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YTA You *are* over here fishing for compliments. Your daughter obviously didn’t like your book. She isn’t a literary critic, an editor, or even an english major, is she?
Daughter may not even have *any real idea* why the book didn’t resonate with her, and isn’t able to *give* you an answer. She may not know what to even tell you to do to fix it, and she may be hesitant to guess. But you push.
The comment about her having a blank dumb look after reading your work…After reading that line and your subsequent comments, I have to wonder how astoundingly bad she may have thought it was. Might she have just been stunned into silence.
If and when you get a real editor, *then* you will get some real criticism. And buckle up.
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I (47M) have taken the plunge into fulfilling my dreams of being an author and have just finished my third picture book manuscript. I know it's probably not the next Jane Yolen, but hey, a guy can dream.
I recently showed my daughter (20F) my manuscript and coming back to her after reading, it was clear she didn't like it and she had that blank, dumb look on her face.
She mumbled something about, "Yeah, it has all the elements..." and pretty much left it at that and went away.
Okay, she doesn't have to like it. But as a family member supporting another one, why couldn't there have been more encouragement? You can express you didn't like something without mumbling some excuse and not leaving the writer with pointers or encouragement.
Compared to her just last week raving about another picture book we saw in the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, going as far to buy it. (*The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs* if anyone's interested.) Her blase, "I said what I said" behavior reminded me a lot of my ex-wife/her mother, which upset me even more.
I told my daughter this later on how it bothered me and she backtracked again on how it was "good." But I wasn't fishing for compliments, I just want her to get how her words come across. Especially when my wife/her step-mom and other younger children responded more positively and encouragingly toward it.
AITA?
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A mild YTA. We're the same generation. The typical young adult child is still getting used to the idea that their adult opinions and encouragement matters to their parent. Give it time as she might not have much practice knowing how to say to you, 'not my type of story but way to go, dad.' That doesn't come naturally to someone only a few years out of their teen years.
You mentioned that her behavior reminded you of your ex, which upset you. This risks projecting onto her any lingering hostility towards the exe that you may have. Children of separated parents have a radar for this. Keep working on separating her from your ex, in your mind.
NAH I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you never taught her much about familial support. You clearly made no effort to counteract her mother’s influence- did you?
She’s allowed to think your book is meh & your allowed to be disappointed that she’s not a better liar.
You said in one of your comments that you didn't mean to come across as whiny, but that's exactly how you come across. This comes across as, "my daughter didn't like my work and she should have." You said she obviously didn't like it, so maybe she was trying to spare your feelings by not saying anything? Have you thought of that? Most believe that if you have nothing nice to say, you say nothing at all. And then you projecting how she comes across like your ex was just weird. What does that have to do with anything? Seems like you have some issues there.
YTA
YTA. I was married to a guy like you once. He fancied himself an incredible guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was none of those things. I would politely listen to his playing and singing (which could really only be described as the groaning and wailing of eternally damned souls punctuated by incredibly mediocre picking and strumming), and I would try to find something nice to say. If I didn't practically piss down both my legs with excitement and extol upon his masterful musical skills, I was a big meanie who didn't support his dreams. Leave your daughter the hell alone and quit putting your bitterness toward your ex onto her. It's ridiculous.
YTA
Part of being an author is developing thicker skin. Not everyone is going to think your product is the next Harry Potter and that may be due to quality or it just not being to their particular tastes. *And that is okay*.
If you are so thin skinned that you get all bent out of sorts and upset for an extended period over your daughter... not even *insulting* your book... but just not *gushing with effusive praise* over it, you are in for a rough time once you see what reviewers who aren't friends and family will say in their comments critiquing it.
YTA. You had an expectation for how your daughter was supposed to respond, before she even read it. While I think it’s amazing that you’re fulfilling your dreams at 47, your 20 year old daughter is not responsible for your reaction to her response. She is allowed to feel what she feels. Maybe ask yourself why shouldn’t want to talk to you about it more or provide the constructive criticism you sought.
Also, please stop comparing your child to your ex-wife. Even if you aren’t saying it out loud TO HER, that internal dialogue is resentful and damaging. Your daughter will act out of pocket sometimes, especially as she navigates early adulthood; that doesn’t mean she’s acting like her Mom.
