Honestly?

My favorite writing teacher cursed a lot, was obsessed with giant squid, and sometimes wore T-shirts to our writing workshop that read things like "TOILET BOYS." But that wasn't why his class was my favorite. I loved it because he asked that every student give their honest opinion about their classmates’ work. The comments weren't always glowing. So what? My classmates always found a useful way to respond to a story, even if they hated it. And sometimes that was hard. Really hard. One example that comes to mind involved dwarf twins, a jar of cockroaches, and a meringue pie, but I won't get into it here—you get the picture. The point of the workshop was this: Embrace your opinion, but always use it to help the writer improve their work.

Crushing a writer's hopes and dreams is useless (and ok, it can also be cruel), but so is being too nice. It's nice to be nice, but let's face it, someone needs to find some fault about your work because there is always—c'mon, you know there is— room for improvement. In high school, I begged an English teacher to let me turn in a short story instead of an essay for an assignment on The Catcher in the Rye. I spent days on it, but when she handed it back to me, the only note was on the last page: "Wonderful!" Okay, but I'm sure she didn't think it was perfect. For all the time I spent, I would have really appreciated it if she took the time to point out what wasn't so wonderful and needed improvement.

Honesty is so important, especially when you’re reading your own work. This might sound crazy, but try to imagine you’re someone else, someone who doesn't know you, when you read your stories. If it helps, visualize this is person a well-dressed, hip young editor. Chances are, they can see things about your writing that you can't because you're too attached to it. They—well, you—will point out batty dialogue, typos, and paragraphs—maybe even whole pages—that just have to go. And believe me, your writing will be better for it.

Who do you ask to read your work? A friend? A teacher? A family member?

Lindsey Alexander
Assistant Editor, HarperCollins Publishers