Writing Diary #11- Critique Partners

Side note: All previous Writing Diaries will be linked below in case you missed any.

First things first, another song from my writing playlist is Warriors by Imagine Dragons.

As far as they go... I'd consider my brother to be my critique partner for my novel. After I finish each chapter, I let him read it and he raises any issues, plot holes or things that need altering. This is super helpful because it enables me to go back and edit things instead of continuing with a glaring mistake ruining everything else.
But there are pros and cons for having your sibling critique partner for you and I thought I'd go through them.

Pro: He's honest. I'd be different if I was asking a parent or friend for feedback- I feel like they'd be a little nicer and kinder about everything- sugarcoating my mistakes. Siblings on the other hand, are pretty blunt and don't care as much about hurting your feelings.

Con: Siblings don't care as much about hurting your feelings. I will say that my brother isn't too bad- he gives me constructive criticism as opposed to just bashing my entire novel but... sometimes feedback hurts. And I think that's the same with any critique partner or beta reader. Some feedback and opinions will just break your heart a little because it's something that you love that's getting torn to shreds. This process is hard for me in that respect but I figure it's good practise for the future- not everyone will like my books.

Pro: Extra ideas. Sometimes my brother is great at motivating my writing and can say something that will stem a really great idea! It's amazing to have this added inspiration and can create some really interesting and useful plot points.

Cons: Extra ideas. Particularly with the focus of my book, my brother has many opinions about it- many passions about it. And while that's all well and good... it's my book. There are some things that I know he won't necessarily agree with because that's not how he ever imagined it but... it's my book. The whole point is for me to portray how I imagine it. Not him.

There are many other pros and cons but I figured I'd only list a couple of glaring ones that I'm dealing with at the moment.... more are sure to come, no doubt.


Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Stay amazing!
Chloe


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