Beta

It’s the scariest month of the year, so I suppose it’s appropriate that this should happen this month. It’s been years since I’ve had anything at the point where it needs beta readers. And though this sort of thing ramps up my anxiety levels to eleven, it must be done.

Do you want to read a book and give feedback on it? Are you good with female driven YA Fantasy (it’s not medieval fantasy either; closer to future fantasy)? Then by all means, shoot me an email. I could use the assistance.

I’m looking for everything. Any problems you may find, whether it’s the fact that I keep accidentally inserting double spaces into places or issues with overall story coherence.

If you’re interested, you can email me here. Or just leave a comment that I can reply to, because that’s what I do anyway. I’ll try not to scream. Much.

What I Learned from Beta Reads

Or, Things I Can’t Believe I Messed Up While Writing, OMG, I’m So Embarrassed.

1. I forget words kind of a lot. Well, it’s every few pages, which seems like a lot to me.

2. No matter how many times I went through my MS, my beta readers will still find grammatical errors. I’m sure it happens to everyone, but man, I felt like I was new at the whole putting words on paper thing.

3. “Accidently” is a word somehow. (My reaction can best be summed up as o__O) And of course I used it. This is why you need beta readers. Because Word has some messed up excuses for words in its dictionary.

4. My favorite way to emphasize something, besides using adverbs, is by saying “managed to”. I could get away with that phrasing once, maybe twice, but any more and it becomes one of those bumps that knocks the reader out of the story.

Seriously, I wanted to crawl into a hole of shame after this. I should get more people to proofread because I do not trust myself after this.

So now we’re at the point where I turn things over to you. What’s your most embarrassing mistake? Anyone ever heard of “accidently”?

Betastic

It’s that time in my book’s life cycle where I have to send it out into the cold, cruel world (you’ll see what I mean in Saturday’s post) to be brutally slaughtered. I mean critiqued. Isn’t it weird how slaughter is laughter with an s at the beginning?

Anyway, I already have one really good beta reader (did you know I forget words all the time? Because I didn’t), and I’m not worried about losing her. I beta read for her and when she published, she sent me a copy of the book. I think that’s like getting married for beta readers. She was the first person who read COLLAPSE besides me and her notes gave me plenty of ideas to make things, in a word, better.

How I would love to believe that this one critique is all it needs to be mind-bendingly awesome. But it might be prudent to find other people willing to read it. I just hope I have the same luck as I did when Julie first asked me to beta read for her and promised to return the favor. My other interactions with betas has been…unfortunate. To sum up, one fell ill, one disappeared from the internet, and the third just hated my MC.

So. That’s where I am right now. If anyone is interested in beta reading/critiquing, let me know. So there are no surprises, it’s a YA dystopian and written in first person present tense. I know, how trendy. But it’s how I like to write. I’m always happy to return the favor, as long as you don’t disappear on me. Then I might have to hunt you down.

May Goals

Wow, May already. Things are really getting beautiful out. It’s nice and sunny, but I’m not dying of the heat. I can leave the windows open without being deafened by crickets. It’s really and truly spring now! Except in Minnesota and Colorado. You’d think they were in the southern hemisphere or something.

April Goals

Goal 1: Get COLLAPSE out to some beta readers!!! I get so nervous about sharing my work, so this is going to be a hard one. There are still some word issues, and maybe some with pacing and the like, but I feel like I procrastinate too long on things like this. Anyway, getting feedback will help me figure out what needs to be done.

            Done, if by “some” I meant “one”. However she’s a good beta reader who already gave me some things to fix, so I’d call this a win.

Goal 2: Start following more blogs on Tumblr. I think I’ll keep this as a weekend project so it won’t interfere with my writing.

            Mostly a fail. I followed a couple of new ones, but I find Tumblr a little hard to navigate. Although I’m reminded how many months (namely, a lot) it took me to really get into Twitter. It also didn’t help that I had some other stuff to deal with that kind of interfered with my ability to get stuff done.

