I had that trouble with beta readers who are related to me (especially my younger sisters). I have started giving them a list of questions to answer. This last time, I gave my sisters the story without the ending, and said they had to answer my questions or I wouldn\u2019t give them the ending!<\/em><\/p>\nSounds like a great plan. Giving readers a list of questions may relieve them of the worry of not knowing what to say. And withholding the ending is genius!<\/p>\n
If I were doing this, I would put on my list of questions one or two that solicit positive feedback. I\u2019d want to know what they liked or even loved as well as what didn\u2019t work. Criticism usually goes down easier if it\u2019s leavened with praise.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also be sure to include these questions: Were there any spots where you were confused? Were there any gaps in the story? Were there places where you got bored? I\u2019d ask them to mark those spots.<\/p>\n
And I\u2019d ask an open question or two, because we may not always see clearly what\u2019s going on in our story. (We may have much more clarity about other people\u2019s work than about our own.) We can ask, Are there any other things not on my list that bothered you? I\u2019m always surprised by some of the concerns my editor raises.<\/p>\n
Kitty: Lots of talk about beta readers here, so if it\u2019s okay to do so (sorry if this sounds spammy, I\u2019m not being paid to promote it or anything), I\u2019d like to recommend a website I use, Scribophile. It\u2019s basically a site where you can critique work for karma (the currency on the site), which you use to post your own work. It works like an actual economy, \u201cbuying\u201d and \u201cselling\u201d critiques (with fake money, of course), which I like a lot more than asking people to critique my work out of the goodness of their hearts. You can also find whole novel beta swaps with the group\u2019s feature. (the group The Novel Exchange hosts beta swaps every month or so. I\u2019ve had both some good and some bad experiences with those.) It\u2019s a freemium payment model, but I\u2019ve found that the free basic account is more than enough for me.<\/em><\/p>\nIt\u2019s a great site, but just a word of caution if you do join. Be careful in the forums, especially the cool hangout chill zone, which isn\u2019t really that cool or chill anymore.<\/em><\/p>\nMe at the time: Are the critiques on Scribophile helpful and not mean?<\/em><\/p>\nIt\u2019s certainly okay to recommend a website if one isn\u2019t profiting from driving traffic to the site. I\u2019ve recommended sites and so have other people. We\u2019re helping our fellow writers!<\/p>\n
Lady Laisa: My younger brother is my go-to for an opinion on anything I\u2019ve written. He and I have different taste in our reading material but are still more similar than others I might go to for advice, so I always run my writing past him first. He often picks out any grammatical mistakes I\u2019ve made, which is super useful and points out things he thinks ought to be worded differently. Then I usually have to ask his opinion on a specific character\/description\/bit of dialogue. He\u2019ll tell me and then I might have him read the excerpt through again to see if he has any new insights. He\u2019s invaluable!<\/em><\/p>\nI think mainly you just have to ask questions and prepare for the possibility of having your darling story torn asunder. I asked for someone to read one of my excerpts once (a young lady who does critiques on her blog) and I didn\u2019t mentally prepare myself to have my treasured creation dissected and I kinda lashed out a little. Not something I\u2019m proud of. I mean I actually ASKED for it, and everything she pointed out was correct and I did end up changing things that needed to be changed. But I still felt awful when I saw all the notes and scribbles and changes. Next time I\u2019ll be more prepared though, and can take it better.<\/em><\/p>\nSo you have to realize that you are ASKING someone to tell you what they think is garbage. People are usually super-extremely-ever-so-very-polite when they critique, but it will still feel like you are coming under attack, and you have to prepare yourself for that. Just a warning.<\/em><\/p>\nLady Laisa later revised her comment: I think I worded that one sentence awkwardly. \u201cYou are ASKING someone to tell you what they think is garbage.\u201d A better way to put that, I think is: \u201cYou are basically ASKING someone to tell you what parts of your story are garbage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nNot that I think what you write is or may be garbage, it\u2019s just that when someone criticizes something you\u2019ve written it kind of feels like that\u2019s what they\u2019re saying. And I\u2019ve had to realize that yes, a lot of what I\u2019ve written would probably be better off in the garbage disposal.<\/em><\/p>\nI have a little visceral reaction to the word garbage<\/em>, because it sounds harsh and possibly hurtful. I understand that Lady Laisa wasn\u2019t applying the word to Mary E. Norton\u2019s writing or anyone else’s, but she was applying it to some of her own. Ouch!<\/p>\nI\u2019m trying to think of what writing I would call garbage and the only thing I can come up with is writing that is meant to hurt someone or some group of people. Beyond that, some stories and some writing I love and some I don\u2019t love or even like, but applying the word garbage goes further than I would venture.<\/p>\n
I think I\u2019ve said before that asking someone\u2013anyone\u2013if one\u2019s writing is good or not good is the least useful question we can ask. We need specifics or we don\u2019t know how to revise.<\/p>\n
There may be a few writers who can do all their own editing and whose work, when they let it be read, is as good as it can be\u2013I won\u2019t say perfect because no piece of writing ever is, in my opinion. But most of us need outside eyes and opinions. I always do.<\/p>\n
If I can\u2019t get other writers or a professional editor to look at my work, then someone who is a good reader, who loves to read, is the next best choice. But if we think we may be able to involve other writers, we should go after them. If it\u2019s an exchange, then we don\u2019t feel like a beggar.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something else. With friends or family, as opposed to other writers, we may have more motives than wanting a critique. We may want to be admired or for our worth to be recognized or to be liked. These motives may get in the way of how we ask for criticism and how we receive it.<\/p>\n
Here are three prompts, which you can approach realistically in a contemporary world or which you can move back in time or transform into fantasy:<\/p>\n
\u2219 Since we’ve been talking about feeling a little like beggars, your MC is a panhandler on the streets of a major city. Write a scene in which he or she tries to get people to give her money. If you like, write the beginning that leads to this scene and continue on to tell the whole story.<\/p>\n
\u2219 Your MC is a visitor in this major city. He or she–well-meaning, soft-hearted–does something surprising in response to the beggar\u2019s importuning. You decide what that is and write the story.<\/p>\n
\u2219 The above visitor to the city is neither well-meaning nor soft-hearted. He or she is your villain, preying on the vulnerable. Write the encounter with the panhandler and continue the story.<\/p>\n
Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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