Friday Feedback

Characters and specificity

Welcome to the first Feedback Friday session on Substack.

This is something I used to do for WSC members when I hosted over on Facebook and I’m pleased to be continuing it here.

First a run down on how it works:

Feedback Friday is where I give feedback on a subscriber’s work of up to 2,000 words.

It might be the start of a novel or short story, a chapter/scene you’re having issues with, or it could be your pitch or synopsis.

You reach out by sending me a message, and then we set up a time and date for you to submit your piece. I then read through and give you detailed feedback personally.

If you’re happy to, I then summarise the feedback in general terms and post here on Substack.

The idea of posting general feedback is that it helps every one. It might be something you need reminding of, something you’re having issues with in your own work, or it might be a piece of advice that you haven’t encountered before.

If you’d like to be considered for the next Friday Feedback Session feel free to message me. (You must be a subscriber).

This week I had the pleasure of reading WSC subscriber Amanda’s piece.

Amanda is working on an upmarket fiction combining romance and humour and as part of a writing course she is doing has to submit 1,500 words to the group as part of an anthology.

Here’s my general feedback on Amanda’s piece.

"Amanda has a great talent for writing characters. Each character including secondary characters were so well written, and very distinctive in both characterisation and voice which makes it easy for the reader to visualise and remember each character. This is such a hard thing to pull off but so important for the reader, so very impressive. My main suggestion for Amanda was to make sure she thinks in specifics and ensures she’s showing the reader important specifics on the page Specificity is the thing that makes readers connect and engage in the story. Along with strong characters (as Amanda has written) specificity pulls the reader into the story and helps them visualise and relate to the narrative. 

Amanda has some very strong writing here and I found I was immediately drawn to the characters and already wanted to know more.”

Writing characters that are unique and indistinguishable is a tricky thing. Especially when you are writing contemporary fiction where characters may have grown up with similar backgrounds. It’s important to understand even though a character may have a similar upbringing, culture and social status you still need to find a way to make each character stand out and be memorable. This can be done in a variety of ways including their voice, mannerisms, personality, quirks, habits, experiences, and emotional wounds.

This is especially important when you have a large cast of characters or characters who might be very close. By making each character stand out and be memorable in their own way, it allows for a more seamless and engaged reading experience.

Specificity is also important to draw readers into the story. When we are vague or skip over important details we create a barrier between the reader and the story and characters. We want our readers to feel immersed in the story. To feel as if they are right there in the scene with the characters. By being specific about important things within the scene rather than glossing over them is one way to ensure you do this.

Often as writers, because we know our story and characters so well we can forget that the reader is experiencing them for the first time. So put yourself in the reader’s perspective and make sure you’re giving all the necessary specifics and details to make your reader part of the scene and the story.

Thank you for reading and subscribing to the WSC Writers Hub, which is a free community on Substack. My vision is to create a community of likeminded people accessible to all, which is why I operate under the free subscription model. However, if you find what I’m offering is of value and you wish to show your support, you can drop me a tip via ko-fi,com Your support is greatly appreciated.