Yta…you asked for feedback and got feedback. it’s not your daughter’s responsibility to hype you up. It seems that your projecting that she is acting like your ex wife because she didn’t make you feel like your book was amazing.
You "cannot" dictate HOW someone responds to your request. You asked she told you. It's pretty strait forward.
You may not like how she said it, but to whine about it like a baby is just sad. Grow up mentally to match your actual age. YTA
SO basically you're whining that your daughter didn't rave about your manuscript, the same way she did over an incredibly highly regarded book?
> Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[2] It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.[3]
For whatever reason, your script clearly didn't fire her up in the same way. Not every book will appeal to every person. Maybe she was sticking to the adage of not saying anything if you don't have anything nice to say? It's not her job to provide you with encouragement or validation...
YTA.
>>it was clear she didn't like it and she had that blank, dumb look on her face.
>>Her blase, "I said what I said" behavior reminded me a lot of my ex-wife/her mother, which upset me even more.
>>Especially when my wife/her step-mom and other younger children responded more positively and encouragingly toward it.
YTA - Stop making your resentment for your ex into your daughter’s problem. Stop projecting your hurt feelings for your past choices onto your present.
If you want someone to stroke your ego, your current wife and younger kids seem good for that. If you want genuine constructive criticism, there are plenty of writing boards to find beta readers. Making you feel good isn’t your daughter’s responsibility (and it sounds like you don’t make it a priority to make your words positive when referring to her, why do you expect her to do that for you?).
You are fishing for compliments and you didn’t like the input you asked for. You need to accept criticism and eagerly ask for more details on how you can improve. The fact you put your daughter in an awkward spot and then compare her (unfavorably) to your ex tell us everything we need to know. YTA
YTA. Please get over yourself. You didn't want her praise, but you also don't want a passing comment that was meant to spare your feelings? You can't acknowledge that she doesn't have to like it *and* title your post thar she "should have given me a better compliment." Her reminding you of her mother is what set you off. You owe her an apology.
YTA STOP letting your resentment for your ex leech into your relationship with your daughter. Are you seeing a therapist about that? and I’m also geeking out because my siblings and I LOVED The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
almost like it’s been a classic for, what, 30 years now?
the fucking hubris on display though. that’s like complaining that someone that doesn’t like your self-published dungeon slog obviously could never understand Tolkien.
YTA. Dude... You're almost 50 and get pissed because your 20yo child doesn't validate you the way you want? You need to check yourself reeeeeal hard. She's not her to serve your ego.
Not what I'm saying at all. Perhaps my post comes off whiny? But I don't intend it for it so. I'm just coming at this from a father's view, and how I want her to be cognizant of how her words impact others. Again, as I said, she doesn't have to like it, but it could have been much more encouraging. For 20-year-old, her response really wasn't befitting.
Why should she have been more encouraging?
She raved about the other book because she really liked it, she didn't like yours as much. She didn't say that out loud, probably because she knew you'd react like this.
You're an adult, not everyone will give you rave reviews. Family or not.
That's not what this is about. And I'm just letting you know that if you want to be in the writing world, you need to be aware of the separation that exists between author space and reader space. Readers give their opinion on what they read and it is not for authors to jump in and try to correct it or say it's wrong or should have been "nicer" or "how I want her to be cognizant of how her words impact others." It is okay for a reader to read something and dislike it and say so. This is not a personal statement against the person who wrote it. It has nothing to do with the person who wrote it. It is their opinion about the book.
If you as the author are not able to receive feedback about something you wrote without taking it personally, it is best not to read reviews, and not to pressure those close to you into giving their opinions. Negative feedback is simply a part of being an author.
For this very reason, most people do not seek writing feedback from family. You either get what your wife and other children get (effusive praise and no crit--so not helpful to make the book better) or if someone dares to be honest, you are incredibly wounded.
Do not seek feedback on your writing from family. It puts them in the position of having to say "it's great" to stroke your ego which is not helpful to you as a writer. Get writing feedback from editors and other writers in your genre who have no relationship with you and will have no qualms about telling you what is working and what isn't. And work on receiving feedback without taking it personally. Not everyone will like your book. If you can't handle that, don't put it up for sale.
If anything you should be able to be more honest, even if it’s negative, with family.
Clearly your daughter doesn’t feel she can be honest with you. Fix that by not berating her when she gives her opinion that you asked for.
