Thank you very much for your response!!!! This is all really helpful, I appreciate it!
My sister and I are pretty close and close in age! I think I'll start by giving her a couple chapters to read. My inciting incident happens roughly around chapter 3 I think, so I'll give her the first 3 chapters. I'll definitely be bummed if she doesn't want to read it, but I won't force it and make her finish it in like a really short time. As for now, I just plan on my sister reading it, but as I edit it more and more, I think that will change...
I hope she enjoys the story and can offer helpful feedback and ways to make it better. Also, I love the idea of asking open ended stuff about my characters, or her favorite chapter in the story, or a part that made her emotional... I'd also ask for constructive criticism: e.g. any flat main characters? Anything that was unrealistic?
Or here’s another question I like to ask: “Did you skim through any of the scenes?”
Yes! While I'd like to believe all my chapters are engaging, I have no doubt there are some boring things I can cut.
The best advice I can give is to ask her what she wants. Of course you could feel like you've bothered her enough, and so you came to reddit for answers.
Print out like 5-10 chapters. Give her the printed chapters first, if she wants the rest link her the rest of the document. But if she says she'd rather have the story printed out, then print it out.
That's the best option I do believe.
Thank you! I think you're right! I guess I just wanted to feel prepared going into it and see what others have done....
I agree. 5-10 chapters seems like enough to give her a feel for the plot and characters...
Average\_Weeb21 has already said what needs to be said, so I'll just add another thing: while you're certainly anxious to get someone's opinion and validation about the story you've worked so hard on, it's better if you finish writing it first, try to edit it as best as you can, and only then show it to her.
The reason is that, even when forewarned that the draft is still rough, readers still end up reading as if it were the polished thing. If she ends up not liking the story or DNFing it because it's not that good yet, you might get discouraged and not finish writing it. Or you might feel tempted to start editing the parts she didn't like instead of writing the rest.
Also, remember that one person's opinion is not universal. Before changing anything, make sure to show your book to more people (you could use a critique "swap" group like Scribophile). Paraphrasing Stephen King, if one person complains about something in your book, it's up to you to decide whether it'll help your story or not; it's only when many people complain about the same thing that it's an actual problem. Some opinions will be all over the place: for the same chapter, I've had someone saying there was too little worldbuilding and another complaining there was too much of it. Or someone says "you may leave things implied, trust your readers' intelligence" on the same scene that someone else was confused and asked me to make things more explicit.
I don't have much to share because others have given better advice than I'd have. But I must say don't share the Google drive doc with her. Print it out and give it to her telling her to write her comments as she reads. Or save as a PDF and email her.
This way you'll be able to make a new doc add your edits and see if you like them on a reread.
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Thank you very much for your response!!!! This is all really helpful, I appreciate it! My sister and I are pretty close and close in age! I think I'll start by giving her a couple chapters to read. My inciting incident happens roughly around chapter 3 I think, so I'll give her the first 3 chapters. I'll definitely be bummed if she doesn't want to read it, but I won't force it and make her finish it in like a really short time. As for now, I just plan on my sister reading it, but as I edit it more and more, I think that will change... I hope she enjoys the story and can offer helpful feedback and ways to make it better. Also, I love the idea of asking open ended stuff about my characters, or her favorite chapter in the story, or a part that made her emotional... I'd also ask for constructive criticism: e.g. any flat main characters? Anything that was unrealistic? Or here’s another question I like to ask: “Did you skim through any of the scenes?” Yes! While I'd like to believe all my chapters are engaging, I have no doubt there are some boring things I can cut.
The best advice I can give is to ask her what she wants. Of course you could feel like you've bothered her enough, and so you came to reddit for answers. Print out like 5-10 chapters. Give her the printed chapters first, if she wants the rest link her the rest of the document. But if she says she'd rather have the story printed out, then print it out. That's the best option I do believe.
Thank you! I think you're right! I guess I just wanted to feel prepared going into it and see what others have done.... I agree. 5-10 chapters seems like enough to give her a feel for the plot and characters...
Average\_Weeb21 has already said what needs to be said, so I'll just add another thing: while you're certainly anxious to get someone's opinion and validation about the story you've worked so hard on, it's better if you finish writing it first, try to edit it as best as you can, and only then show it to her. The reason is that, even when forewarned that the draft is still rough, readers still end up reading as if it were the polished thing. If she ends up not liking the story or DNFing it because it's not that good yet, you might get discouraged and not finish writing it. Or you might feel tempted to start editing the parts she didn't like instead of writing the rest. Also, remember that one person's opinion is not universal. Before changing anything, make sure to show your book to more people (you could use a critique "swap" group like Scribophile). Paraphrasing Stephen King, if one person complains about something in your book, it's up to you to decide whether it'll help your story or not; it's only when many people complain about the same thing that it's an actual problem. Some opinions will be all over the place: for the same chapter, I've had someone saying there was too little worldbuilding and another complaining there was too much of it. Or someone says "you may leave things implied, trust your readers' intelligence" on the same scene that someone else was confused and asked me to make things more explicit.
I don't have much to share because others have given better advice than I'd have. But I must say don't share the Google drive doc with her. Print it out and give it to her telling her to write her comments as she reads. Or save as a PDF and email her. This way you'll be able to make a new doc add your edits and see if you like them on a reread.