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Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

Beta reading interview two-Nicole Murphy

Posted in Beta reading, Interviews, Writing advice on April 21, 2012| 3 Comments »

Another Canberra author Nicole Murphy has agreed to be interviewed on how she uses beta readers to assist in her writing process. I have beta read for Nicole in the past, which was a lot of fun. Nicole had her Dream of Asarlai Trilogy published by HarperCollins Voyager imprint. Nicole and I are also co-chairing Conflux 9, the Australian National Science Fiction Convention in 2013. Link is here. We are also heading off to the Romance Writers of Australia Conference in the Gold Coast in August. The link is here.

If you want to know more about Nicole and her books, her website is here.

1. How many beta readers do you have and how long have you used beta readers in your writing process?

I’ve got LOTS of beta readers – I’m constantly picking up new people to read for me, because I write so fast I don’t want to keep bugging the same folks. I think at the moment, I can safely say I’ve got about a dozen people who I can ask to read for me, and there’s probably more that I’ve not been game to ask.

I started using beta readers in 2007. What turned me onto the value of having some external eyes look at a piece was putting Secret Ones through the first CSFG novel crit group. I had four people go over it and very lovingly tear it to shreds. It helped a lot because I do find it hard to be objective about my writing (It’s brilliant! I’m a frickin’ genius!). When I sold Dream of Asarlai to Harpercollins, there wasn’t a crit group to get the other books through and so I called on friends (such as yourself) that I knew I could count on to give me a fair reckoning of the good and the bad in the story. Nowadays, I wouldn’t dream of submitting a novel to a publisher without it being beta-read first.

2. In what ways do beta readers assist you in developing your novel for publication?

Firstly, they assure me that what I’ve written is worth pursuing. Plotting has long been a difficult point for me and so their feedback on whether it makes sense and whether things are following along properly and have I tested the characters well enough or not is really important. The other great thing beta readers do is by asking questions (would she really react like that? Why do those rules apply to only those people?) it makes me think more deeply about characterisation and worldbuilding and enables me to add extra depth to the story.

3. Do all your beta readers pick up the same points?

Not at all. I’ve had some wildly differing views from people. For example, in my long contemporary romance, one reader said I let on what the baddie was up too to easily, the other said not. One said sex scenes were great, other said not as good at the Dream of Asarlai ones. With the SF romance one that I’m getting results back on at the moment, only one has so far questioned the worldbuilding and interestingly, she’s the one with the science fiction reading background. This is why it’s important to have readers from a variety of backgrounds, because they’ll all pick up different things.

4. Do you sometimes target your beta readers to particular areas based on the experience you had with them in the past? For example, one reader is good at plot holes, another reader is good at grammatical issues and another might be good at style. Or do you take what comes?

Kinda. There are some readers that have more experience with one genre than another, and so I might only give them books in that genre. But then, from time to time, it’s interesting to hear the POV of a person who doesn’t normally read that genre on the readability of your book.

I tend to get beta-readers for big picture stuff. Sure, there’s some stuff that they pick up on in terms of grammar and such (such as you, the great de-justifier!) but generally, I’m not getting the books beta-read for that level. Maybe I should, because I know I’m not the greatest grammarian in the world and my use of words is something I try constantly to improve, but that feels more a personal thing to me. Plus, my style is quite a simple one and so tends not to need too much tweaking to make readable.

5. Do you always want the same thing from the beta reader for each novel? For example, when you have deadlines and only have time for high-level feedback?

Overall, I’m sending to the beta-readers when I’m at the point of revisions in saying “I think I’ve got a pretty good hold on the story now, the worldbuilding, the characterisation, so lets find out what’s working and what’s not so I can tweak it”. I tend not to ask more from the readers than that.

6. How hard is it to find a good beta reader?

I don’t think it’s too hard. You can probably train people into it, by giving them questions to consider as they read. And making sure they understand you WANT to hear the bad as well as the good.

I think recognising a good versus a bad beta reader FOR YOU is important. Some people just aren’t the right reader for you – what they look for in a story, what appeals to them, what they believe is right isn’t what you do. For example, people who like a more literary style of writing, who want beautiful words as well as good story, aren’t going to get as much out of my books and I’m not going to get as much out of their critiques because we’re focussed on achieving different things with our writing and that’s cool.

