How to Use Feedback from a Writing Mentor to Improve Your Manuscript
by Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes @KHutch0767
You finally let someone read the pages you have guarded for weeks. You hope they will love your opening. Instead, they suggest starting the story three pages later.
Suddenly, you are defending a weather description as though it were a member of your family.
Receiving feedback can do that to a writer. We ask for help with a manuscript, then discover how personally we take the answer.
When I left school administration to pursue writing, I carried something useful into my new career: experience working with a mentor. I already knew the value of learning alongside someone with more experience. That did not mean every suggestion about my writing would be easy to hear.
A mentor’s observation can expose a gap between what we intended and what reached the reader. Learning to examine that gap is where useful revision begins.
Ask What the Reader Experienced
Suppose a mentor suggests cutting your opening. Before deleting it—or defending every sentence—ask what prompted the recommendation.
Did the story take too long to begin? Was the setting unclear? Did the reader struggle to identify whose story this was?
Each answer points toward a different revision. You might need to move the description, introduce the character sooner, or give the scene a clearer purpose.
Try asking, “Where did your interest begin to fade?” or “What were you hoping to understand at this point?” Those questions give you something specific to work with.
They also help you distinguish the problem from one possible solution. Your mentor may suggest a change you would never make, yet identify a reader’s difficulty you absolutely need to address.
Test a Suggestion Before Deciding
We sometimes treat a suggested revision as a permanent surrender. It is an experiment. Save a copy of the draft and try the change in another version.
Start the scene later. Remove the explanation. Let the dialogue carry the tension. Then read both versions aloud.
Which version makes the character’s desire clearer? Where does the pace improve? Has anything essential disappeared?
You may discover that your mentor was right. You may find a third approach neither of you considered. You may keep the original passage, but now you can explain what it accomplishes.
Being teachable does not require accepting every suggestion. It requires giving the suggestion an honest hearing.
Give the Next Conversation a Clear Purpose
A broad request such as “Tell me what you think” can produce more feedback than we know how to use. Before sharing pages, name the help you need.
You might ask a mentor to look at the tension in one scene, the organization of an article, or whether a devotional’s application follows naturally from its Scripture passage.
Agree on how much work you will send and when a response is reasonable. Respecting someone’s time helps make the relationship sustainable.
Afterward, choose one manageable revision. If the opening lacks tension, work on the opening before tackling every repeated word in the manuscript. Bring the revised passage to your next conversation and explain what you tried.
That gives your mentor a chance to respond to your progress, and it helps you recognize what you are learning.
Let Correction Become Part of the Work
Proverbs 19:20 connects listening to counsel with growing in wisdom. For Christian writers, that is an invitation to humility at the desk as well as elsewhere in life.
We can pray for discernment, consider advice carefully, and remain responsible for the words we publish. We can also admit that a passage we love may need more work.
The next time feedback stings, give yourself a little time before responding. Then return to the page with one question: What can this observation help me see?
You do not have to solve the whole manuscript today. You need a useful place to begin.
What question has helped you get better feedback from a mentor or critique partner? Share it in the comments.
TWEETABLE
AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association), and AASA (American Association of School Administrators). She serves on the nonprofit organization Submersion 14 board and the 540 Writer’s Community board and is an art instructor for the nonprofit organization Light for the Future. Katherine hosts the podcast Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Laced with Morality. She has authored a Christian Bible study for women and is currently working on the sequel to her first general market thriller novel. Her thriller A Fifth of the Story will debut in February 2024 through Endgame Press.
Katherine flourishes in developmental editing and coaching writers. She has a twenty-year career in education, leadership, and journalism. Katherine freelances as an educational consultant for charter schools, home school programs, and churches. In this role, she has written and edited curriculum, led program development, and helped manage growth facilitating and public relations. She also works as an editor and book coach through her consulting business. Katherine provides skill, accountability, and professionalism so clients can begin, develop, and finish their writing projects for publication.
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