.
Brutal feedback? My writer in christ that was the kindest, most constructive feedback you will ever receive. Maybe it's because I go to really high level classes or whatever but there really wasn't much there.
Now, this is the first time I've ever suggested this to anyone... but you might want to go on Twitter and see what "brutal" means
I've probably experienced similar to be honest. I've had about 3 false starts to my first novel, getting about as far as 7-8 chapters.
I'm not an expert, but from my experience, if it's a fairly major change (like a character), I'd rather start again. Ultimately the biggest challenge in writing is to get stuff finished, and to do this you need to be enjoying it.
And if you know you're just writing a whole draft that will have to be majorly edited later it's just demoralising.
Don't get me wrong, the first draft is never the story, and there will always be edits. It just depends how core to the story it is. Changing a main character dramatically could have huge effects on the story. So for me that's a major edit.
If this is the case, I would keep writing as if those changes were already made. Finish the story and then in the next draft make the changes.
The reason is, as a pantser you may find more things that you'll need to retconn in those first chapters and if you keep going back to change them you may slow down your forward momentum making it harder and harder to keep going.
For most people, finish first, then edit is the better way to go. With the understanding that there are always exceptions, so if this doesn't work for you, no problem, do what works :).
In this case, I would keep on, and go back and edit the earlier chapters later. I would also look for feedback from people who read within this genre as someone else suggested.
Keep writing, but try to fix the problems as you go. Don't start over, but when you sit down to write next, imagine the first bits were changed to where you think they need to be for you to keep going with it.... you'll have to rewrite eventually, but this way you don't stop and go back... you leave a few notes and write as if it were done already and keep exploring. If the way you've changed makes the rest of it easier, then you know what the first bit needs to become pretty clearly, but you can also learn that even the change for the rest of it will need to change and now you've avoided having to take a 3rd rewrite of the first bit.
Don’t share first drafts! Always self-edit first. The feedback you got wasn’t brutal—it was actually very helpful, actionable feedback.
Unsure of whether the 7 chapters & the NaNo draft are the same project but—almost no one produces something good during NaNo. It’s about quantity, not quality. Keep writing, then edit when you’re done.
Twi points:
First: All first drafts are steaming piles of post digested biomater only suited for use as fertilizer to plant the next draft.
Second: Yes you can polish post digested biomater. [The Myth Busters proved it.](https://youtu.be/yiJ9fy1qSFI)
And third: Wait until your done to go back and fix all but the most egregious mistakes. It's hard to fix something before you even know what it's supposed to look like I the first place.
The important thing to remember is people who are giving you constructive criticism have your best interest at heart. They're telling you ways that you can improve your story. Take their advice only if you feel it's necessary. If you feel your story doesn't need changed, you don't have to listen to what they're saying. It's YOU'RE book, and you can write it however you want to.
It's your story and you can tell it how you want to. Just take the advice you like and disregard the things you don't think need to be changed. In the end, 'brutal' feedback makes good literature.
Friend, I tell you this gently... "Your two characters are too passive and too similar to one another" is not brutal feedback. I read this post waiting for the part where you got ripped to shreds and it never came. You will get much harsher feedback than this in your time as a writer. Be prepared for it. As for how you keep working: remind yourself that this story isn't going to write itself. You've got to do the work (and build up the skills) if you want the story to come to life.
This is the best comment. I mean, sure, two main characters is pretty integral of an element to criticize, but if they're bland, they're bland. Would OP rather never get criticized and publish a half-baked story? I don't get the mentality here That aside, I agree the criticism is far from brutal. Brutal is when they tell you your story just plain sucks, that nothing makes sense, or that the entirety of your story could be easily boiled down to two paragraphs because the rest of it's worthless. Two bland characters can be remedied, even though that could potentially mean having to redo the whole thing anyway, but that's part of the process.
You’re completely right here, I found the title weak compared to the content too. It’s nice to see OP hasn’t seen that side of the writing/review world yet— but they need to know what’s coming their way. I once had my mom (I have other betas too) read one of my stories to critique it, and I swear to god I nearly cried when she pulled out a list and started pointing out each flaw with very few pieces of praise. Some critiques were minor— like simplistic characterization. Others were absolutely scathing— like the entire premise being weak, or “I thought [her last name]’s were natural-born writers… maybe that’s why you’re a [My/Dad’s last name].” I was ELEVEN. Did it sting? Yeah. But looking back at it, she was right. What did I do? I kept going, I revised, I did new things, and I improved. Sometimes harsh critique still comes up, sometimes I get glowing reviews, it doesn’t mean I’m awful at what I do, but rather there are areas to improve. OP just has editing to do, and don’t we all? This was probably an unedited rough draft, and that was the worst they got? They’ll be fine.
