Providing feedback while the author is still writing their first draft is a tricky thing.
Because it takes so long to write a novel, it makes sense that authors crave some positive feedback to inspire them to keep going.
While I was a freelance editor, many times over the years, emails would land in my inbox with a message along these lines: I just need to know if it’s worth me continuing to write this book.
It takes a long time and a lot of effort to write a book. Nearly every author will doubt themselves along the way, and sometimes they seek validation from an editor.
So, what should you do?
It really depends on the services you want to offer.
Do you provide copyediting or proofreading services? Then gently let the author know this isn’t something you can help them with.
Do you provide developmental editing services? Then decide if this kind of feedback is something you’re happy to provide.
Generally, a writing coach is the most suitable person to help with this request.
Read more about the difference between developmental editing and coaching here.
If you decide you want to help, remember this:
If the author is given any kind of negative (or even critical-yet-constructive) feedback, it can feel like a wound – and they can feel even less inspired. Or worse, tempted to give up altogether.
It would be a disservice to humanity if you discourage a writer.
No one can truly know the potential of a work-in-progress.
And so you need to be very, very careful about the kind of feedback you provide in cases like this, and you need to be very, very diplomatic in how you provide that feedback.
Here are a few things you can suggest to the author, whether you decide to offer feedback or not.
‘Immerse yourself in inspirational stories.’
Instead of looking for validation, suggest that the author look for inspiration – outside of their own writing.
How they’re feeling right now? Lots of writers have been there. Famous, successful writers. Even if they’re not chasing fame with their writing, it can be comforting to be reminded that every writer had to start somewhere, and every writer faces challenges – but those challenges can be overcome! If others have been there and lived to tell the tale (quite literally), they can too.
Ride that inspiration wave by reading books like:
- A Writer’s Notebook by Somerset Maugham
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- On Writing by Eudora Welty
- On Writing by Stephen King
- Release the Bats by DBC Pierre
- Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks
- Still Writing by Dani Shapiro
- The Right to Write by Julia Cameron
- The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
‘Keep feeding your imagination.’
When an author feels as though they’re bursting with ideas that they need to get down on the page, there’s no room for doubt. If they’ve been working on their novel for a while, that initial flare of creative energy used to start writing will inevitably have started to die down.
Encourage them not to let it!
Ask, what inspired them to write this novel in the first place? They should go back to those sources.
They could watch TV shows and movies that capture their imagination. Read novels and stories by writers they admire with all their literary soul. Listen to music that conjures images in their head.
If they keep feeding their imagination, it will keep growing.
‘Ask someone for honest but positive feedback.’
If they still feel as though they really, really need feedback on their writing, suggest they show some of the bits they’re most proud of to someone they love and trust, and ask them to be honest but only positive.
There will be positives. The criticisms can come later – when they’ve finished doing what they can with the draft. After all, the critical feedback a writer would receive on an unfinished novel will never be the same as that they’d receive on a finished novel, and if they receive criticisms at this point, they’ll only risk losing confidence and momentum. It might just not be worth it.
If the author can get their reader to explain what they found good about their writing and why, they can’t really argue with that, can they?
This should be enough to help the author see the positives in their work when previously all they could see were the bits that needed fixing. And hopefully that will help motivate them to keep going.
