If You Write, Who Are Your "First Readers"?

JaNell · Post by **JaNell** » Sat May 10, 2003 5:32 am

Who do you ask to look over your work after the polishing but before submitting? Why? How effective have "first readers" been for you?

Ladybee · Post by **Ladybee** » Sat May 10, 2003 9:40 pm

I had a yahoogroup of my friends who were interested in my writing while i was writing my first novel. I posted chapters as i finished them for feedback, and it was very helpful.

iblis · Post by **iblis** » Wed May 14, 2003 9:41 pm

Me.

No, seriously. I put the text down for awhile, perhaps 4-8 weeks, and wait until it's not fresh in my mind, until I've lost that "feel" for the story.

And then I read it like anyone else's work, and judge it by the same scale, if not with less tolerance.

Afterwards, it either gets locked up somewhere, stashed, or - if it's just plain bad - "lost".

That's just because if I write, I write for me. If I do share, it's either randomly posted (these days, I'm prone to whacking them with an Artistic License and letting them fly, fly away) or it's printed out and given to somebody special.

The latter hasn't happened in years.

JaNell · Post by **JaNell** » Thu May 15, 2003 2:04 pm

iblis wrote:Me.

No, seriously. I put the text down for awhile, perhaps 4-8 weeks, and wait until it's not fresh in my mind, until I've lost that "feel" for the story.

And then I read it like anyone else's work, and judge it by the same scale, if not with less tolerance.

Me, too. I've not found anyone yet whose opinion & skill I respect enough to read my stuff, who actually critiques it - "Great!" doesn't help any more than "That sucks!" does.

*sigh*