How to get good feedback on creative projects
You’ve finished a draft! Congratulations! Time to break out the chocolate and maybe a glass of sparkly apple cider (or is that just me).
Once you’re done celebrating, the dreadful part is next: editing.
Don’t plunge into editing all on your own. Once you’ve cleaned up your draft a bit, and before you start hitting your head against a wall and doubting yourself entirely, seek out feedback.
There’s a way to get good feedback, and there’s a way to get totally unhelpful feedback that leaves you feeling defensive and frustrated.
Let’s learn how to do the first one.
Ask the right people
Consider the people you ask for feedback carefully. If it’s not someone you respect, don’t ask them.
Ask yourself this question: “If they negatively critique my work, will I listen to them?” If the answer is no, you’re not looking for feedback, you’re looking for an ego boost.
You also want a variety of types of people to give you feedback, so that if all of them tell you the same thing, you know there’s probably truth in it.
I tend to ask three people in each round of feedback, because three is a magic number and it’s manageable to deal with at once.
When looking for feedback, I ask…
1 layperson, or someone who doesn’t create the kind of thing I made, but whose general opinion I still respect
1 peer, or someone I consider to be about on par with me in terms of skill and experience
1 expert, or someone who could definitely teach me a thing or two, or who has found success in the field I’m working in
Contact these three people, let them know you respect their opinion, and ask for their feedback. They’ll be flattered and you’ll deepen your relationship with each.
But don’t just throw a book at them and run away. You’ll want to guide them to giving good feedback with the right questions.
Ask the right questions
Often, when people read our work, they’re not sure where to start with feedback. So all they say is, “It was good!”
That’s not helpful. You can’t improve your work based on that.
Similarly but alternatively, if someone jumps right in and says, “I didn’t like this, I didn’t like that, this part is bad-” you’ll get defensive and it will be that much harder to listen to the helpful part of their advice.
That’s why I ask these three questions of my beta readers or anyone I’m getting feedback from:
What brought joy? (or whatever the intended emotion is. If it’s a horror story, I’m probably trying to bring fear, not joy)
What was confusing?
What did not bring joy? (or again, what did not produce the desired effect?)
This takes the pressure off both you and the feedback giver to decide what is “good” and “bad.” Simply focus on the joy.
It feels less personal and more subjective, but it will actually inspire your feedback giver to be more specific and identify exactly what they felt about different parts of your story.
Be grateful
People are busy. The fact that anyone took time to look your work over for free is pretty damn kind of them.
Remember this when you’re feeling salty that they didn’t find your main character “relatable.”
Make sure to directly thank them and tell them you will be incorporating their feedback in your next draft. Then, do it. Don’t tell them you’ll be using their feedback, make them spend all this time on you, and then just ignore what they have to say completely.
If you did the first step correctly and asked the right people, they will tell you something valuable. Use it.
Bonus Points: To continue building your creative partnership with your feedback givers, show your appreciation by offering to return the favor. Ask if they have a project they want to discuss or receive feedback on.
Need a creative boost?
Want to make more, but something is holding you back? Maybe you feel like you are doing stuff, but not up to your full potential.
It’s hard to self-diagnose your creative blocks. That’s why we’ve created this guide to the 21 Creativity Killers.
Find out exactly what’s holding you back and how to beat it up so it leaves you alone forever!