Goal 3: Work on notes (and maybe some sort of, shudder, outline) for my new project, which is actually a rewrite of an old project. This should satisfy my urge to do something new. I’ve got some good ideas brewing. It will be nice to sink my teeth into writing again.

            Mostly done. I have a couple of end chapters left, and I definitely want to have the ending in mind before I start to work on this. And I do, pretty much, but I like to be exact about things.

So, not bad. I really could have done better, though, especially with that Tumblr thing. Social media is hard for me sometimes. Anyway…

May Goals

1. Get COLLAPSE out to more beta readers. I do want to fix some things from my reader first, but that shouldn’t take more than two weeks.

2. Actually follow some more blogs on Tumblr this time. This shouldn’t be that hard! Your weekends are wide open, self!

3. Start on rewrite. Maybe. I’m not sure if I’ll have time, but it would stop me from worrying about beta reads. It’s hard sending my baby out on its own!

April Goals

All right, let’s see how I did…

Goal 1: Check for sight, smell, sound, touch and taste on every page of COLLAPSE. This means I’m highlighting and checking every descriptive phrase to make sure it’s A) good and B) correct. Basically, more microediting. I’m thinking this will take a while.

            Yep! Did not take half as long as I thought it would, so I was able to get through this and partway through a completely different editing pass.

Goal 2: Tweet every new entry on the Spamfiles. Update my Twitter profile to include it (the profile’s long overdue for an updating anyway…).

            I think I may have missed tweeting once or twice, which is kind of shameful since there’s only like eight tweets a month. So I guess this one is a “mostly”.

Goal 3: If I have time, more word hunting in GLITCH. I have nothing pithy and amusing to add to that.

            I guess this would be a failure because I had the time, but worked on other things instead. At least I wasn’t screwing around all of the time. Most of the time. Some times. I did something, okay?

Not bad. Not a full success but I was kind of feeling burnt out this month. It’s getting to the time of year when I usually start on a new project, but since I want to focus on old ones this year, I’m getting a bit antsy. Anyway, what will I do this month?

April Goals

Goal 1: Get COLLAPSE out to some beta readers!!! I get so nervous about sharing my work, so this is going to be a hard one. There are still some word issues, and maybe some with pacing and the like, but I feel like I procrastinate too long on things like this. Anyway, getting feedback will help me figure out what needs to be done.

Goal 2: Start following more blogs on Tumblr. I think I’ll keep this as a weekend project so it won’t interfere with my writing.

Goal 3: Work on notes (and maybe some sort of, shudder, outline) for my new project, which is actually a rewrite of an old project. This should satisfy my urge to do something new. I’ve got some good ideas brewing. It will be nice to sink my teeth into writing again.

And that’s my major goals for April. What are you guys up to this month?

Drafted

Just something funny I whipped up because I have no other ideas.

Draft 1: First draft, roughest of the rough. No one’s seeing this puppy except a spouse and maybe your mother. Upon reading it, you will discover you have a strange affinity for certain words (just and that are the worst offenders, but you’ll probably have a few that are uniquely you) as well as several plot holes big enough to drive a truck through. Pretty impressive considering the size of paper is only 8-by-11 inches.

Draft 2: Second draft, the one you will tell people is your first draft because the actual first one will never see the light of day again. You might ship this out to a few kind-hearted betas, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Chapters that go nowhere will be cut. Characters that don’t add anything are carefully excised. You also start caring about continuity and researching all the scientific/medical/technical aspects you’ve thrown in there.

Draft 3: Third draft, and probably the first one you will consider “done” even though it probably isn’t. You’ll round up some beta readers and critique partners who you assume will be in awe of your talent, only to be devastated when they point out more plot holes, weak characters and unbelievable dialogue. After you stop sobbing and threatening to kill them, you’ll realize they’re right.

