5 ways to prepare for and handle editorial feedback without losing confidence

Every writer has been there. 

You complete a story you absolutely love and ask someone for feedback; maybe a loved one, or a teacher or even a professional editor.  

Then the dread starts to kick in. It suddenly feels real that your work could be completely rubbish and someone is about to crush your dreams. 

This is a common fear among writers, especially new writers. As is the spike of defensive anger that can come from receiving feedback, but don’t worry, that just means you are passionate about your work! 

Here are 5 ways to prepare for editorial feedback and handle it without losing confidence in your story.

 

  

1 – Prepare your expectations 

 

 Being emotionally prepared for feedback comes from knowing what to expect in 2 ways. 

First, it is good to know what to expect from the process itself; 

• What type of editing are you getting done – if you are unsure about the different types, read my blog post The 5 Types of Fiction Manuscript Editing to learn all about them. 

• What the outcome will look like e.g. a report or manuscript mark-up. 

• How long the editor will take to complete the work. 

• How the editor will communicate with you through the process. 

• The type of feedback you will get – for Developmental Editing feedback, you should expect suggestions about improvement to larger structural, character and plot feedback. For Copy editing, this will look like grammar, spelling and punctuation feedback. 

The second is knowing what to expect in the feedback.  

Of course, if you know exactly what an editor will say about your writing then there’s no need to go to them for the service, but having a rough idea could help lower any stress you could have.  

This comes from assessing your own work, and could look like; 

• Knowing specific areas you’d like feedback on. 

• Knowing which parts of writing craft are your weaknesses. 

• Knowing where your story isn’t quite working but being unsure why or how to fix it.  

All of these can be communicated to your editor beforehand so they know where to put their focus, but can also just be in the back of your mind before you receive your feedback. 

Though any good editor will present feedback in a constructive way, preparing your expectations can make the whole process less daunting and reduce the chance of an unexpected surprise. 

However, there is still an unknown element that can make the wait difficult to bear, which is why a good distraction can help.

 

 

 

2 – Distract yourself while you wait 

 

 Novel editing can take anywhere from a few days to a month or more to be completed, depending on the project and its complexity. Let alone if the editor is immediately free or if there is a waiting period before they start working. 

So what can you do in the meantime? 

It’s so easy to have it constantly on your mind or to always be refreshing your emails, but that kind of mental load is stressful and takes a toll. 

My advice, and yes it’s easier said than done, is to relinquish control of the project. Until the editor’s deadline or their email arrives, keep your manuscript and the potential feedback out of mind. 

Some ways to do this are to keep yourself distracted.  

For me, I have distracted myself by; 

• Starting a new writing project. 

• Starting on a sequel to the manuscript being edited. 

• Taking the time to build a marketing plan and starting to create content. 

• Allowing myself only 1 check of my emails a day to remove the need to constantly check. 

There is no one way to keep your mind off the feedback coming, but find a way that works for you. 

And once it’s back, we can move onto step 3.

 

  

3 – Let your emotions out 

 

 So, you’ve received your feedback.  

The email comes through and you feel sick as the document takes ages to load. 

You immediately see lots of corrections and comments, and scan through the lot.  

All the notes can feel overwhelming. You might immediately disagree with some or find others confusing. You may even wonder if the editor understood your story at all. 

Writing criticism often sparks a strong emotional response. You might find yourself angry, defensive or losing confidence in your work. Good feedback can have you feeling this way too – maybe an editor has given you no pointers to improve, and you wonder why you even went through the process. 

All of these feelings are completely valid, but they are only the initial reaction. 

It’s a process many writers go through and has to be allowed its space. However, it shouldn’t be acted upon. 

Strong feelings can lead to rash responses that can range from emailing the editor back immediately with your thoughts, to deleting your entire story. Acting on these isn’t the right move, but if you’re struggling to not respond immediately remember 4 key things; 

• You are a writer, no criticism can take that away from you and you shouldn’t let it stop you either.
• Your editor is providing an opinion; however it is a critically based opinion drawn from knowledge and experience of writing craft and editing. It’s likely there’s some reason to their feedback but it might take time to understand.  

• Your story is yours. No matter what the feedback is, you get to decide whether or not to implement change. 

• You have time. 

Whatever you are feeling, let all the emotions out, let them defuse, and then look for clarity.

 

 

4 – Find clarity in your opinion 

 

 Even if you didn’t have an immediate emotional response to the feedback, I advise every writer to sit with the information for a while.  

Let it sink in, let your mind digest the suggestions, and find clarity in your next steps. 

