How quickly do you share your work?
We asked you on twitter…
How quickly do you share you work with others? Straight away when you have an idea? The first chapter? Or only once you’ve finished?
— Women Writers (@WomenWriters) June 27, 2014
@WomenWriters I used to never show anyone anything. Now I try to make it a regular challenge to share, because nothing is *ever* perfect.
— Rose Wednesday (@RoseWednesday) June 27, 2014
@WomenWriters Depends on how you mean "share". i tend to talk about it a lot, but not share reading until it's finished/polished
— Marie Hogebrandt (@melindrea82) June 27, 2014
@WomenWriters When it's a WIP and I'm in a writers group, might be during #writing process. Otherwise, not until it's finished.
— Marci Diehl (@writerdiehl) June 27, 2014
@WomenWriters I share 2nd draft with substantive editor and final to other writers–people who know how to critique–not friends or mother!
— Maia Caron (@MaiaCaron) June 27, 2014
@WomenWriters There are just a few special people I share ideas & early chapters with. I know they'll be honest & they motivate me to write.
— Sarah Ball (@sarahballwriter) June 28, 2014
.@WomenWriters I have writer friends that I share with for critique pretty early on but no-one else sees it until its polished/published.
— Amanda Saint (@saintlywriter) June 28, 2014
@saintlywriter @WomenWriters I send out chapter by chapter, to gauge general impact on the reader, make sure it's received as well as I hope
— Amanda Whittaker (@Cdn_Amanda) June 28, 2014
@saintlywriter @WomenWriters Interesting. I tend to find feedback from non-writer friends more useful.
— Katherine Gregor (@ScribeDoll) June 28, 2014
@saintlywriter @WomenWriters @ScribeDoll I agree writer friends 4 critiquing – writers are also readers…
— Kate Evans (@KateEvansAuthor) June 28, 2014
@saintlywriter @WomenWriters I just find their approach to a book can sometimes be different from that of many writers.
— Katherine Gregor (@ScribeDoll) June 28, 2014
Category: On Writing
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It depends on the work and its final destination. Blog fiction goes up fairly quickly — I think my record is thirty-five minutes from typing the first sentence to hitting the “post” button. (Ironically, that piece got a lot more praise than some of the more carefully-edited work.) Longer, more traditional works can take weeks or months to be read by someone else, if they ever are.
I have no hard-and-fast rule. I tend not to share things until they are complete, but exceptionally I shared fragmentary passages from three projected novels (under the ‘New!’ tab at my web site) on Jan 5th, and 6th, and Feb 21st. Maybe my thinking was that airing them like this would mean that I would HAVE to make plans to finish them. As it happens they are still at the bottom of the pile! Also I have shared some details of the second and third book in a YA-vampire series I am writing (the first one of which, ‘From My Cold, Undead Hand’ will be published soon) with one fan and one fellow-writer, just looking for one or two ideas to push things along where I feel I might be sending the plot down a cul-de-sac. After completion I share in this sequence: a couple of close friends and/or family; my agent; my publisher; my publisher’s in-house editor; a handful of serious reviewers, pre-publication.
I share my work with a few trusted readers when I have a finished draft that I am happy with. I think it’s dangerous to share work in progress. One negative comment, and then I might lose enthusiasm and confidence for the whole project.
Oooo, I missed this on twitter, but this is such a hot topic! 🙂 My best writer friend and I were just arguing about this. He doesn’t share at all until he sends it to his agent. He is multi-published and much lauded, so who am I to criticize? My other good friend is going the self-pub route and he gets A LOT of reviews along the way. I am in the middle.
I am very much a study-door-closed writer during the first draft, EXCEPT for the first chapter (or first chapter of each narrator if there is more than one). It is essential that I make sure I start with a bang, in the right place, and my characters are compelling to the reader. I rewrote the first chapter of my WIP 3x. Only when every reviewer says the words “nailed it!” do I keep going. Although, I’ll tell you, when I finally do nail it, I can tell. When I have completely finished, I get a handful of reviews (at this point, it’s my third draft) before I submit to my agent, comprised of: writers, non-writer readers, and my sister the grammar girl. I like to WOW my agent because I think that makes her a better salesperson of my book. So I’d rather hear what I got wrong from someone else first. But like everything else in writing, you gotta do what works for you.
~MM