A Cheerleader Reader!
I’ve coined a new term: Cheerleader Reader. It’s someone who reads your work and doesn’t criticize it. They are under STRICT instructions to say nothing but good things about it. And if they don’t like something? They have to keep their mouths shut. 🙂
I stumbled on this concept decades ago in my own life, when I turned to my husband, a non-fiction reader, for support. He balked, reminding me he knew nothing about how to write fiction. I insisted; he relented and offered me feedback that threw me into a spiral. How could he not like my secondary character?? The inevitable fight ensued, hurt feelings on both sides, until I realized our marriage was MUCH better off if he didn’t critique my work. 🙂 But I still wanted to share it with him, so I set out parameters that would become the rules for a Cheerleader Reader: say only positive things.
It started as a bit of a joke, a “rule” only for my husband so we could avoid fights, but I came to appreciate the value of it for every writer. We should all seek out a Cheerleader Reader. Someone fully, one hundred percent on our side emotionally. You might have the most terrible plot, or the most horrendous climax, but your Cheerleader Reader will tell you how amazing your secondary characters are.
We all need professional critiques, absolutely, but couldn’t we also do with a pair of eyes that may only ever be rose-tinted in our favour?