Writing and Reviewing

I've had a wonderful writing week. Things have flowed freely, and I've been able to find more time to write than I ever imagined. It has been so productive. I cranked out two chapters in my main work, the big project. I even had a breakthrough for that one scene that just wouldn't come together; it's there now. I wrote a short piece for a contest. I wrote a short little book for my nephew's fourth birthday. And I have found great inspiration for plots, characters, dialogue .... just about everything .... in my everyday life. It has been an amazing week, a week filled with the feeling that I can really make this writing thing work.

And then it arrived.

An acquaintance of mine is ready to submit a manuscript for publication. He/she has worked on this for well over a decade. Many, many people have reviewed the work at different stages, and this is all I have heard about since we met. I wasn't going to get the chance to read it until it was ready for submission so that fresh eyes would be looking over the MS. There has been so much build up to this moment that I just couldn't wait much longer.

I should have waited. I struggled through the first few pages. I'm fighting my way through with an open, honest mind. I know I have to finish it and give my critique to the author. So many people have already read this work and loved it. I have to be honest, but how do I tell someone who has spent years on this MS that I can't find any good in it? The plot is thin. The characters are shallow (not developed). The grammar is horrible. The sentences are all short and choppy. I don't think that this author has ever heard of a comma or a semi-colon or a conjunction. Most sentences are six words or less, and very few paragraphs are over four sentences. Every piece of dialogue is attributed with Jane said or John said or something similar and bland and repetitious. Every line, even when it is clear who is speaking. The writing does not flow freely, and there is nothing to hook the reader. If the MS had arrived yesterday I would have thought is was an April Fools Day prank, but unfortunately I've had it all week. It's not a joke.

I am trying to find some positive in the work because I don't want to just tear this to shreds. But I have to be honest because agents and editors and publishers will be. The author is the type of person who can be a bit intimidating, and I think friends and family and critique groups are afraid to be too honest with him/her. So, should I be the honest one before the MS is submitted?

I am really struggling with this right now. I don't want to crush the hopes of this author, but I also don't want to be misleading. I would want someone to be honest with me. But would I welcome brutal honesty when so many others have praised my work? This is really making me rethink all of the writing that I've done to this point. If the MS I'm reviewing is getting praised and I can't find good in it, am I really a good writer or am I wasting my time? Is this MS the type that will be published while my work will be rejected time and time again? Do I really stand a chance as a writer?

I know that it is important to have my writing read and critiqued by a variety of people, those in the writing world and those who aren't. Will I be able to trust critiques of others if this author isn't receiving honest critiques?

I guess I have to do it; I have to read the MS in full and be open to it. I need to reread it. I need to find some positive in it, and then I need to share both the positive and the negative with the author, as hard as that may be. I can't lie, but I can be creative in the way I present my review. Everyone has different tastes and writing styles, so I just need to point out what I would change and let the author weigh my review against the others received. In the end, it's not my manuscript or my life's work. It is not up to me to decide the outcome. All I can do is be honest and supportive. I wish the best to this author and all other writers out there trying to make dreams become reality.

(And for the record, the author of the manuscript to be critiqued has no idea about my blog.)