Nice vs Honest

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve begun work on my next novel.  As I finish each chapter, I send it out to the half dozen or so beta readers that have graciously agreed to read and critique my work.  The problem is that they’re…too nice.

Don’t get me wrong – everyone likes to hear how wonderful they are.  Anyone who says otherwise is either a liar or a sociopath.  So it’s great for folks to say I have talent or they’re really enjoying the book.  However, at this stage, that’s not what I’m looking for.  What I want is brutal honesty about what needs to be fixed.

Look, as the author, I don’t have to act on any criticism I get.  I can evaluate it and decide if it has merit.  Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t.  I have a thick skin, so you can’t say something that will cause me great angst.

I think the problem is that most folks don’t have thick skin.  Most folks don’t like to put themselves out there and risk critique, so they tip-toe around criticism instead of giving it to me straight.  I think they’re afraid I’ll get upset or break ties with them and never send more.  That’s not how I work.  My ego isn’t so fragile that it can’t withstand criticism.  In fact, any writer that cannot take critiques of his or her work will not last long in this business.  Reading tastes are incredibly subjective, and not everyone will like what you wrote, no matter how well you write it.  And if you crumple when corrected, you will not know how to improve.  Folks who don’t get better tend to wither in this business(maybe while wondering why no one is buying their stuff).

It’s really frustrating.  I’ve gotten exactly one session of somewhat real critiques, and that was on the rules of magic that are an inherent part of the story…and those are not going to be written down in the novel(they’re implied and should be discoverable to the reader).  Most of those critiques centered around how they’d want magic used rather than consistency, but at least it got a lively discussion going.  I wish I could get more of that at this stage.  Later, after I’m published, then people can tell me I’m awesome(and preferably publicly).