How do you incorporate feedback from multiple sources without losing your voice or style?
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As a writer, you know how important feedback is to improve your craft and reach your audience. But sometimes, you may receive conflicting, confusing, or overwhelming comments from multiple sources, such as editors, clients, readers, or peers. How do you incorporate feedback from multiple sources without losing your voice or style? Here are some tips to help you navigate this challenge and produce better writing.
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Conflicted when writing, often by feedback? Trust your gut. And do so by going back to intent and audience. You may well change it then or at a later date. I so often do. But at least you have explored what you believe best represents your vision. And you can - and I believe, should - save your original work for further review and possible exploration.
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Identify the purpose and scope of feedback
Before you start revising your work based on feedback, you need to understand the purpose and scope of the feedback you received. What are the goals and expectations of the feedback giver? What are the criteria and standards they are using to evaluate your work? What are the main issues or areas they want you to address? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you prioritize and filter the feedback according to its relevance and importance.
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That's a great way to put it... "What are the goals and expectations of the feedback giver?" Bottom line is... if you ask someone to give you feedback, they will find something. If the feedback I'm looking for is before publication, I tend to think about it in terms of stakeholders. Does the person have an official connection to this work? Meaning, are they part of my target market? Are they someone that's invested in my success, either tangibly (e.g. $$$) or intangibly (e.g. trusted advisor)? Are they someone who can influence publication or distribution? Any of those categories, the feedback carries additional weight.
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Evaluate the feedback critically and respectfully
Not all feedback is equally valid, useful, or constructive. You need to evaluate the feedback critically and respectfully, considering the source, the context, and the evidence. Who is giving you the feedback and what is their expertise, perspective, and bias? How well do they understand your topic, audience, and genre? What examples, reasons, or suggestions do they provide to support their feedback? How does their feedback align or differ from other sources? Be open-minded and curious, but also trust your own judgment and intuition.
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I love learning from others. Their wisdom is not as emotionally attached as mine is, so they can see from a different perspective. I will still stand on the fact it's my book but if they are expertise at this and can truly see it differently for my good, I will listen to their wisdom.
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Incorporate feedback that enhances your voice and style
Your voice and style are what make your writing unique, authentic, and engaging. They reflect your personality, tone, and attitude, as well as your word choice, sentence structure, and rhetorical devices. To incorporate feedback without losing your voice or style, you need to focus on feedback that enhances rather than diminishes them. For example, feedback that helps you clarify your message, strengthen your arguments, eliminate errors, or add variety and interest to your writing can enhance your voice and style. Feedback that tries to change your voice or style to fit someone else's preferences or norms can diminish them.
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Writer, know thyself. The most crucial prerequisite for discerning if a suggested edit will enhance your work is a deep understanding of your unique writing voice and style. Achieving this level of self-knowledge can take quite a bit of time. 1) Write. A lot. 2) Identify the unique qualities of your prose. 3) Cultivate and explore those unique qualities. Step 2 can be challenging for some, so it can be helpful to get outside opinions from people you trust (← key caveat). Knowing what makes your writing uniquely yours effectively anchors you so you don't get overwhelmed or lost in a sea of feedback. Let that knowledge inform your editorial decisions; allow it to function like your artistic mission statement.
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Use feedback as a dialogue, not a monologue
Feedback is not a one-way communication, but a dialogue between you and your feedback giver. You can use feedback as an opportunity to ask questions, seek clarification, explain your choices, or negotiate solutions. You can also give feedback on the feedback, expressing your appreciation, agreement, disagreement, or concerns. By engaging in a dialogue, you can build rapport, trust, and understanding with your feedback giver, and also learn more about your own writing.
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You can also think of feedback as suggestions. Ultimately, you are the creator and the author, and if the feedback you receive from a human, an app, or an AI chatbot doesn't resonate with you, don't take it. A good editor should be able to back up their feedback and share WHY they're recommending those changes. Understanding an editor or critic's WHY will also help you decide if that reason is enough to make the suggested change.
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Balance feedback with self-assessment and self-editing
Feedback from multiple sources can be helpful, but it can also be overwhelming or conflicting. You need to balance feedback with your own self-assessment and self-editing skills. You are the author of your work, and you have the final say on what to keep, change, or discard. You need to review your work critically and objectively, using your own criteria and standards, as well as the feedback you received. You also need to edit your work carefully and thoroughly, checking for consistency, accuracy, and coherence.
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It can be very easy to get caught up in trying to "Fix" your writing based on things other people say. In this era of social media, it's very easy to stumble across posts saying "Write this, not that" or other variations of that and begin to doubt yourself. What's important to know, is that your work is YOURS. While others may have opinions on how you should write your work, and those opinions can absolutely be valuable and enhance your writing, at the end of the day you have to have confidence in your own skill as a writer. Self assessment of your work will be the most important part of the writing process. If YOU are happy with what you're writing, the quality will be that much higher. Do not limit yourself to trying to please others.
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Experiment with feedback and test the results
Feedback is not a set of rules or instructions, but a source of information and inspiration. You can experiment with feedback and test the results to see what works best for your writing. You can try different ways of incorporating feedback, such as rewriting, reorganizing, adding, deleting, or combining elements. You can also test the results by getting more feedback, reading your work aloud, or comparing it with other examples. By experimenting with feedback and testing the results, you can discover new possibilities and improve your writing skills.
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As a Creative Writer, the workshop is both a physical space and metaphorical forum for feedback. Extensive discussions continue regarding its utility and potential drawbacks. Feedback, influenced by knowledge, biases, and conventions, can lead to clunky, disorganized writing. This results in the creation of a Frankenstein’s monster composed of countless voices and a straying from the fundamental premise of the work. “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” as they say. My recommendation is to approach feedback with both appreciation and caution. Remain open to learning and understanding, while recognizing that feedback aids in addressing weaknesses and reinforcing strengths during the learning process.
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Here’s what else to consider
This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?
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The helpfulness of feedback can be obvious, but sometimes it isn't. One less obvious way to use feedback is when the writer feels that the criticism of the feedback does not reflect the nature of their writing. This is still excellent feedback; it is confirmation that your writing is working and achieving its goals, but perhaps it is not being conveyed in a clear enough way. It is also often viewed as a fresh pair of eyes to look over the writing, which permits the writer to evaluate the effectiveness of their writing through the eyes of another. We, as writers, usually know exactly what we want to convey, but feedback is the guarantee that the way that message is being conveyed is clear and effective to the audience.
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