Big Jerry | Story Feedback

Some writers finish because they’re disciplined not because they’re more talented.

Finishing is learned. Practiced. Built.

If you’ve abandoned projects before, that doesn’t mean you can’t finish. It means you haven’t trained that muscle yet.

And muscles grow with repetition, not shame.

You don’t need likes. You don’t need followers. You don’t need permission.

If you write, you’re a writer. Full stop.

Writing isn’t hard because you’re bad at it. It’s hard because you care.

You’re shaping thoughts into meaning. You’re asking your brain to build worlds, emotions, and logic at the same time. Of course it’s heavy sometimes.

Hard doesn’t mean stop. Hard means stretch.

A first draft’s only job is to exist.

Not to be brilliant. Not to be publishable. Not to impress anyone.

If you’re waiting to feel “ready” before you write, you’ll wait forever. Write messy. Write awkward. Write sentences you’ll delete later.

That’s not failure that’s craft.

can i be your beta reader

You’re not late.

You’re not failing.

You’re not “bad at writing.”

You’re becoming.

Every writer you admire once sat where you are questioning their voice, rereading old drafts, wondering why progress feels slow. Growth in writing is invisible until one day it isn’t.

If you’re still showing up to the page even tired, even doubtful you are doing the work. Trust the process you can’t yet see.

Why ‘I’ll fix it later’ rarely works

Small issues compound.

You don’t need feedback from everyone

Too many opinions can paralyze a draft.

You need:

Informed perspective

Reader-focused insight

Consistent critique

Why endings fail even when they’re emotional

Endings only work if the groundwork supports them.

Confusion. Always confusion.

Not typos.

Not style.

Confusion.

Once clarity is fixed, everything else becomes easier.

Why plot holes aren’t always logical errors

Many plot holes are actually missing bridges information that exists in the author’s head but not on the page.

Feedback shouldn’t feel like an attack”

Good beta feedback:

Explains why something isn’t working

Preserves the writer’s voice

Highlights strengths as much as weaknesses

Why ‘show don’t tell’ is incomplete advice”

The real rule is show when emotion matters, tell when clarity matters.

The most common pacing mistake writers make”

Treating all scenes as equally important.

Some scenes build tension.

Some release it.

Some exist purely for information.

When everything is written at the same emotional intensity, readers get tired. Beta readers help rebalance the rhythm.The most common pacing mistake writers make”

Treating all scenes as equally important.

Some scenes build tension.

Some release it.

Some exist purely for information.

Characters don’t need to be likable

They need to be understandable.

Head Hopping (POV Violations)

The Problem: The reader is confused about whose head they are in, breaking immersion.

How to Identify: In a single scene, are we hearing thoughts from Character A and Character B? Unless you are writing omniscient (which is rare in modern fiction), this is an error.

The Problem: Your fight scene or chase sequence feels boring or confusing, despite high stakes.

How to Identify: Look at sentence length. If your high-octane fight scene is full of complex, compound sentences with 4 commas each, the pacing is too slow.

The Solution: I review the "beats" of your action. I help you vary sentence structure to mimic the heartbeat of the scene, ensuring the reader is breathless.

Pacing Issues in Action Scenes

The Problem: Your fight scene or chase sequence feels boring or confusing, despite high stakes.

How to Identify: Look at sentence length. If your high-octane fight scene is full of complex, compound sentences with 4 commas each, the pacing is too slow.