Draft 4-?: Continuing approaches to the fabled “Final Draft”. Each incarnation is better than the last, although now you’re in danger of over-editing and procrastinating rather than sending it out to agents/editors/publishers. Once you realize you’re only changing minor word usage, your betas are all giving you the thumbs up, and your spouse is telling you to just ship it out or I swear to God, you’re sleeping on the couch, you decide for good or ill, the next draft will be the last.

“Final” Draft: The draft you deem ready to be seen by others. How adorable that you think it’s the actual final draft. Those quotes are there for a reason. No matter who you send it to, there will be more rewrites in your future. Each time you’ll think it will be the last, and each time those quotes just stay up there.

Final Draft: Mythical condition that might not actually exist, much like unicorns, jackalopes, and a version of Windows that works above or near your expectations. This version of the book will be seen by hundreds, thousands, or (if it’s good enough) millions of people. No pressure.

Tips for Being a Good Critique Recipient

Of course there’s another side to it. If you want people to help you, there are rules you need to follow, too.

1. Be polite.

            This is part of the golden rule of be kind to others and treat them as you would like yourself to be treated. You want readers to be attentive to your work and responsive, right? Well, it’s a lot harder to ignore a polite inquiry than it is a note attacking them for not getting your characters.

2. Don’t overload.

            They’re busy with their own lives just like you’re busy with yours. You don’t want to send them your whole book and wonder why they haven’t responded. Pick a schedule that they can keep up with and you can work with. This might be something like thirty pages per day or a hundred a week or even just thirty a week. Their own work has to come first, and I’ve heard some people have these “children” they have to take care of.

3. Be patient.

            Again, they’re busy. It’s not just readers who should stick to schedules. You might be anxious to hear what they thought of your chapters, but don’t give them a nudge unless the deadline has passed.

4. Reciprocate.

            If your beta readers ever ask for your help, the considerate thing to do is to give it. They took the time to read your work and you should carve out time in your schedule to do the same. Critiquing is a two way street.

5. And follow the same guidelines when you do.

            It’s no good to agree to beta read and then ask for three times as much time or to refuse to give the detailed responses you asked for. Basically, when it’s your turn to beta read, you follow the guidelines I gave last week, too.

And those are my tips for being a good critiquee. Anything to add?

Tips for Helpful Beta Reading

I have to say, I really enjoy beta reading. It’s like being allowed to read books for free. But if you want to help someone’s book along its path to publication, there are a few tips you can follow.

1. Make notes.

            Making notes as you read along is great because the writer can see just where you got hung up. The note function in Word is really helpful for this, or if you have a paper copy you can just put it in the column. As a kind of bonus tip, be sure to note grammatical errors and not just correct them. The writer probably won’t be copy-and-pasting it in, so they’ll need to know to fix them in the main document.

2. Be specific.

            I feel this is of the utmost importance. It drives me nuts when I hear “this isn’t working” and there’s no follow up on that. True, it can be difficult to describe some things, but if part of the story doesn’t make sense to you, try explaining what would make sense so the writer has something to springboard off of. I know it would have helped me a lot if, instead of just saying she didn’t like it, a beta reader had told me that it took too long for the relevance of a certain scene to become apparent.

3. Be kind.

            This is the golden rule for all of life, not just beta reading. Obviously you should tell the truth and point out when something doesn’t make sense. It’s what betas and crit partners are for. But it’s a lot easier to take criticism when it’s tempered with encouragement. Be kind. Tell when you love something as well as when you hate it.

4. Be prompt.

            You could also call this “set up a schedule for responses”. Let the writer know when you’ll have the pages read by. If you need more time, ask for it, but don’t disappear without keeping up your end. It’s very frustrating, and it also means the writer won’t be there for you when youneed beta reading.

5. Respond.

            After sending your notes and thoughts, the writer may have some follow up questions and it would be great if you could answer them. For example, after receiving notes which were confused about a particular detail, a writer might want to know if a particular character trait/world-building element/plot point wasn’t clear, and if an explanation would work or if it could wait.

That’s all for now. Anything to add? Do you have any tips for beta reading/critiquing?