Anyway, betas, critiques, whatever you want to call them.  The act of reading a friend’s book and providing critical feedback.

Not that kind of betta…

I’ve been doing kind-of a lot of beta reading lately and it has me thinking.  It’s something that can be intimidating to dive off into (especially as a beginner) without an idea of what to say or how to say it, so let’s just give it a whirl.

This is how *I* beta.  Everyone does it differently, and that’s to be expected.  We all have strengths and weaknesses, and I would hope you’d have versatile betas to provide different spectrums of advice.

The first thing I do when I read for someone is ask them what they’re looking for.  General plot holes?  Pacing?  Characters?  Line edits?  It could be any or everything, whatever, I just need to know what I’m focusing on.

Now, after I’ve started reading and find something that doesn’t jive for me, this is how I approach a comment:

Say I read this (Which I am pulling totally out of nowhere.), “The sky was everywhere and nowhere.  The bright blue streaked with black as the world spun around and around.  My fingers grasped at something rough, but slipped free and I plummeted.  Down, down I fell into the deepest depths of despair.”

Now, one way to comment could be:  “What?  I don’t get it?  What’s happening?”

The thing is, as the author on the receiving end, just saying the passage is confusing might make them frustrated.  Why do you think it’s confusing?  It’s not confusing to me!  How can I fix it?  I don’t understand what the problem is!

But here’s how I would translate those questions from my head into helpful feedback:  “I get what you’re doing here, and I think it’s really cool.  I actually love the line about the blue streaked with black — it feels very menacing.  BUT I thought she was actually falling and it kinda confused me.  I didn’t realize until the last line it was a metaphorical fall into depression.  I think if you just pull back a little on the drama of it, but still use the elegance of the metaphor it’ll work better.  Perhaps moving the despair line up, and cutting the bit about the sky would help?  Your call though, of course.”

So, essentially, I explain WHY I’m confused, AND what I think would help alleviate that confusion.  It’s the author’s choice whether or not they take that advice, but I have to provide it in the most understandable and comprehensive way possible.

In addition to the in-line comments such as above, when I’m done reading for someone, I write up a letter of sorts.  The general idea here is:

Something Positive

What I think needs to be worked on

Something Positive

I mean, let’s face it guys, none of us like for our work to be picked apart.  We do it to grow and learn, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  At least if the comments are sandwiched with positive thoughts, it takes a little of the sting away.

How about all of you?  Do you take a similar approach, or do you think I’m a total whackadoo? 

So, last week Super Spawn had a dress-up day at school…Alien day to be exact.  What does a busy mom do when she finds out mid-week that her kid needs a costume by Friday?  Well…this:

First, she makes a trip to the store for a green pillow case, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and some shiny star stickers.  Then, she gets out her hot glue gun and gets to work.