The Cold Hard truth #2: The decision of whether or not the story is well written, inspirational, mind blowing, or any other adjective, is up to the reader.
This topic slightly deviates from our previous myth. It deviates in the sense that the above falls under self-promotion, more so than self-perspective, but at the same time maintains much of the same basics of the first myth.
So let's get it out of the way: It's not up to you. It's up to the reader to decide how they feel about your work.
Think about it. When you meet someone who says: "I'm the prettiest girl in the room." What do you think? Does it matter if it true?
What if a guy said: "I'm the hottest dude here?" Same result?
What if a guy walked up to you and said: "I'm the smartest guy here!" What do you think of this guy? Don't you feel like putting this guy in his place? Does it matter if his statement ends up being true?
What if a woman said: "I'm the most productive worker here!" You'd totally want to work with her and then make her do all of your work, just to be spiteful.
My point is that by pointing what is obvious to you, the writer, makes you look conceited and arrogant to the reader. While the statements may have been share with you, via readers in private or publicly, you, as the writer, hurt readers impressions of you by repeating these statements. It's a bit of a mind bender isn't it?
You could genuinely be a really great person whose personal story has inspired many to overcome personal challenges and make a better life for themselves. But you, as the author, can't say that.
That puts you in a pickle, because positive recognition should be featured and shared. After all, no one cares more about your success than you. Since you can't depend on others to share their private connect with you with the world (genuinely out of common sense and good manners they won't), that means you need to take initiative. Absolutely correct! Except...
In much the same way you don't want to turn up in a conversation and drop a link to your book, it doesn't matter how subtle you think you're being, you don't want to say: well Garry this random guy from CA, said that my book was inspirational. No one knows Garry, he could be your brother, your roommate, your invisible friend, etc.
Back to your pickle, the obvious ways to share this wonderful recognition just won't work, because it's hear say.
You can share positive statements in a few different ways. After your wonderful conversation, you can say: "Gary, this was great! I love how my story moved you. Do you mind if I grab a screenshot and share your story with my readers?" See what I did there? I turned the focus from me the author, to focus on gushing Gary. By sharing his story about how my story improved his life, I'm sharing his genuine praise about my work. This creates a form of organic testimonials that don't feel forced or rehearsed.
"Whoah there! I'm working off of a free platform, and this all seems a little too intense for what I want to accomplish," you tell me. I agree.
Not all writers are looking to self-publish, or make any sustainable income off of their writing. In the case that you're serious but not too serious, just refrain from the brag, or it's notorious cousin the humblebrag.
Understand that some people are wired to challenge and disprove the brag despite evidence. Others will perceive a falsehood and steer clear from the work. In a nut-shell, what I'm saying is you're creating unnecessary barriers.
If you're a fiction writer who is building their platform for something bigger, you're going to have to prompt your readers. It's not uncommon to have only a small percentage of your readership engage with you. It's super easy to alienate your readers by focusing on you or the story. I tend to have a one track mind, so I do this more often than I care to admit.
Remember, the reader is talking to you to gain some recognition for themselves. It's a bit hard to explain, so bear with me. They're talking to you because they want some form of validation from you. It's not always validation, but it's a good starting point to get you to understand where a reader is coming from. Remember: it's not about you. It's about them.
Here's a trick to help you to open your awareness of how a reader thinks. When you leave a comment on a book, or write something in a forum, pay attention to what you expect from the recipients. What experience are you expecting? What sort of response are you hoping to get? If that's the sort of feedback you want when you are a reader or a participant in a reader based forum, odds are that's the sort of feedback your readers want.
Often, I have to prompt my readers to talk about elements of my book. I'll leave questions at the bottom of my chapters for readers to leave comments on. I rarely if ever get anything like this from casual readers, but fans tend to comment and discuss topics. I get private messages from time to time where readers have questions and want to bounce ideas around. Those are always fun.
Sometimes when I'm not sure if something is coming across clearly, I use the more vocal readers to see if they saw what I wanted them to see in the work, by posing the kind of questions that don't have obvious answers to them. Sometimes, I'll leave red-herring questions to try to mislead my readers. They always call me on those questions. That's how I know who is paying attention, and who I'll rely on to see if my writing is clear. I write for them.
"These questions sound an awful like they're really about you and your work?" You say. You'd be right. My purposes to post my fictional work on Wattpad was to learn how to write in a way that communicated clearly with my readers. So my questions are all shaped around improving my craft, but simplified where non-writing readers can engage.
Another way to engage readers that's not you or story focused is to ask questions about them. What social media do you use? Recommend a book that's like this one that you really enjoyed (You'll have to read some of it to engage with follow up discussions, so if you're pressed for time, don't use this question)? Where do you hail from? What's your favourite subject in school?
People love answering questions about themselves, but it also doubles as a way to shape your knowledge of your demographic information to better target your readership. Isn't it good to know if you're writing is loved by 14-16 year old boys who love transformers? But you also learn that you're not attracting anyone above the age of 20. Also good to know, you won't know why, but you'll have a starting point to work with.
I want to conclude this myth by saying, if you're going to post something to your social media, ask the person permission first. Most of the time, they won't mind. If they do mind, volunteer to redact their user name from the screenshot. If they still refuse, it's good manners to respect their wishes.
Action steps:
Every time you leave a comment on an author's book, or leave a post in a forum, make a note of what sort of response you expect to receive. Be honest with yourself, or else this whole exercise will waste your time.
What this exercise is meant to do is open your mind to what you as a reader or contributor to a conversation expects out of their interaction. You'll notice that certain patterns will emerge, and you'll start to recognize patterns in how people respond.
Learning the behavioral patterns means you can learn how to anticipate what kind of interaction a reader expects from you, and you can deliver a suitable response.
Except in the case of trolls. You'll learn to recognize genuine trolls whose goals are to get a rise out of you, vs the people who are genuinely trying to help you but happen to be rough around the edges. You'll learn how to back away from troll, while opening yourself up to new forms of critiques and learning how to engage with people who are trying to help you.
YOU ARE READING
The Cold Hard Truth on the Process of Writing
Non-FictionIn critique circles I am known for my hard truths. My tough-nuts, no-fluff approach has endeared me to many great authors, just as it has garnered hatred by a great many casual writers. In this book, you'll find much of the common advice I share wit...
