Writers, Readers – and Bluebells

Writers need readers, without them we are nothing. When we write or when we  come to consider what we’ve written, it is vitally important that we ask ourselves if it will work for our readers and what their experience of our novel will be.

I recently had some interesting feedback on my current novel after a close reading by a perceptive American reader. It was invaluable to know about his experience of the novel: what he felt about about my characters –  how they might be developed further, what else he needed me as the author to tell him, where there was ambiguity, where he needed clarification or to be  ‘pointed in the right direction.’ His feedback made me see the novel from the reader’s perspective. It made me realise ways in which I could improve it and it reminded me of the duty we have as novelists not only to create fully rounded and satisfying characters but  also to guide our readers effortlessly through our narrative.

Eileen Elgey – friend, writer and reader, recently had a piece on being a reader published in The Journal (click to read)-  the first thing she does, she says, when she wakes in the morning is reach for a book….