Getting feedback on a narrative piece is always tricky. It starts with the fact that all art is opinion and all feedback on art is opinion, none of this is quantifiable or subject to objective measurement such as say the Speed of Light or the rate of radioactive decay. A piece of art, no matter how terrible or great you may value it has those who love and those who hate it. Given that starting point what I look for in feedback is consensus. If several people tell me ‘X’ then ‘X’ is more likely something that will resonated across more readers than if one person holds that opinion. This is why having a diverse group of readers is so very helpful and why every person’s opinion is valuable.

Honestly that part is the easy part, what is more difficult is maintaining a distance between yourself and the actual feedback. It is easy to become dejected at a harsh critique, one where the feedback found very little to praise or recommend, and the natural inclination to avoid that dejection is a total rejection of that feedback, but this serves no one well. Even if that critique is an outlier among the rest it represents a point of view that others in a wider readership are likely to hold and should be considered and not dismissed out of hand.

Equally dangerous is the critique that praises. These can induce joy and elation and present the danger that they are valued over other feedback. Just as with the harsh criticism it is important to maintain some level of objectivity and see what elements you may or may not agree with in the feedback.

There are no right answers, there are no wrong answers, this is all personal taste and the waters of beta reads are filled with treacherous shoals ready to wreck to unwary.