Getting feedback

It’s no secret I enjoy my writers’ group.

Last week, one of the members reminded me why this type of feedback is important. There are only four in our group which allows us to get a lot done during our three hour sessions. We read our scene out loud while our fellow scribes follow with their own printed copies. Then we discuss.

One of our group is in his seventies, and I’m presenting a story set in Sydney’s gay scene during the 90s. He is unfamiliar with this setting.

I read a chapter which took place at The Midnight Shift.

He assumed I made up the name of this club, so I told him it actually used to exist. He wanted to know more about the layout.

This threw me as first editor really taught me the value of show, don’t tell. It means giving your reader enough information for them to create their own version of your novel. This way they are more invested because you haven’t dumped a whole lot of information on them that stops them getting lost in your story.

So, in this scene which is dialogue heavy, I use few paragraphs that describe the layout and those within this space. He also asked, who is my reader? I replied that it’s the people who are nostalgic about this era, including those in England because the gay scene was similar there at that time.

But then, the penny dropped.

There was no gateway for someone who has no idea about this place and time to understand it. And my fellow scribe wanted to. Perhaps he also wanted to understand me better. Currently, there is a line here and there, or a paragraph, but it doesn’t convey what’s unique about this particular club. I thanked him for pointing this out.

Something else was bothering him about this scene, and it took a while for him to work out what it was. We left our assigned room at our writers’ centre, and I ventured downstairs with the others while he went to the toilet. As we were about to exit, he put his concerns into words.

He wanted to know what my character, Mae, was thinking during the scene. At this point in the story, all the reader knows is she has broken off her short term romance, and now regrets it. But the reasons why are fed to the reader along the way. To him, her breakup is the main purpose of this story.

I explained that this is an ensemble piece.

While the story centres around whether Mae and Ken will get back together, this is not a Romance story. When I had the previous draft assessed, I was told that although this is the question the reader is asking, it’s not what the novel is about. My assessor saw a deeper question within the story which in recent plot changes, I’ve explored further.

I explained this. On the way home I thought about similar novels I enjoyed where every character’s story has equal value. Those books explore friendship, as many of mine do.

A day later, I saw his point.

The scene is from Mae’s P.O.V., and while her friends are trying to cheer her up, it wouldn’t hurt to delve into her feelings on a deeper level. Hints of what the reader will discover later can be weaved in. The scene will become richer. I’m looking forward to rewrites for this scene later this week.

So, my advice to you if you ever join a writers’ group is, write everyone’s feedback down. You may not see their point right away, but on reflection, you most likely will.