Last year, I began meeting with a younger author at her
request, in order to help bring her dream of writing her first work of
non-fiction to reality. Her eagerness to learn was obvious from the outset.
Whenever I referred to a particular book about writing, she would note its name
and want to borrow or buy it. Whenever I mentioned an online writers’ group she
might like to join or a writer’s blog she might like to check out, that is what
she did. And when I told her about a Christian writers’ conference here in
Australia, she was among the first to book in.
My young friend is a delight. I know she respects me and
listens to my suggestions. But, much more importantly, she has a deep love for
the Lord and is passionate about wanting her own experiences in life to count
for the Kingdom. Believing God wants her to write her book, she has worked hard
at mapping it all out systematically in a way I have never done with any of my
own and has now completed some of her early chapters. I am in awe of her
enthusiastic and thorough approach to it all.
But there is another way in which our writing approaches
differ. I have discovered my friend is quite happy to show these early chapters
to her writing group and to others who are prepared to critique her work, in
order to receive as much feedback as possible. As we talked about this, she
explained she has always been a collaborative worker, willing to use the skills
and gifts of others to get things done. So she is happy to take on board any
comments and criticisms, even at this early stage. I, on the other hand,
cringed when I heard what she was doing. I felt it could be a little confusing
for her and perhaps even hamper her from developing her own writing style.
But then I began to question myself. I had never shown my
work to others in those early stages at least. Was it merely my pride and my
inability to receive criticism that had caused me to keep my work to myself
until it was almost complete? Imagine my recent relief then, when, on reading
Dorothea Brande’s book, Becoming A Writer,
written way back in 1934, I came across the following in a section entitled ‘Keep your own counsel’:
When you have completed a fair first draft you can, if you like, offer it for criticism and advice; but to talk too early is a grave mistake. (p 52, 1981 Tarcher/Penguin edition)
The author reasoned that, if we share our work with others
while it is still taking shape, we have already received their responses and
will be less motivated to complete all the developing and polishing our
manuscript needs. Perhaps this then accounted, in part at least, for my
reticence in sharing my own work too early and the shudder that ran through me
when my friend told me how freely she was showing those early chapters to
others.
How about you? Have you found it is good to show your
manuscript to critique partners early on so you can fix any key problems? Or do
you, like me, prefer to ‘keep your own counsel’ until that first draft is
complete?
Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives
in Sydney, Australia. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has
worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local
church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through
both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and
one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey.
Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and
four grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.