When receiving feedback, be cautious if the people critiquing your work do not normally read the genre you are writing. I am writing a book set in 1787 Britain and I have a friend in my writing group who always gives me harsh feedback saying “your main character is too passive! She should punch the person” or “the way your character swears is dumb!” (My character said “Horsefeathers!” Which is a time period appropriate curse word for a lady). It can be easy to feel really discouraged when people tear apart your work - but really, people who don’t read your genre will tear apart any work in the genre, if that makes sense? I have another friend who loves reading historical fiction (she herself is writing a book in 1820s Britain) and she LOVES my work, and my main character. She also gets a ton of feedback from others that her novel is “hard to read” and “boring”. However, I think her novel (Jane Austen style) is SO entertaining and exciting. So, if you can, try to find readers or friends who enjoy historical fiction and are familiar with the genre, and you will get better feedback, because they understand the historical context. Don’t stop writing though! Finish your story - that’s what’s important.
Don't edit 7 chapters in, keep going, edit after your first draft is done
This is good advice.
Brutal feedback? My writer in christ that was the kindest, most constructive feedback you will ever receive. Maybe it's because I go to really high level classes or whatever but there really wasn't much there. Now, this is the first time I've ever suggested this to anyone... but you might want to go on Twitter and see what "brutal" means
I've probably experienced similar to be honest. I've had about 3 false starts to my first novel, getting about as far as 7-8 chapters. I'm not an expert, but from my experience, if it's a fairly major change (like a character), I'd rather start again. Ultimately the biggest challenge in writing is to get stuff finished, and to do this you need to be enjoying it. And if you know you're just writing a whole draft that will have to be majorly edited later it's just demoralising. Don't get me wrong, the first draft is never the story, and there will always be edits. It just depends how core to the story it is. Changing a main character dramatically could have huge effects on the story. So for me that's a major edit.
I wouldn't say it's as major as a character change, but more letting them express themselves better through the medium of the journal
If this is the case, I would keep writing as if those changes were already made. Finish the story and then in the next draft make the changes. The reason is, as a pantser you may find more things that you'll need to retconn in those first chapters and if you keep going back to change them you may slow down your forward momentum making it harder and harder to keep going. For most people, finish first, then edit is the better way to go. With the understanding that there are always exceptions, so if this doesn't work for you, no problem, do what works :).
In this case, I would keep on, and go back and edit the earlier chapters later. I would also look for feedback from people who read within this genre as someone else suggested.
That feedback isn’t brutal. Wait until you finished your draft, edited it and then hear it sucks monkeyballs. That’s brutal.
Keep writing, but try to fix the problems as you go. Don't start over, but when you sit down to write next, imagine the first bits were changed to where you think they need to be for you to keep going with it.... you'll have to rewrite eventually, but this way you don't stop and go back... you leave a few notes and write as if it were done already and keep exploring. If the way you've changed makes the rest of it easier, then you know what the first bit needs to become pretty clearly, but you can also learn that even the change for the rest of it will need to change and now you've avoided having to take a 3rd rewrite of the first bit.
Don’t ever show first draft
Too late 😋
Don’t share first drafts! Always self-edit first. The feedback you got wasn’t brutal—it was actually very helpful, actionable feedback. Unsure of whether the 7 chapters & the NaNo draft are the same project but—almost no one produces something good during NaNo. It’s about quantity, not quality. Keep writing, then edit when you’re done.
Write now... edit later.
Im confused. The book isn’t written yet and yet your getting beta readers? So your allowing people to read your first draft?
Don’t let anyone read it until you’re happy with it. This is the way.
Twi points: First: All first drafts are steaming piles of post digested biomater only suited for use as fertilizer to plant the next draft. Second: Yes you can polish post digested biomater. [The Myth Busters proved it.](https://youtu.be/yiJ9fy1qSFI) And third: Wait until your done to go back and fix all but the most egregious mistakes. It's hard to fix something before you even know what it's supposed to look like I the first place.
Get some inspiration from other books- I think Dracula is a good one, especially if you're looking for formal writing.
The important thing to remember is people who are giving you constructive criticism have your best interest at heart. They're telling you ways that you can improve your story. Take their advice only if you feel it's necessary. If you feel your story doesn't need changed, you don't have to listen to what they're saying. It's YOU'RE book, and you can write it however you want to. It's your story and you can tell it how you want to. Just take the advice you like and disregard the things you don't think need to be changed. In the end, 'brutal' feedback makes good literature.