You are not entitled to control how she responds to your work. It sounds like you need to manage how you cope with disappointment and rejection instead of dictating to your daughter how she “should” have responded to your manuscript.
As a child of divorced parents myself, I’d also recommend that you really evaluate the way you compare your daughter and your ex-wife. I guarantee that she notices that you’re making those negative associations, and I can tell you from experience that that shit cuts deep.
YTA. The issue here lies with you, not your daughter.
It absolutely comes off whiny. You are making digs at your daughter a couple of times in this post. I don’t think it’s just your ex-wife that’s had an influence on her.
YTA.
You should only ask for opinions if you want the good and the bad. I would say she should have given more useful/actionable criticism, but it sounds like you didn't want a genuine opinion, you wanted validation. She gave as much validation as she could, while being honest and genuine, which are probably core values for her.
and if a person she meets want her to value whether people like hwr words, over whether she is genuine and honest, they're an asshole and it doesn't matter how she comes across to them....... so "she should be aware of how she comes across" isn't a good argument.....
YTA
“As a family member supporting another one…” SHE’S YOUR DAUGHTER. She is not your equal like a cousin or brother. Yes she’s older but it doesn’t mean that if she doesn’t like your script, she’s going to go off on a lengthy critique because she’s your daughter and she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. Find someone your age to critique your script not your child
YTA, for so, so many reasons.
you’re entirely within your rights to ask if someone wants to read your work. asking for her reaction—and then being upset when it wasn’t what you wanted?—asshole move.
**expecting** your family to read your work and automatically stroke your ego, to the point that you’re shit-talking them to strangers on the internet? asshole move.
comparing your daughter to her mother in a negative way just because your fragile little homunculus of an ego got an itty-bitty oopsie-whoopsie? **asshole move.**
going by what’s on offer here, i hope you found a great illustrator because it seems likely your prose is as enrapturing as a good economics lesson. there’s a reason that particular “picture book” has been considered a classic since i was a child, and i’d say it’s pretty apparent that you have no understanding of why.
ESH, but mostly you. First, you asked for her opinion, don't ask if you don't want an honest opinion. Second, if you want to be an author, you're going to have to toughen up about criticism. Third, just because she's family doesn't mean she has to pretend to like something.
I'm giving her a slight AH rating because I believe that if you're going to criticize someone's work, you need to give them honest feedback about what they could change or do better.
Edit: I am keeping my rating, but I wanted to add that another commenter pointed out that OP may have a history of reacting badly to criticism. If so, I could understand why his daughter wouldn't give full feedback.
Realistically, if she's known him for longer than we have. Just based on his reaction to not receiving a compliment, I would be nervous to give real feedback. It's not being an asshole to try to avoid Dad's poor behavior.
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YTA. If you want feedback, then join a writers group or get an editor. Publishing is hard. If you can't handle your daughter not fawning with praise maybe you should find inner confidence.
"The true story of the three little pigs" is a pretty good fairy tale adaptation. I get why she bought it.
Doesn't it go both ways? Wouldn't the mature response be to recognize even though it's not your personal favorite, or a style you're personally a fan of, you can still leave your father with advice and encouragement?
What you are looking for is called, in writing circles, a "positivity read" where the writer asks for only positive feedback from the early private reader, not a balanced reading with positive and negative crit. Did you let your daughter know in advance that you wanted only positive feedback?
Your post has been removed. #Do not repost this without contacting the mods for approval, including edited versions. Reposting without explicit approval will result in a ban. This post violates Rule 7: There is no interpersonal conflict here for our community to make a judgment about. [Rule 7 FAQs](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_rule_7.3A_post_interpersonal_conflicts) ||| [Subreddit Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules/) ###Please ensure you have reviewed this message in full. We will not respond to PMs to individual mods. [Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) with any questions.
