Getting Feedback for Your Work - Risks and Benefits

Literally a few moments ago, I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is writing a novel, and he told me I would be included among a list of beta readers that would give him feedback before he makes revisions and eventually gets it published.

This got me thinking: is there a point where the feedback we get can dilute the personal voice in our work? Is there a point where our own personal connection to the work, be it stylistic, emotional, or something else, gets drowned out by the feedback? I think it’s possible, but the remedy is fairly simple.

First off, let’s look at how we can benefit from external feedback.

Feedback is what we receive when we get another pair of eyes to view our work and comment on how the work affects them. This can actually be a critical part of the creative process, as we need to recognize that we create to share and not to hoard. We want to spread our creativity to the world — and ultimately enrich it in the process, and this is an end result that inherently depends on other people. In other words, unless you were planning on shoving that painting, drawing, song, poem, novel, etc. into a closet where it never sees the light of day, it’s not all about you.

Once we understand that our motivation comes from the anticipated final act of sharing it with someone, we need to be mindful of how our audience will react to it. This is where feedback can be immensely useful, as it gives us a sort of preview of how our intended audience will ultimately see it.

But here’s where things can get a bit sticky.

Sometimes, the feedback you receive for your work can be directly at odds with your vision. If this is the case, you may find it hard to reconcile with this discrepancy, and as a result, you might be tempted to get angry with the source of the feedback, or simply ignore the feedback altogether. If this is your situation, there is something you can do to bridge the gap.

Ask more “why” questions.

“The color you chose for the character is a sad color, but it’s a happy song. I think you should color him bright yellow so it matches the mood.”

“I was actually trying to convey the fact that some people can pretend to be happy while they are hurting inside. But why did you get that impression?”

“In one scene, the character laughs, and it sounds pretty genuine.”

“I was trying to make it look forced, but maybe it was too loud so he sounded genuinely happy?”

“I think that’s probably it.”

“Do you have any suggestions for how I can fix it?”

“Maybe add a choke or sob here and there, plus a tear trickling out of one eye.”

“That’s good! Anything else?”

“Try not to make him jump around as much. I think that also gives the wrong impression.”

“Yes! What else?”

“I can’t think of anything. If you change the body language a bit without relying too much on a sad color by itself, you can really get the point across.”

See what I did there? I picked the brains of my feedback source a bit so that I was able to zero in on what I could do that didn’t involve changing the colors, (since I needed the colors to stay as they were for symbolic impact.) It all starts with a simple why question. What specifically gives them the impression that they get?

Warning: As previously mentioned, with these types of feedback, it is vitally important that you never get angry with or flat out ignore the source of the feedback!

Here’s what can happen if you do:

“The color you chose for the character is a sad color, but it’s a happy song. I think you should color him bright yellow so it matches the mood.”

“You imbecile!! I was trying to make a character that acts happy but is hurting inside!! Haven’t you ever felt that!!???? Well, maybe you haven’t, because you are so privileged. Get out of my sight!!!!!”

(Thinking to herself) “I don’t like being yelled at, so I don’t think I’ll give this dude any more feedback if he asks me for it. No can do…”

Yikes! That didn’t go over too well, did it? Here’s another scenario:

“The color you chose for the character is a sad color, but it’s a happy song. I think you should color him bright yellow so it matches the mood.”

“Hmm… okay.” (Doesn’t implement the feedback or ask any why questions.)

That wasn’t so great either. Feedback was given, but nothing came of it. It fell on deaf ears. The person giving the feedback might not be too willing to give any more after a few instances of this, as she’ll feel like her opinion is not valued. Over time, she might even feel devalued overall, which can make for a pretty rocky relationship…

But what about when you can’t make use of the feedback at all because they just don’t get your vision?

“Your character lives on the moon, but I think he should live on Mars instead! Just my two cents…”

“Sounds interesting, but what difference does that make?”

“There’s talk of Mars being potentially able to support life, but there’s no water or oxygen on the moon.”

“I knew that. But I would rather that my character lives on the moon. And anyway, maybe this is a life form the moon supports?”

“Yeah. I get it. Probably not too helpful… I think it’s great otherwise!”

“Thanks. I want you to know I always value your feedback, even though in this instance I’m choosing not to go with it.”

“No problem. I want to help but I don’t want to lead you astray.”

You can politely decline someone’s feedback, making it clear that you welcome it even if you don’t see a way to change it without compromising your vision.

When was the last time you asked someone for feedback on your art project? How did it go? Sound off in the comments!