When you ask an author to give feedback on something you’ve written they might shy away. They’ll say “everyone writes differently,” and “you have to find your own way.” Or, they’ll say they don’t have time to read your material. These are all very good reasons…

But it’s not why most authors don’t give feedback.

It’s because they know you won’t listen.

Many times when people ask for feedback what they really want is encouragement. When less-than-glowing feedback is given, the critiqued will defend their work.

The problem is that we know writing fiction is not like solving a math problem. There are no objective answers. So when a person gives us their subjective advice, we know it’s subject to interpretation…and all too often this translates into ignoring the bad news that something needs fixing.

And it’s not just beginning writers.

It’s professionals, too.

Heck, even me.

When I went to the Clarion West Writers Workshop, I thought I knew I was doing. To a large extent, I did…but that didn’t mean I didn’t have light-years of room for improvement.

So when two professional editors critiqued my work and said they were very worried about the extent of my characterization (the lack thereof, specifically), I stopped listening.

What did they know? I had already published a novel! I didn’t need extensive characterization. My characters were developed through their actions.

(Please don’t trip over my hubris and naiveté here)

This was internalized justification for a real weakness of mine. I wished I had listened, and hadn’t taken several years to reach the same conclusion and take steps to fix it. It could have saved some real agony.

This is one of the conundrums of being a writer. You have to step away from your work and be objective.

You at least have to listen when people give you feedback. A good start is to find a trusted reader and train them to give you the feedback you want and need (see my older posts about that here and here).

Ultimately it’s up to you to remain open to the possibility that your writing isn’t perfect yet.

And with a little luck, and humility, we’ll all become better writers.