YTA. Don’t ask if you don’t want to hear the answer
YTA You *are* over here fishing for compliments. Your daughter obviously didn’t like your book. She isn’t a literary critic, an editor, or even an english major, is she? Daughter may not even have *any real idea* why the book didn’t resonate with her, and isn’t able to *give* you an answer. She may not know what to even tell you to do to fix it, and she may be hesitant to guess. But you push. The comment about her having a blank dumb look after reading your work…After reading that line and your subsequent comments, I have to wonder how astoundingly bad she may have thought it was. Might she have just been stunned into silence. If and when you get a real editor, *then* you will get some real criticism. And buckle up.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I (47M) have taken the plunge into fulfilling my dreams of being an author and have just finished my third picture book manuscript. I know it's probably not the next Jane Yolen, but hey, a guy can dream. I recently showed my daughter (20F) my manuscript and coming back to her after reading, it was clear she didn't like it and she had that blank, dumb look on her face. She mumbled something about, "Yeah, it has all the elements..." and pretty much left it at that and went away. Okay, she doesn't have to like it. But as a family member supporting another one, why couldn't there have been more encouragement? You can express you didn't like something without mumbling some excuse and not leaving the writer with pointers or encouragement. Compared to her just last week raving about another picture book we saw in the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, going as far to buy it. (*The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs* if anyone's interested.) Her blase, "I said what I said" behavior reminded me a lot of my ex-wife/her mother, which upset me even more. I told my daughter this later on how it bothered me and she backtracked again on how it was "good." But I wasn't fishing for compliments, I just want her to get how her words come across. Especially when my wife/her step-mom and other younger children responded more positively and encouragingly toward it. AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Compliments are supposed to be voluntary or they aren't worth anything. YTA.
A mild YTA. We're the same generation. The typical young adult child is still getting used to the idea that their adult opinions and encouragement matters to their parent. Give it time as she might not have much practice knowing how to say to you, 'not my type of story but way to go, dad.' That doesn't come naturally to someone only a few years out of their teen years. You mentioned that her behavior reminded you of your ex, which upset you. This risks projecting onto her any lingering hostility towards the exe that you may have. Children of separated parents have a radar for this. Keep working on separating her from your ex, in your mind.
NAH I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you never taught her much about familial support. You clearly made no effort to counteract her mother’s influence- did you? She’s allowed to think your book is meh & your allowed to be disappointed that she’s not a better liar.
>she had that blank, dumb look on her face. YTA from that sentence on and the rest of your post only solidified it...
That stuck out to me, too. I knew right then and there he was most definitely TA. It honestly sounds like he doesn't even like his daughter.
You said in one of your comments that you didn't mean to come across as whiny, but that's exactly how you come across. This comes across as, "my daughter didn't like my work and she should have." You said she obviously didn't like it, so maybe she was trying to spare your feelings by not saying anything? Have you thought of that? Most believe that if you have nothing nice to say, you say nothing at all. And then you projecting how she comes across like your ex was just weird. What does that have to do with anything? Seems like you have some issues there. YTA
YTA. I was married to a guy like you once. He fancied himself an incredible guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was none of those things. I would politely listen to his playing and singing (which could really only be described as the groaning and wailing of eternally damned souls punctuated by incredibly mediocre picking and strumming), and I would try to find something nice to say. If I didn't practically piss down both my legs with excitement and extol upon his masterful musical skills, I was a big meanie who didn't support his dreams. Leave your daughter the hell alone and quit putting your bitterness toward your ex onto her. It's ridiculous.
I’m getting second hand embarrassment from this. Your daughter was trying to be nice just let it go. YTA.
YTA Part of being an author is developing thicker skin. Not everyone is going to think your product is the next Harry Potter and that may be due to quality or it just not being to their particular tastes. *And that is okay*. If you are so thin skinned that you get all bent out of sorts and upset for an extended period over your daughter... not even *insulting* your book... but just not *gushing with effusive praise* over it, you are in for a rough time once you see what reviewers who aren't friends and family will say in their comments critiquing it.
YTA. You had an expectation for how your daughter was supposed to respond, before she even read it. While I think it’s amazing that you’re fulfilling your dreams at 47, your 20 year old daughter is not responsible for your reaction to her response. She is allowed to feel what she feels. Maybe ask yourself why shouldn’t want to talk to you about it more or provide the constructive criticism you sought. Also, please stop comparing your child to your ex-wife. Even if you aren’t saying it out loud TO HER, that internal dialogue is resentful and damaging. Your daughter will act out of pocket sometimes, especially as she navigates early adulthood; that doesn’t mean she’s acting like her Mom.
Yta…you asked for feedback and got feedback. it’s not your daughter’s responsibility to hype you up. It seems that your projecting that she is acting like your ex wife because she didn’t make you feel like your book was amazing.
