I really need to spend less time on X.

Once again, I’ve stumbled upon a heated discussion on social media that I can’t help but add my two cents/pence/shillings to, and this time, I can’t understand why or how it’s a discussion.

It concerns those fabulous, mystical creatures known as Beta Readers.

To be frank, I don’t think my writing would be half as good if it weren’t for beta readers. You can never tell how your writing will make another person feel, if the jokes will land as intended, or if you might unintentionally offend someone on your own. You need the experiences and opinions of others to really tease out a story’s potential.

Now, I don’t have the most robust sense of self-esteem, so I understand that seeking the opinion of others on something you’ve poured your heart and soul into is a daunting ask, but it is necessary. You must lay your work bare and allow others to help you shape it into the best version it can be. So many times, beta readers have offered suggestions and fixes to problems I didn’t even see and elevated the story to new heights. And they do it all on their own time for the coveted reward of being mentioned in the acknowledgments page at the back of the book*.

Beat readers are heroes.

However, there are pitfalls to using beta readers that I cannot ignore and may be the reason some eschew their use. Let’s tackle some of them.

First, you must find the *right* readers. A science fiction aficionado would be ill suited to offering feedback on your contemporary romance, and your erotica, erm, enthusiast is unlikely to have anything useful to say about your epic fantasy**.

That is a broad statement. There will of course be some value to their feedback in certain areas, but on the whole, finding readers that read your genre will be more helpful.

Second, there is a very real danger of falling into the trap of ‘writing by committee’. Beta readers are very helpful and, in my opinion, indispensable, but they cannot write your story for you. Often, through a sheer, unbridled need to be helpful, a reader will identify a problem and then offer a solution. Sometimes these suggestions are fantastic and can be used, but more often, because the beta reader lacks the bigger picture of the story, it is a solution that will not work. Trying to shoehorn it in and rewrite the story to accommodate it is a bad idea. That way lies madness. The problem highlighted, however, should not be ignored, and you’ll need to operate your writing brain at full capacity to solve it yourself. Beta readers are very good at telling you when something doesn’t feel right, when a part of the story feels incongruous and spoils their reading experience, but are often less good at solutions. Take any on board carefully.

Third, it is, in my opinion, important to have a mix of readers and writers in your beta reading team. Joining a writing group is incredibly valuable as the feedback will be from the perspective of another writer. Other writers can often help pinpoint technique errors, e.g. the dreaded Head Hopping or Overwriting, and give these names. Readers, often not concerned with the nut and bolts of writing, will offer feedback about how it made them ‘feel’. They will be able to tell you which character they like or don’t like, which character needs more ‘page time’ and which needs less (Or who to kill off in a horrific hunting accident). You need both to make your book shine.

In closing, I have read too many books recently that could’ve benefited from another pair of eyes, of three, on the text. From clumsy sentences to horrible, and sudden, changes in tense mid-sentence, I can’t help but feel a better book was hiding underneath, and in many cases could’ve been found by a crack team of beta readers.

So, go and drum some up. They will take your writing to new heights. You owe it to your readers.

J

*And often a promise to beta read for them when the time comes.

**Although the current domination of Romantasy in the industry may prove me very wrong.