The very best type of feedback

Writers should be proactive when sharing their work and ask questions of their readers. They should also be passive and let the reader make their own mind up about a text. These two statements might seem to contradict but if we focus on one very important question, they actually make a lot of sense. We should ask of our readers “What do you understand from this text?”

Edit Three

I have just finished the third edit of Babel, the second part of the Peace Child Trilogy. The third edit is the one where I see that my Young Adult novel really is a Young Adult novel. I check to see that it is:
Mixed genre
Emotional closeness
Leaving reader to decide
Pushing boundaries
Fast paced / high stakes
Characters resemble young adults
Bildungsroman

I was delighted that with this edit I’ve hardly had to do anything. I guess, though that that makes sense. I write knowing these things anyway. I ought to know them. That came up in what I found out about in my PhD.
Always, when I’m editing, other things occur. I’ve decided I need to expand one section by two mini-scenes.
It’s coming along quite nicely.