Several years ago my SIL wrote a novel, which she asked me to read and give her notes. It was...not good. I struggled just to get through it, and with what to tell her. I went with gentle truth.
Well, she revised it and asked me to read it again. I‘ve had it for three months and finally opened the file last night. It was...not good. Flowery, unclear writing right from the start. I‘m not sure how to handle this delicately. (Cont)
ravenlee Also, I hate to spend my reading time on this draft when there are so many tempting books lurking around my house! It‘s a real struggle. 5y
wanderinglynn Can you maybe gently say you‘re not the best audience for her writing and suggest she join a writer‘s group? There are often local NaNoWriMo groups or other writing groups around where she could get feedback. 5y
julesG I second what @wanderinglynn said. 5y
LibrarianRyan I kind of agree with @Wanderinglynn. My cousin is a published author, and I have been asked to professionally review her books and I turn it down every time. It's not in my general area interest, and being family no matter what i wrote, someone would feel it was biased so I just will not do it. She really shouldn't ask you unless she has gotten feedback from other non-family members first. 5y
ravenlee @wanderinglynn I like the idea of suggesting a writers‘ group, thanks. @LibrarianRyan for the first round she asked several family members and prior advisors to read it, but most just gave her props for writing at all. Seems only I and one former mentor gave legit feedback, and so she asked me to do it again. It‘s hard to say no this time when I‘ve done it before. 5y
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