You can do this by; 

• Giving it some time. I usually leave 2 weeks after sending my editorial feedback before checking in with an author, and use this rule when I receive feedback too. 

• Reading the feedback a few times. Each time you will likely see how it applies to your manuscript and what improvement it’s trying to instil.  

• Leave space to let your mind work in the background. Go for a walk, do a day-to-day task, like cleaning, but without any distractions (music or podcasts etc). Freeing mental space allows creativity to bloom, and will often be when you find solutions.  

After the strong emotions simmer, clarity comes and allows you to read the feedback through an objective lens to understand what the editor is saying and, more crucially, why they are suggesting a change. Remember their intention is to help, not offend, and the goal is improvement not perfection. 

One of the bits of feedback writers, me included, find hard to take is to ‘kill your darlings’.  

It means to delete parts of the story that are irrelevant to the plot, even if they are beautiful or if you love them. It could be a big part of exposition that adds background information to your world or a background character’s history. However, if these details get in the way of the story and aren’t relevant for the reader, they often need to be cut. This doesn’t mean deleting everything, but be prepared to consider cutting elements you love to benefit the final novel. 

This is why taking time is important to understand where you stand with the feedback you’ve been given. You can filter through the emotions to understand the logic behind the suggestions and decide how to respond.

 

  

5 – Decide on your response

 

 For feedback, the response usually isn’t that you agree or disagree with everything the editor suggested, but something in between. 

And editor can provide feedback on a multitude of areas, and each can be accepted or rejected based on your final opinion. Developmental Editing feedback especially can vary from suggesting a small addition of characterisation in a scene to restructuring the order of your chapters or deleting an entire sub-plot. 

However, each suggestion is individual and requires you to make a decision.  

Take your time to consider; 

• Why the editor has given you a specific piece of feedback. 

• What they are trying to improve. 

• How you feel about making the change, addition, or deletion. 

• Would you prefer a different solution to the issue.  

• Would you like to fully reject the suggestion. 

This sounds like a lot, but the process will become easier as you get used to assessing and implementing feedback. In my next blog post, I will go into the ways to assess editorial feedback and implement it.

 

 

Conclusion

 

 Receiving feedback on your writing can be difficult but learning how to handle editorial feedback is a skill that will allow you to objectively assess it and make clear choices based on your goals and intentions. 

Remember, your novel is yours, and you can decide to implement as much or as little change as you want. However, an editor’s feedback is knowledge-based and was given with the intention to improve your novel so take it into consideration. 

As a Developmental Editor, I am always conscious that receiving feedback is never easy, but I never suggest changes for the sake of it, or use them to hide sinister thoughts of hating your writing. On the contrary, my feedback is saying: I see your vision and implementing these changes will help bring it to life and let your readers see it too.

If you’re ready to share your manuscript and get some feedback, please Get in touch so we can start a conversation around your goals, needs and expectations.

 

  

FAQs

 

 Do I have to make all the changes an editor tells me to make? – No. It is your story, and you can decide what to change and what to keep the same. I do recommend understanding why the editor gave you that feedback before making your decision to assess whether the change will be beneficial or an alternative could work, but it is ultimately your choice. 

I made the changes and it doesn’t feel like my story anymore, what should I do? – This is a tough question. If it doesn’t feel like your story, that’d suggest you made changes you didn’t want to make, which some new writers do. Go back to your original version and read the feedback again, but only implement the parts you want to. 

My editor suggested big changes, is it their book now? – Absolutely not. The story is still completely yours, born from your ideas and writing. This clear ownership should also be an element of your editor’s contract, and if it isn’t please discuss this beforehand. 

Feedback upsets me, will I ever be strong enough to not get so emotional? – The being ‘strong’ part is being willing to share your writing and hear someone’s opinion. That takes guts. Emotions, however big, always come into play. Focus more on how you feel after they pass and finding clarity in your decisions. 

I’d love to get some professional feedback but I can’t afford it. – Editorial services can be expensive but there are ways to make them more affordable by focusing on what your novel needs and who can help you. My blog post Why Fiction Editing costs so much, and 5 ways to make it more affordable goes into this if you’d like to get some tips to help.

I’ve received editorial feedback, now what do I do? – Well done for doing the hardest part of getting feedback. Now, you need to decide what you want to implement and how. I’ve discussed this in depth in my next blog post of what to do with the feedback you’ve received. 

What is a Developmental Editor? – A Developmental Editor looks at the overarching elements of a story to make sure the structure, plot and characters are working well and working well together. If you’d like to learn more, check out my blog post What does a Developmental Editor actually do?