Why does nobody talk about going easy on first draft feedback?

I put up my messy opening page and the replies were super critical. I feel like early writing needs a boost, not a beat-down, to keep going. Do you think soft starts help writers more than hard truths?

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phoenix_clark37mo ago

Yeah, read a blog post that backs up what @the_logan said.

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sarah_bennett937mo ago

@the_logan, but is writing really that fragile?

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the_logan7mo ago

Man, I used to be the king of tough love feedback on early drafts. Like I'd rip apart sentence structure when the writer just needed to hear "cool idea, keep going." I changed my mind after seeing a friend's story. I pointed out one thing I liked instead of ten I hated, and they finished the whole chapter in a week. That messy first draft energy is fragile, you know? Sometimes the hard truths can wait until there's actually something solid to work on.

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