1500 words today.
The first fact checker sent her feedback late last night. I asked her to read all the sections with the hero’s sister, who is also a supporting character in the book with a lot of chapters from her perspective.
This is just one person’s feedback, but here is what I received so far.
- Overall, my hero’s sister was believable and likable as a big sister, heroine in her own right, and a strong female.
- Her actions and dialogue made sense and felt authentic.
- The sibling bickering scenes were spot on. The relationship felt nuanced and a little complicated, like most sibling relationships are.
- Recommended that I adjust some of the dialogue and a couple of her actions that were either a little too harsh or not feminine enough. There was also a scene that I bombed from a “no, that's not what I would do if I were her” perspective. She helped me through that.
- There were 20-25 or so instances that the reader thought could use tweaking—dialogue, action, and some narrative that I could adjust slightly to make the character more relatable. And again, the reader told me exactly what would be going through her head if she were the character so I had lots of material to use that had a real life basis.
- Nothing offensive or off putting. That in and of itself is a good thing, though I usually don't have that problem. Never a bad thing to test your assumptions though.
Anyhoo, I incorporated the feedback into the story, and the character’s chapters are without question objectively better. All it took was a few small tweaks here and there throughout the book to create a cumulative effect. As I said, the 20-25 times where the text pulled the reader out of the story is kind of a big deal. With those sections adjusted, that will go a long way toward making the novel stronger.
I will be interested to see what feedback the second person gives. Some of it will probably be similar, but she will probably react to other things (based on her own experiences) that the first reader did not.
That's the great thing about fact checkers. The advice they give is usually straightforward and actionable, and rooted in personal experience. It's fairly black and white, too. Beta reader feedback, on the other hand, is a totally different animal. Sometimes betas contradict each other. A lot. That's the topic for another post, I suppose. Fact checkers, not so much.
BUT, THERE IS ALWAYS ONE GOLDEN RULE
As always, readers will be the ultimate judges of the story. But my job is to do the very best I can to help them enjoy the story and not pull them out of it.
I can get the best feedback in the world, get a good cover, and Yada Yada Yada…and talk about all this stuff publicly…but the book still may not sell. That's on me. But boy am I learning a lot with this project that I can carry over to the next novel so I can keep leveling up. That's what matters.
If this book fails, it's still a huge success because:
- I lost 5 pounds while writing it
- Wrote it healthily (on a bike, while walking around and standing up)
- Taught me a great deal about new ways to research and edit.
- It was fun.
That's why this is the greatest time in the history of the world to be a writer.
OTHER STUFF
I recorded seven weeks of Writing Tip of the Day today as well as did a shoot for Author Level Up. I now have enough episodes of the tips podcast to last me through the end of my first class. That way I won't have to worry about it.
I also made some progress in the keyword course by Dave Chesson I talked about yesterday. So far so good, and it's given me a lot to think about.
I also continued making progress toward Indie Author Confidential, Vol. 4. Slow and steady wins the race, my friends. I’m probably only a third of the way through the book, but that’s better than nothing.
