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My writing group buddy called my main character 'a cardboard cutout with a sword' and I can't decide if it's helpful or just mean.
We were workshopping our fantasy novel first drafts at the library on Tuesday. Mark read my chapter, looked up, and said exactly that. He pointed to a line where my hero just announces his tragic backstory to a stranger for no reason. I felt my face get hot. Part of me wants to scrap the whole chapter, but another part thinks he's right and I need to show the pain instead of telling it. Has a piece of blunt feedback ever actually saved your draft, or does it usually just make you want to quit?
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amy1546mo ago
Doesn't blunt feedback always feel like a gut punch before you see the truth in it? That line about the backstory is probably the exact clue you need to fix the whole character.
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campbell.elliot6mo ago
Ever get feedback so spot-on it makes you cringe at your own work? @amy154 is right, that initial sting is just your ego getting in the way of a good fix. I once wrote a whole chapter before realizing my main guy had the personality of a wet paper towel.
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simonl116mo ago
Heard a writer say that cringe feeling is just your brain growing. Means the feedback hit the mark.
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