I don't want to hurt my friend, but...

[eenie114]

OK, this is hard.
My friend is writing a book, and she wants me to read it and critique it. The problem is that her genre really doen't really interest me at all, (dark fantasy stuff) and I don't think that her writing is that good. Maybe it's just that I don't like the style, I dunno.

So she keeps emailing me the chapters and saying she dying to know what I think. But I really think that reading this is a waste of my time. Am I being mean? So far I just haven't replied to the emails, but that seems rude.
This is a tough situation, any help or input would be appreciated.

 

[wegotchickens]

If she's a friend, be honest. Just tell her its not your style of reading material and you can't get past that to give her an honest evaluation.

 

[kelidei]

Quote:
Maybe the kindest thing to do is just to say that you do not feel competent to critique her writing because it is a genre that has never really appealed to you ...so you feel you are not familiar enough with it to give her a reliable or worthwhile critique.

OR

I am really sorry I am sooooo busy right now I just can't seem to find the time to read anything... I know you need feedback in a more timely manner so perhaps you should find someone that can help you right away.

That way the focus is on you and not her writing... good luck... these things are tough!

 

[eenie114]

Thanks so much. I just sent her this email:

Hey,
This may sound harsh, but fantasy just isn't my genre. I'd love to be able to critique this for you, but I can't seem to get past my general dislike of the genre. LOL
But keep going, and who knows? Maybe it'll be published someday!
Sorry again, but I don't think I could give you an honest opinion because of my stupid inhibitions. *eye roll*
Evelyn

Think that'll do

 

[Jess N Jeff]

Quote:
Agreed!!! I have a friend that writes western type stories and that is just boring to me. He wanted me to read a couple stories and tell him what I thought. I was upfront right off the bat and said that western/frontier books don't really interest me so it wont be a very good evaluation.

Read them anyway...yes, I suffered through it, and gave him suggestions on how to enrich the characters. Of course he didn't like what I had to say and never asked me to read any story again. We didn't talk for about 2 months after that.

 

[eenie114]

Quote:
Agreed!!! I have a friend that writes western type stories and that is just boring to me. He wanted me to read a couple stories and tell him what I thought. I was upfront right off the bat and said that western/frontier books don't really interest me so it wont be a very good evaluation.

Read them anyway...yes, I suffered through it, and gave him suggestions on how to enrich the characters. Of course he didn't like what I had to say and never asked me to read any story again. We didn't talk for about 2 months after that.

Aw, that's sad! I'm pretty sure our friendship is strong enough to withstand this, (5 years, now) but it's still nerve-wracking.

 

[rancher hicks]

She's your friend right? And you want to keep it that way right? Then try to find something positive to say. There is always something positive to say.

"This character seems real." -stop

"This is pretty deep."-stop

or

"While it's not my type of reading I can see you put a lot of thought into it."-stop

"The plot is original and erriee."-stop

Just find something positive. You can do it. If she presses you suggest she send it into a publisher. Never , never , never be honest to their hurt.

Wish you the best

Rancher

(believe me I've been on this forum for a long time and most folks who ask questions really just want someone to agree with them)

 

[Spookwriter]

Please, just be honest and tell her the truth : That it isn't a genre you perfer to read,
and that being said you feel you could not give her a fair critique. If you do know someone
who does read this style, you may recommend that person the the writer.

Is this person part of a local writer's group?

As a sometimes writer myself, the last person I ask to critique my work is a personal friend.
That can be hard on the friendship. When I do ask someone, I WANT my work to be destroyed.
Be brutal, be real. Tear it apart line by line.

Only then can I fix it.

I love writing. Can't conceive my life without it. But it isn't something everyone enjoys.

 

[eenie114]

Quote:
No, she's actually the first friend I made after moving to Missouri. Her family let us put our mobile home on their property, because our land didn't allow single wide mobiles, and our house wasn't built yet.

 

[Ema]

Well I think I can relate, my old co worker and neighbor down the lane spent a few years writing a novel, about her life while growing up etc.....I read it, but it was hard to keep going, and it really dragged out in some areas to be honest and others you could see things were missing etc...but she still got it published and its out there. To support her I tried buying a copy at chapters but they told me they no longer carried the book and now could only be bought on amazon. She did ask me what I though about the book via email. I frankly didn't know what to say. So I told her she did a great job in being published and that she obviously had a gift and that she should keep going. So it wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but obviously someone liked it enough to publish it right??

SO I read a lot of books, loads of genres, from fiction, to non-fiction the only books I do not like is the romance novels, never been able to read romance novels.