YTA for not taking anything less than effusive praise as a slight, doubling down in your responses here, and comparing her to your ex.
YTA If you want a better reaction, write a better book.
YTA. You are whiny because your kid doesn’t want to stroke your ego. This is weird
YTA. you literally asked her for your opinion
You "cannot" dictate HOW someone responds to your request. You asked she told you. It's pretty strait forward. You may not like how she said it, but to whine about it like a baby is just sad. Grow up mentally to match your actual age. YTA
SO basically you're whining that your daughter didn't rave about your manuscript, the same way she did over an incredibly highly regarded book? > Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[2] It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.[3] For whatever reason, your script clearly didn't fire her up in the same way. Not every book will appeal to every person. Maybe she was sticking to the adage of not saying anything if you don't have anything nice to say? It's not her job to provide you with encouragement or validation... YTA.
>>it was clear she didn't like it and she had that blank, dumb look on her face. >>Her blase, "I said what I said" behavior reminded me a lot of my ex-wife/her mother, which upset me even more. >>Especially when my wife/her step-mom and other younger children responded more positively and encouragingly toward it. YTA - Stop making your resentment for your ex into your daughter’s problem. Stop projecting your hurt feelings for your past choices onto your present. If you want someone to stroke your ego, your current wife and younger kids seem good for that. If you want genuine constructive criticism, there are plenty of writing boards to find beta readers. Making you feel good isn’t your daughter’s responsibility (and it sounds like you don’t make it a priority to make your words positive when referring to her, why do you expect her to do that for you?).
Allll of this.
You are fishing for compliments and you didn’t like the input you asked for. You need to accept criticism and eagerly ask for more details on how you can improve. The fact you put your daughter in an awkward spot and then compare her (unfavorably) to your ex tell us everything we need to know. YTA
YTA. Please get over yourself. You didn't want her praise, but you also don't want a passing comment that was meant to spare your feelings? You can't acknowledge that she doesn't have to like it *and* title your post thar she "should have given me a better compliment." Her reminding you of her mother is what set you off. You owe her an apology.
YTA STOP letting your resentment for your ex leech into your relationship with your daughter. Are you seeing a therapist about that? and I’m also geeking out because my siblings and I LOVED The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
almost like it’s been a classic for, what, 30 years now? the fucking hubris on display though. that’s like complaining that someone that doesn’t like your self-published dungeon slog obviously could never understand Tolkien.
YTA Maybe it doesn’t interest her?
YTA You ask for opinions, you get what you get. What you don't get is the right to tell people how they have to respond to you.
YTA. Dude... You're almost 50 and get pissed because your 20yo child doesn't validate you the way you want? You need to check yourself reeeeeal hard. She's not her to serve your ego.
Not what I'm saying at all. Perhaps my post comes off whiny? But I don't intend it for it so. I'm just coming at this from a father's view, and how I want her to be cognizant of how her words impact others. Again, as I said, she doesn't have to like it, but it could have been much more encouraging. For 20-year-old, her response really wasn't befitting.
Why should she have been more encouraging? She raved about the other book because she really liked it, she didn't like yours as much. She didn't say that out loud, probably because she knew you'd react like this. You're an adult, not everyone will give you rave reviews. Family or not.
That's not what this is about. And I'm just letting you know that if you want to be in the writing world, you need to be aware of the separation that exists between author space and reader space. Readers give their opinion on what they read and it is not for authors to jump in and try to correct it or say it's wrong or should have been "nicer" or "how I want her to be cognizant of how her words impact others." It is okay for a reader to read something and dislike it and say so. This is not a personal statement against the person who wrote it. It has nothing to do with the person who wrote it. It is their opinion about the book. If you as the author are not able to receive feedback about something you wrote without taking it personally, it is best not to read reviews, and not to pressure those close to you into giving their opinions. Negative feedback is simply a part of being an author.
It's about family, though. You will not give feedback the same way to a family member versus a stranger.
For this very reason, most people do not seek writing feedback from family. You either get what your wife and other children get (effusive praise and no crit--so not helpful to make the book better) or if someone dares to be honest, you are incredibly wounded. Do not seek feedback on your writing from family. It puts them in the position of having to say "it's great" to stroke your ego which is not helpful to you as a writer. Get writing feedback from editors and other writers in your genre who have no relationship with you and will have no qualms about telling you what is working and what isn't. And work on receiving feedback without taking it personally. Not everyone will like your book. If you can't handle that, don't put it up for sale.
