You’ve sent a batch of pages—or maybe even a full draft—off to critique partners, beta readers, or a developmental editor, and now you’re staring at a pile of feedback, wondering how, exactly, to approach it.
First, let me say congratulations on mustering the courage to put your book baby in someone else’s hands. That’s a big deal, and it’s not to be taken lightly. You’ve made yourself vulnerable by opening yourself up to criticism, and that ain’t easy. I’m proud of you.
Now, what to do with the feedback?
Read It All the Way Through
Start by reading through everything once. Don’t try to start making changes or taking notes. Just read and absorb what your readers have given you. (If you’ve been given both editorial letters and in-text comments, start with the letters, because those will likely address big-picture issues and then move to the comments, which should expand on the points in the letters.)
If you start to feel defensive or deflated as you read, remind yourself of two very important things:
This feedback isn’t personal. Your readers aren’t attacking you or questioning your skill as an author. They are on your team and, just like you, they want your book to be amazing.
Everything is an opinion. You asked these readers to share their two cents for a reason, and their opinions are valuable. But at the end of the day, you are in charge of what feedback you accept and what you ignore.
After you’ve read all the feedback, put it away for a little bit. A few hours, or even a few days. Take note of which recommendations stand out — good or bad — and how your perspective changes as you let it simmer. Which critiques pop into your head while you’re folding laundry or driving to work? Has that one note that really rubbed you wrong the first time you read it lost some of its rancor, or is it still hitting you wrong?
While the feedback is simmering, you’re welcome to jot down notes here and there about your reactions to it — and how they’re changing — but don’t try to start making revisions yet.
Look for Responses You Agree With
Once you’ve let that feedback simmer and your initial thoughts — and any emotional reactions you may have had — have settled, it’s time to take a second pass through your readers’ responses. This time, you’re looking specifically for what resonates with you right away. Maybe readers are suggesting revisions to iron out issues you already knew about but didn’t know how to fix. Maybe they’re making points you hadn’t thought of but, now that they mention it, make total sense. Maybe they’re asking you to take a closer look at something you knew deep down wasn’t working, even if you hadn’t admitted it to yourself yet.
It’s still not time to start revising (well get there — I promise!), but now you can start making a punch list. Include all the items your readers have suggested that you agree with. You can add your own notes here, too. For example:
Main character’s motivation foggy in chapter 12. Clarify stakes.
Yep, totally agree. I need to figure out why, exactly, she smashes that plate. She hasn’t earned it yet.
Lots of tense shifting between past and present. Work on consistency.
Past tense. Past tense. Past tense. Why is that so hard?! Gotta write it on a sticky note as a reminder.
Look for Common Responses
Once you’ve taken notes on everything you agree with right away, it’s time for another pass through the feedback. This time, you’re looking for notes you’re seeing from multiple readers. (Obviously, if you’ve only sent your manuscript to one editor or critique partner, you can skip this step. But I would highly recommend collecting feedback from a handful of beta readers at some point in your development process!)
Some of this feedback might not have resonated with you right away, but if several folks are picking up on an issue, it’s worth a careful look. Make a list of common feedback, and add the items you find you do agree with to your punch list. For the rest, move on to the next step.
Address the Notes that Raise Your Hackles
Okay, finally, the hardest part. It’s time to look at the feedback that you don’t like. The recommendations you’re tempted to scribble out right away. Before we do, remind yourself those two very important things we talked about before:
Your readers are on your side.
All feedback is subjective.
With these mantras in mind, go through the remaining feedback piece by piece, and ask yourself why it’s bugging you.
Is it misguided? Is the reader misunderstanding what you’re trying to achieve, or trying to impose his or her own vision onto your story? Is the reader being too prescriptive? If any of these things is true and the feedback is simply missing your mark, you’re well within your rights to disregard it.
However.
Is it possible that you’re holding on too tight to your darlings? Even if the feedback is off-kilter, the reality remains something pulled your reader out of the story. So, before you write them off altogether, go back to your manuscript and review the section(s) or characters or plot points they’re taking issue with. If they’re “just not getting it,” then perhaps that means there’s a way to get your point across more effectively. If their prescriptive suggestions miss the mark, maybe there’s a different way to make your own vision come through even stronger.
Before you write off any feedback, put your hackles down and mine it carefully for just a kernel of truth — a way to take some piece of their advice and make your story better. If it’s just not there, then no worries! Simply ignore those sections of their critique. But if you do discover something worth addressing, add it to your punch list, and then get ready to revise.
Make a Game Plan
Now that you’ve given all your feedback due consideration and made yourself a punch list, it’s time to turn that punch list into a game plan for revisions. This plan will be a rough sketch of how you’re going to tackle the revisions and, if you so choose, in what timeframe.
How you structure your plan is entirely up to you. My recommendation is to start with big picture issues: building out static characters, fine tuning cause-and-effect in your plot, bringing a fuzzy setting to life, etc. From the big picture, you can work your way down to style suggestions, saving those granular edits like tense shifting or head hopping for last. (After all, I would hate for you to spend hours fixing your tenses in a chapter that you ultimately end up overhauling or cutting altogether based on big picture feedback.)
Once your plan is in place, you’re ready to go! Be sure to thank your readers for their feedback (whether you took it or not), and then get to work. Happy revising!