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Young Writers Society


Frustration



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129 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 240
Reviews: 129
Sun Oct 26, 2014 3:34 am
ulala8 says...



I've been posting a novel on here for months now and I'm not getting many helpful reviews. I have one follower that is helping me along, but I just got two people who gave me really really s***ty reviews that didn't help me at all.
Like, one of them didn't even tell me how I could improve. They just told me, "hey, I don't like this style of writing and the names didn't grab me because I like modern names." HELLO! This is the 13th chapter of my book. I know you're not gonna be able to tell me things about how I could improve this or that character's development, but tell me how I could improve my storytelling! Something! I don't need you to tell me that you don't normally read this kind of stuff.
My work is being pushed down on priority list. It looks like it's been reviewed, but it hasn't really.

Are any of you guys experiencing this? Have you found any solutions?
  





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1272 Reviews



Gender: Other
Points: 89625
Reviews: 1272
Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:57 am
Rosendorn says...



My primarily solution: trades.

I have a few people who follow my novel religiously, and in exchange I follow basically anything they post just as religiously. This results in a group of people who know my story and style fairly well, and I know theirs fairly well.

Now, sometimes we all need a break because life happens, so I don't always count on trade partners to provide feedback. That's why I have multiple people I switch between. It's also important to have multiple people and break out of your trade network comfort zone, because you can end up with people who know the story too well and stop giving you honest feedback because they're fans. But, it does get you some pretty dedicated followers and beta readers.

My second best solution is to ask reviewers questions.

Seriously, I did not learn how to review by simply going out and reviewing madly. I found a few people who pushed back on my feedback, who asked me about specific parts of their story, who basically forced me to think about the type of feedback I was giving— if only so I'd stop getting all those questions! That's what taught me how to review.

If you ask existing reviewers questions, you not only get the feedback you want, but you also go out and help teach a bunch of people how to review. They will then give better feedback the next time, and you end up with the feedback you want (eventually).

Hope this helps!
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  








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