The Tenderness of a New Draft

I've often wondered at my ambivalence about giving new work to someone else to read. I mean, I've done this for years. I do want to know what's wrong with my draft. I know there's always something wrong. I know I don't have the judgment to see it yet. But sometimes, especially with something that's really new and just developing, I really just want to be acknowledged. Let's face it. I just want to be told what's right.So this post on Brevity's nonfiction blog really spoke to me.  L. Roger Owens frames the whole complicated business of asking for feedback in terms that finally made sense. He begins with an anecdote about his 8-year-old daughter:

“You’re a writer, Dad,” she said. “You can give me some pointers, if you want.” In other words: Here, Dad, take the bait. This could be the last time I ever ask for your feedback.How easy it would have been for me to declaim on showing versus telling, the importance of eliminating adverbs, writing with specific details (“Did he fall out of a tree or was it an oak?”). And then end my craft talk with a kicker-quote by Annie Dillard or Natalie Goldberg.But I didn’t.

He goes on to talk about how to think through what you need at different times when you might ask for feedback, so you don't need to end up shutting down your inner child. Instead, you just learn to shield her tactically.

I’ve discovered there is an art to asking for feedback, and if you learn it, you can get the kind of feedback you need, when you need it.

It's good to remember that the self who makes me long for praise is the very one whose boundless energy throws up the best ideas for me in the first place. I don't need to outgrow her, just channel her energy where it serves me best, and acknowledge that sometimes we all just need a little praise.