Choices
Sometimes you have choices.
* Put color on all your hair this month, or just cover over the roots?
* Schedule a pedicure or just throw some new polish over the old?
To bring this back to writing...
* Ignore feedback from beta readers, or accept every suggestion?
Or, here's a thing. Maybe it's not really an either-or. Maybe you have a third option, or even a fourth. Okay, not so much for the hair color, but with your toenails, yes. Your third option could be a home pedicure, something a little more thorough than throwing new polish on top of old, but less time-consuming or expensive than a salon pedicure.
Similarly, you don't have to accept feedback from beta readers. You don't have to reject it, either. You can evaluate what you've heard and decide what you think brings your work closer to what you want it to be. And do those things. Or not.
And maybe finding "the right choice" is just doing what best fits your life right now, that helps you learn what you need to know right now. So sure, slap some new polish over those flaky toenails, if that's what you have time for. Or ignore the feedback you've received, if you're so sure you want to "get it out there." But in either case, you do have to be prepared for the results.
(Just, seriously: don't mistake general feedback for a thorough developmental edit or a copyedit.)
* Put color on all your hair this month, or just cover over the roots?
* Schedule a pedicure or just throw some new polish over the old?
To bring this back to writing...
* Ignore feedback from beta readers, or accept every suggestion?
Or, here's a thing. Maybe it's not really an either-or. Maybe you have a third option, or even a fourth. Okay, not so much for the hair color, but with your toenails, yes. Your third option could be a home pedicure, something a little more thorough than throwing new polish on top of old, but less time-consuming or expensive than a salon pedicure.
Similarly, you don't have to accept feedback from beta readers. You don't have to reject it, either. You can evaluate what you've heard and decide what you think brings your work closer to what you want it to be. And do those things. Or not.
And maybe finding "the right choice" is just doing what best fits your life right now, that helps you learn what you need to know right now. So sure, slap some new polish over those flaky toenails, if that's what you have time for. Or ignore the feedback you've received, if you're so sure you want to "get it out there." But in either case, you do have to be prepared for the results.
(Just, seriously: don't mistake general feedback for a thorough developmental edit or a copyedit.)