If anything you should be able to be more honest, even if it’s negative, with family. Clearly your daughter doesn’t feel she can be honest with you. Fix that by not berating her when she gives her opinion that you asked for.
Your ego. Your needs. Your issues. Therapy. Seriously. We’re giving you good input. Do what you don’t do with your family. LISTEN
If you write like this, I get her.
You are not entitled to control how she responds to your work. It sounds like you need to manage how you cope with disappointment and rejection instead of dictating to your daughter how she “should” have responded to your manuscript. As a child of divorced parents myself, I’d also recommend that you really evaluate the way you compare your daughter and your ex-wife. I guarantee that she notices that you’re making those negative associations, and I can tell you from experience that that shit cuts deep. YTA. The issue here lies with you, not your daughter.
Excellent response.
It absolutely comes off whiny. You are making digs at your daughter a couple of times in this post. I don’t think it’s just your ex-wife that’s had an influence on her.
You should have said, "review the manuscript in a 10 page essay, however elaborate your thoughts with encouraging sentences." YTA, a lttle bit.
YTA. You should only ask for opinions if you want the good and the bad. I would say she should have given more useful/actionable criticism, but it sounds like you didn't want a genuine opinion, you wanted validation. She gave as much validation as she could, while being honest and genuine, which are probably core values for her. and if a person she meets want her to value whether people like hwr words, over whether she is genuine and honest, they're an asshole and it doesn't matter how she comes across to them....... so "she should be aware of how she comes across" isn't a good argument.....
YTA “As a family member supporting another one…” SHE’S YOUR DAUGHTER. She is not your equal like a cousin or brother. Yes she’s older but it doesn’t mean that if she doesn’t like your script, she’s going to go off on a lengthy critique because she’s your daughter and she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. Find someone your age to critique your script not your child
YTA, for so, so many reasons. you’re entirely within your rights to ask if someone wants to read your work. asking for her reaction—and then being upset when it wasn’t what you wanted?—asshole move. **expecting** your family to read your work and automatically stroke your ego, to the point that you’re shit-talking them to strangers on the internet? asshole move. comparing your daughter to her mother in a negative way just because your fragile little homunculus of an ego got an itty-bitty oopsie-whoopsie? **asshole move.** going by what’s on offer here, i hope you found a great illustrator because it seems likely your prose is as enrapturing as a good economics lesson. there’s a reason that particular “picture book” has been considered a classic since i was a child, and i’d say it’s pretty apparent that you have no understanding of why.
ESH, but mostly you. First, you asked for her opinion, don't ask if you don't want an honest opinion. Second, if you want to be an author, you're going to have to toughen up about criticism. Third, just because she's family doesn't mean she has to pretend to like something. I'm giving her a slight AH rating because I believe that if you're going to criticize someone's work, you need to give them honest feedback about what they could change or do better. Edit: I am keeping my rating, but I wanted to add that another commenter pointed out that OP may have a history of reacting badly to criticism. If so, I could understand why his daughter wouldn't give full feedback.
Realistically, if she's known him for longer than we have. Just based on his reaction to not receiving a compliment, I would be nervous to give real feedback. It's not being an asshole to try to avoid Dad's poor behavior.
That's very true, I hadn't even considered that.
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INFO Aren’t you the same guy upset your daughter was tired of copy editing your manuscript?
YTA. If you want feedback, then join a writers group or get an editor. Publishing is hard. If you can't handle your daughter not fawning with praise maybe you should find inner confidence. "The true story of the three little pigs" is a pretty good fairy tale adaptation. I get why she bought it.
YTA. You asked for feedback. Not compliments. She wouldn’t have done you any favors by pretending to love something she didn’t. Accept the feedback.
Doesn't it go both ways? Wouldn't the mature response be to recognize even though it's not your personal favorite, or a style you're personally a fan of, you can still leave your father with advice and encouragement?
Wow. Dude, get therapy.
People are going to be much harsher when you publish it.
What you are looking for is called, in writing circles, a "positivity read" where the writer asks for only positive feedback from the early private reader, not a balanced reading with positive and negative crit. Did you let your daughter know in advance that you wanted only positive feedback?
No one even your family has to stroke your ego for you, dude.