Every writer is going to get different feedback on their work. That is a part of the process, and it is important to remember that when reading through early reader feedback.
You can use this to your advantage as a way to understand what the readers are seeing that you might not be, and it can be helpful in determining the best course of action for your revisions. But this kind of feedback can also feel overwhelming and difficult to interpret, especially if it is all negative.
There are a few common “beta-reader types” of feedback:
The one who loved it
This might be the hardest to take, especially if there is a lot of critique along with the positive comments. The truth is, that isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes the critiques can be more helpful, and they might be focused on things that are actually fixable.
For example, if your reader doesn’t connect with the character, it might be because of the lack of character development or an unbalanced mix of failures and successes for your protagonist. This could be something that can easily be fixed with a few minor revisions. Other times it might be a more structural issue, such as the story feeling slow or dragging because there aren’t enough highs and lows in your plot. This is a bigger issue that may require a deeper look at your overall narrative structure and how you are using the obstacles to create tension and drama for your characters.
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