How a Smart Reader Can Help You Revise
Fall colors were rich this year. This was in September.
For the last two months, I’ve been revising my MG novel, No Dogs Die in This Book, based on feedback from my Highlights faculty reader, Crystal Allen.
The changes I’m making are not massive or structural. I’m not changing the point of view character, for example, or the plot.
The biggest change is to one of the secondary characters, an old dog named Birdie, who’s modeled on my husband’s first German Shorthaired Pointer, Heidi. Birdie is a mentor to 4-year-old Chester, the English Setter who’s my main character.
A smart reader will see things you can’t
In her feedback letter Crystal wrote, “I want to see Birdie’s heart, her belief in love and loyalty, and willingness to make sacrifices because she’s a dog—a good dog—and that’s what good dogs do.”
Crystal urged me to give Birdie more space to help Chester accomplish his goal—to get back to his girl.
In other words, Birdie’s character arc is not fully developed. She’s not living up to her potential.
And I couldn’t see that on my own.
That’s one reason a smart, insightful reader is so valuable.
A smart reader will ask thoughtful questions
Another way a smart reader is helpful is through the questions they ask. Those questions can have a powerful ripple effect on a manuscript.
For me, it was a question from Crystal about the rules of the canine afterlife.
One way to interpret that question is in terms of world building. A writer of speculative fiction has to establish clear guidelines about what’s permissible and what’s not within their system of magic or science. I knew my world building was a bit squishy in this regard, and Crystal rightly called me out on that.
Another way to interpret her question was about the rules dogs need to abide by in the canine afterlife. For inspiration, I looked up rules of dog parks. For example,
Clean up your dog’s waste.
Aggressive dogs are not allowed.
Remain in the dog area with your dog at all times.
I played around with some different rules and settled on this simple list for dogs in my canine afterlife:
Be kind.
Be of service.
When in doubt, see rule #1.
Crystal suggested I etch them on a golden fire hydrant for all dogs to see. 😉 I haven’t used that particular suggestion—yet—though the rules are on a big sign.
The ripple effects of a smart reader’s questions
Adding those simple rules into my story had surprising ripple effects.
“Be of service” has become a powerful throughline. It’s knitting together Birdie’s character arc and Chester’s character arc in ways I didn’t see before.
And that new connection is transforming this story into work that feels powerful to me.
The revision is still hard work. And it’s not going fast. But it feels worthwhile.
Are you looking for help in transforming your novel?
The kind of experience I enjoyed with Crystal is what I aim to provide for my book coaching clients. Send me an email and tell me about your MG or YA novel and why you’re ready for a smart reader to weigh in: bookcoach@micheleregenold.com.