Last month I talked about ‘alpha readers’ – the readers that see your work in its earliest form. They need to have a writer-reader mindset (a fellow writer would be great for this role!) so they can point out plot holes and other major issues to help strengthen and complete the writing. Take their feedback and apply it to these areas to flesh out the story, fill in the holes, and make your writing the best it can be. Alpha readers give you the arsenal you need to strengthen your second draft.
Beta readers, however, have an entirely different job. You won’t need your beta readers until you’ve done a thorough self-edit. The product you had them should be as close to what you hope to release as possible. Betas approach your work as an average reader who picked up your book at the bookstore or found the write up interesting enough to download to their e-reading device. Your alpha readers should not be your beta readers! Betas need a blind approach to the work with no memory of what came before.
As a writer, you need to remember that these people aren’t here to offer negative criticism with malice against you personally. They should be speaking purely about the work and its flaws and strengths. Depending on how long you’ve ‘lived with’ your story, criticism can be painful, and writers need a thick skin to deal with it.
For my debut novel coming next year, I’ve lived with the story on and off for more years than I care to count at this point. When I was finally able to ramp up and focus solely on the book, I was past the alpha stage (I had run it past a writing critique group, perfect alpha readers!) and thought everything was so fleshed out and to a point where it couldn’t be changed I nearly skipped the beta step. I’m glad I didn’t. Everyone I asked came to the story with fresh eyes, and the ability to point out flaws I’d long forgotten about – or worse, just accepted I couldn’t change and moved on from.
Admitting I needed their help was the first step. Figuring out how to ask for it was the next. I asked in writing groups I’m part of, and timidly asked friends (who wants criticism from friends?). Once I had several responses from variety of people, I drafted a list of questions for them to keep in mind while reading, in addition to their overall thoughts and impressions. Most of them offered detailed answers that expanded far beyond the basic question asked. Their feedback has made it better than I ever thought it could be. It is not a step to be skipped!