First.
Ten Questions to Ask a Friend Who Just Read Your Novel
1. At what point did you feel like “Ah, now the story has really begun!”
2. What were the points where you found yourself skimming?
3. Which setting in the book was clearest to you as you were reading it? Which do you remember the best?
4. Which character would you most like to meet and get to know?
5. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?
6. If you had to pick one character to get rid of, who would you axe?
7. Was there a situation in the novel that reminded you of something in your own life?
8. Where did you stop reading, the first time you cracked open the manuscript? (Can show you where your first dull part is, and help you fix your pacing.)
9. What was the last book you read, before this? And what did you think of it? (This can put their comments in context in surprising ways, when you find out what their general interests are. It might surprise you.)
10. Finish this sentence: “I kept reading because…”
7. Was there a situation in the novel that reminded you of something in your own life?
8. Where did you stop reading, the first time you cracked open the manuscript? (Can show you where your first dull part is, and help you fix your pacing.)
9. What was the last book you read, before this? And what did you think of it? (This can put their comments in context in surprising ways, when you find out what their general interests are. It might surprise you.)
10. Finish this sentence: “I kept reading because…”
Isn't this neat? And incredibly handy, in my opinion.
Whenever "Anomaly, Not Prodigy" gets finished, I'm going to attach this to whatever format my novel is in for my family and friends to make use of for my benefit.
And now an actual writing tip when it comes to describing characters. (Found on Tumblr, so I'm going to rewrite it and then you can check out the original post here.)
"Describing eye colors isn't actually very helpful as a description. Talk about the makeup smeared on the left side, the lines under their eyes, the sloppily cut hair obscuring their eyes from view, how bloodshot or sunken them seem in the face, how wide they go at the slightest sound, how glassy and unblinking they seem, how they're always darting away.
All of that tells me a bit more about the character than whatever shade of gemstone they most resemble, seriously."
Seeing as I've been having trouble with describing background characters myself lately, this struck me as a good reminder.
Don't just go with the basics. Describe the ticks, the hungover expression, the hunted look in their yes, where their gaze goes while conversing.
Little details make the written world a pleasure to read.
And that's all I've got in the take for tips currently, but hopefully they were helpful and I shall see you all in short order. (It's a day for blogging rather than studying Sociology.)
Ad astra per aspera.
To the stars, through difficulties.
