SFF Chronicles News
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- Oct 20, 2013
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19th September 2013 12:16 PM
Thaddeus White
My third book, Sir Edric’s Temple, will come out fairly shortly. It’s my first comedy, and also the first book I’ve written which has been extensively beta read.
Beta readers are objective fellows and ladies who peruse a draft of a book with a view to offering constructive criticism, and pointing out mistakes/areas for improvement. Very often beta readers are also writers, so beta reading can be a two-way street.
I didn’t have much of my first two books beta read. Both were high fantasy, and I felt confident in my ability to look at my own work objectively. However, for the comedy I decided to go down the beta reading road, and I’m very glad I did.
There are many advantages, and a few downsides, to having beta readers.
Advantages
Writing generally is subjective, and comedy is perhaps the most subjective form of all. Having multiple people confirm that a joke’s funny or that it’s in poor taste or just plain dull is very helpful. Given redrafting involves repeatedly reading the same joke, reducing its novelty value immensely, it’s a huge help just to have others lend their opinion.
A general fresh perspective is also helpful. Some scenes I amended significantly, or just axed, and on the suggestion of my beta readers I wrote some new ones entirely.
It saves time (see below for the counter-argument). I’ve only done a couple of ‘full’ redrafts for the book, but I’ve done many chapter-by-chapter redrafts. Firstly, I had to try and ensure each was in a fit state to be seen by another human, then I made changes according to each response I got (typically 2 per chapter). In short, beta readers make a to-do list and very often put together suggestions, meaning the author just has to make the changes. [I didn’t follow every suggestion. I don’t even do this for my own to-do lists, and sometimes a small change that would improve a given chapter would lead to a substantial detriment later in the book. Plus, views were sometimes exact opposites of one another, so you can’t do both unless you’re writing a quantum book].
Beta reading (either when others do it for you or when you do it for others) has an effect on initial writing. Not unlike shopping for a shirt and having your girlfriend’s voice pop into your head with her probable opinion on why it’s terrible, I found myself thinking of changes I’d need to make because otherwise a certain section would be highlighted by a beta reader.
I also do a little bit of beta reading for others, and one of the advantages (depending how much you do) is that you effectively get a free story. In addition, it’s much easier to find problems than it is to rectify them and helps to sharpen your eye for when you need to spot flaws or areas for improvement with your own work.
Disadvantages
Generally the views I got pointed in roughly the same direction. However, a few lines got diametrically opposing responses, and when one person considers a line predictable and dull, and the other finds it very amusing it’s difficult to know how to react.
There’s also the time factor. Beta readers do a great job for free, but reading several thousand words and putting together a response can take anything from days to weeks. It undoubtedly takes longer to have a story beta read, and, like an army, the work can only progress as fast as the slowest member. However, it’s worth considering that good beta reading will reduce the workload needed for redrafting and pick up on typos and the like, so whilst it takes time it also saves time later on.
I’m not that fond of the term beta reader (always sounds like it has connotations of being second class, when those who do it well are first class sorts), but they’ve proved invaluable for my current WIP, and I’d advocate that those unsure of the benefits give it a try (from either or both sides).
Thaddeus White
Thaddeus White
My third book, Sir Edric’s Temple, will come out fairly shortly. It’s my first comedy, and also the first book I’ve written which has been extensively beta read.Beta readers are objective fellows and ladies who peruse a draft of a book with a view to offering constructive criticism, and pointing out mistakes/areas for improvement. Very often beta readers are also writers, so beta reading can be a two-way street.
I didn’t have much of my first two books beta read. Both were high fantasy, and I felt confident in my ability to look at my own work objectively. However, for the comedy I decided to go down the beta reading road, and I’m very glad I did.
There are many advantages, and a few downsides, to having beta readers.
Advantages
Writing generally is subjective, and comedy is perhaps the most subjective form of all. Having multiple people confirm that a joke’s funny or that it’s in poor taste or just plain dull is very helpful. Given redrafting involves repeatedly reading the same joke, reducing its novelty value immensely, it’s a huge help just to have others lend their opinion.
A general fresh perspective is also helpful. Some scenes I amended significantly, or just axed, and on the suggestion of my beta readers I wrote some new ones entirely.
It saves time (see below for the counter-argument). I’ve only done a couple of ‘full’ redrafts for the book, but I’ve done many chapter-by-chapter redrafts. Firstly, I had to try and ensure each was in a fit state to be seen by another human, then I made changes according to each response I got (typically 2 per chapter). In short, beta readers make a to-do list and very often put together suggestions, meaning the author just has to make the changes. [I didn’t follow every suggestion. I don’t even do this for my own to-do lists, and sometimes a small change that would improve a given chapter would lead to a substantial detriment later in the book. Plus, views were sometimes exact opposites of one another, so you can’t do both unless you’re writing a quantum book].
Beta reading (either when others do it for you or when you do it for others) has an effect on initial writing. Not unlike shopping for a shirt and having your girlfriend’s voice pop into your head with her probable opinion on why it’s terrible, I found myself thinking of changes I’d need to make because otherwise a certain section would be highlighted by a beta reader.
I also do a little bit of beta reading for others, and one of the advantages (depending how much you do) is that you effectively get a free story. In addition, it’s much easier to find problems than it is to rectify them and helps to sharpen your eye for when you need to spot flaws or areas for improvement with your own work.
Disadvantages
Generally the views I got pointed in roughly the same direction. However, a few lines got diametrically opposing responses, and when one person considers a line predictable and dull, and the other finds it very amusing it’s difficult to know how to react.
There’s also the time factor. Beta readers do a great job for free, but reading several thousand words and putting together a response can take anything from days to weeks. It undoubtedly takes longer to have a story beta read, and, like an army, the work can only progress as fast as the slowest member. However, it’s worth considering that good beta reading will reduce the workload needed for redrafting and pick up on typos and the like, so whilst it takes time it also saves time later on.
I’m not that fond of the term beta reader (always sounds like it has connotations of being second class, when those who do it well are first class sorts), but they’ve proved invaluable for my current WIP, and I’d advocate that those unsure of the benefits give it a try (from either or both sides).
Thaddeus White
