Getting Over Your Fear Of Letting Others Read Your Work

What if they don't like my writing? If people say nice things they're just lying so they don't hurt my feelings. Gasp! Oh no! Someone said my writing is bad. That's it, I'm never handling the English language again! I suck. I'm awful. I'm moving to Australia!

Ok, crazy person. Relax. Sure, your mom may not be the best person to seek advice from, and, yeah, some strangers may totally crap all over your work. But here's the truth: you gotta learn to take it.

First, learn to weed out the jerks. Any critique I get that starts with something like, "This sucks! This is so stupid! I've read better work from Stephanie Meyer!" (NOTE: No one has ever compared me to Stephanie Meyer. Thank God!) I immediately disregard. I've received enough positive feedback over the years, and I have enough self-confidence to know that my writing isn't awful. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I know it's not the greatest American prose in history, so anyone who wants to crap all over it is just wasting my time.

Second, learn to take feedback collectively. Let's say you send out ten manuscripts for critique. One person says your main character felt too boring, while everyone else says they loved the character. Chances are that one naysayer is the one with the problem, not your main character. On the other hand, if EIGHT people say your main character reads like a floozy, they might be onto something.

Don't be like Jerry Seinfeld's mother and think that EVERYONE has to like your babies. "How could anyone not like him?"

Taking feedback gets easier. It's never fun to get a complaint, but you will learn to make critique work for you. Writing is uncomfortable, and it makes you vulnerable. You open yourself up for critique when you put written words out there. Being afraid of what others have to say is going to lead you to pulling punches. Your writing will suffer. You'll lose the truth. You'll be so afraid of getting hurt that you'll never get anything. THEN your writing will suck.

"You make this decision now to be afraid

and you'll never turn back your whole life.

You'll always be afraid."

—Unbreakable (film)

By letting others read your work prior to publication will give you perspectives on your material that you've never thought of before. Some of those perspectives will lead to new ideas that will enrich your stories and your characters more than you could ever do on your own. Closeted writing is limiting. As hard as it is to open yourself up to critique it is so essential to developing a fully realized novel.

The absolute best work you have in you is always going to be the stuff that’s closest to your heart, the stuff that’s absolutely the hardest to let another human being read. It’s risky to show people those deep and true parts of yourself, but life is risk. Look that fear in the eye, spit it in the face, and then write more effing words.