If you ask somebody for feedback on your writing, make it clear that you want their honest opinion. If you don’t want their honest opinion, don’t ask.
This is a time-saver because if people humor you and fail to point out the problems with what you’ve written, you’ll send it out before it’s ready and probably it’ll be rejected. Much faster to get some honest opinions, fix whatever needs to be fixed, and then go into the marketplace.
Also don’t waste time (or goodwill) by being defensive about feedback. Even if the other person is wrong, just say, “Hmm, that’s an interesting point. I want to give that some thought.” Otherwise you will spend time arguing and annoying the person who is trying to help you.
You can also save time by making it clear that what you want from them is help in identifying any problems, not their solutions. The odds are they won’t know how to fix the problem, or that they will come up with a solution that would fit how they’d write the story but not how you’d write it. That’s fine, our blind spot usually is for the problem. Once we know what it is, we can come up with our own solutions.
(I honestly think my book will help you manage your time much better. It's called "Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done," and it's published by Pearson. You can get it from Amazon or your other favorite online or offline book seller.)
