Now that is a nightmare in a sentence if ever I saw one.
There comes a point in every person’s life when they need to show off something they’ve made. Be this your first drawing in preschool, a meal you cooked for someone, even an outfit that you put together yourself. It is not an uncommon occurrence, and you would have thought people would be used to it by now. However, for those who create, particularly authors, there is always this great fear of people simply looking at what you made. It is understandable, for it’s likely something you’ve put time and effort in, perhaps love and care, or maybe it is something that is your job. You want people to like what you make, and seeing people enjoying your creation is perhaps one of the greatest known experiences, at least for me.
But why is it really bad, and I mean really bad, for someone you know to read the book you wrote?
The easy answer is that you are revealing something personal to someone who might not know this part about you. Perhaps it is the case you think your relationship will change if you introduce them to it? Will they give you honest feedback or tell a sweet little lie because they are your friend? I imagine not everyone feels this, but it absolutely applies to me and I would like to hope there are others out there.
You see, this thought process came about when one of my friends found my blog and has actually read some of the things on here. Surely it was a matter of time, and I have told some of my friends I am writing, but even so I now feel a bit insecure about my own writing. I don’t have any reason to think this, why else would I be putting out blog posts if I don’t want people to see them? I also want people to read my novel when it is eventually released, which would include my friends and family. But boy do I not want them to read it.
My biggest fear is that they will draw comparisons to themselves when reading, or to our relationship. I always say write what you know, and you probably know your friends and family so will base characters and situations off real things and people. But what if it was a bad experience or, worse, they are a villain? Well, it doesn’t matter. That character is not them. It is fiction, comparison or not.
To be honest I am not too concerned about them liking it or not, for every book has its target audience and everyone you know unlikely fills that audience. Your YA teen romance drama may not be entirely right for your thirty year-old brother.
I don’t want any of these fears to discourage anyone. You should always write, because you are writing for you. You are doing an incredible thing by telling your own story and being amazingly brave for putting it out there into the world. So, let your friends read your novel, give copies to your family, let them be your beta readers. Depending on your relationship, you might get the most honest feedback there is.