LooNEY_DAC, [...] I have always enjoyed reading your works, but seldom have anything to offer in return. Is saying "I enjoy your writing" enough to start with?
In today's edition of "stuff
LooNEY_DAC should have posted long ago", I turn to this comment.
Upfront TL;DR for
@Buteo : Yes; thank you; and I’m sorry this is so late.
But… this comment lets me do a deeper dive on the various types of feedback that writers need, desire and receive from those with whom they share their writings.
Since as a writer I am constantly trying (maybe not succeeding, but still trying) to improve my writing, I have sought out what other writers have to say about writing, and in this search, I came across a work entitled “The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community", by Diana Pavlac Glyer. In this work, Glyer breaks down the interconnected web of feedback the Inklings gave to one another, analyzing the roles each played with various others in a system derived from that of another author named LeFebvre. I highly recommend Glyver’s work for anyone interested in these matters, but here’s my brief take on her analysis:
LeFebvre organized the various ways people influence/give feedback to writers into four roles: Resonators; Opponents; Editors; and Collaborators, with Glyver adding a fifth: Referents. I’ll explain each role in brief in the next section, but an important thing to note right away is that a single person can fill any or all of these roles in their feedback (possibly excepting Referents; I’ll explain why when we get there), either simultaneously or over time.
I don’t want to make this too much of a wall of text, so I’ll be brief in my definitions of the roles.
RESONATORS:
@Buteo is a prime example of this critically necessary role, providing encouragement and support to the writer.
OPPONENTS:
@JoB is likely to fill this role, challenging the writer on perceived points of error or weakness so that the writer can make the work stronger.
EDITORS: Those who say, “Wouldn’t it be better phrased like this?”
COLLABORATORS: Those who suggest, “What if this happened?”
REFERENTS: Those who wind up in the work as a character; a famous example here is Tolkien patterning Treebeard after Lewis. (This is why it wouldn’t happen in straight feedback.)
Now, every writer wants feedback from a Resonator, but most are at least hoping for an Editor, or even an Opponent; as I stated, one person can give feedback filling all three roles at once.
And now I ask for feedback on the ideas in this post, be it from Resonators, Opponents, Editors or Collaborators. Any thoughts on the matter?