7. Do you have any advice for readers who want to be beta readers or even editors in the long run? For example, what type of commentary do you prefer?

Beta-reading is about being analytical. Ascertaining not only what’s not working and why, but what IS working and why. Because sometimes, the what is working will give the author the clue as to how to fix the what is not working.

When you’re beta-reading, the aim is to give the author feedback to improve the book. “I liked this” isnt’ helpful. “I just wasn’t warming to Character X – they came across as too selfish to be the lead in a romance novel” is.

Thank you very much Nicole. A very interesting point of view to add to the discussion. I find it interesting that you don’t find it hard to find beta readers and that you have so many. You must be breeding them somewhere in a dark corner of your office.

By the way, the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG), which has a novel writing and a novel critique group can be found here.

Donna

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Beta Reading-Introduction and first interviewee Gillian Polack

Posted in Beta reading, Editing, Interviews, Writing, Writing advice on April 15, 2012| 1 Comment »

What is a beta reader? A beta reader is a first reader, someone who looks at a novel in progress, either at the early stages, the mid-stages or the late stages.

Beta readers read for free. Sometimes in exchange they will be offered return beta reading by the other author. Where payment is involved, this is usually a manuscript appraisal, which can be expensive and is more formal. Some writers do seek this service to help them develop their novel.

As a writer I have used beta readers for my manuscripts and been a beta reader for a number of authors. With my commencement of editing studies, I thought there were some parallel elements to what an editor does. An editor may read through a manuscript and provide critique and analysis, where they are looking to provide structural and copy edit type feedback.

The usefulness of beta readers are many fold and depending on the author and the reader can reveal a range of useful information for both parties. As a writer getting feedback on how the plot stands up, how the characters are working and the like is extremely valuable. So too, is getting feedback on what is not working. It is not a good use of a beta reader to seek to win praise, because that’s not going to help your work. Praise is nice of course, but you are really looking to see how a critical reader will react to the story. I’ve had beta readers provide very little feedback, saying only that they like it. It really isn’t any use asking these people to read again because there’s no learning involved.

As a beta reader, I find the process teaches me a whole lot about writing, and about the issues that a writer can face when writing a complex story. I also gain satisfaction from helping a friend. I have some talented friends.

Some writers have formal critiquing networks and this is also very interesting to examine as part of this series of blog interviews.

So the first interview is from Gillian Polack whose novel Life Through Cellophane has been picked up for reprint by Momentum Books. Her website is here.

Thank you Gillian for responding so quickly to my interview questions.

1. How many beta readers do you have and how long have you used beta readers in your writing process?
I’ve used beta readers since the CSFG novel critiquing circle took a look at Life through Cellophane. I don’t have a set number or a set process. Sometimes I ask for volunteers if I have specific problems with a novel and sometimes I run a story past a critiquing circle and sometimes I will ask someone particular to have a look and get a handle on where I am.

2. In what ways do beta readers assist you in developing your novel for publication?
The biggest assistance they’ve been is in helping me define my audience and what kind of book it is. I don’t write bang in the centre of genre, and it really makes a difference in explaining to a publisher “This is alternate world steampunk” or “Domestic horror with added chocolate” if I know what readers think. The beta readers also help me improve the internal balance of the novel – if they go to sleep, I know I’m in big trouble.

3. Do all your beta readers pick up the same points?
No two beta readers have ever picked up the same points on anything major. One will focus on the lack of romantic interest and another will wonder if I checked the history (poor soul, they didn’t know what hit them when I cited sources for an hour) and another will pick on the opening and point out (completely correctly) that it doesn’t quite fit the rest of it. One reader will say that the novel would be better if I dumped strand A of the plot and another will say “No, strand A is perfect – she should dump strand B.” What I get from all of this is a sense of how readers actually interact with my work, which helps me sense how it’s doing what it’s doing.

4. Do you sometimes target your beta readers to particular areas based on the experience you had with them in the past? For example, one reader is good at plot holes, another reader is good at grammatical issues and another might be good at style. Or do you take what comes?
I have one friend who beta reads for the complexities – she has a wonderfully convoluted brain and she makes very telling comments when the various layers in the text aren’t equal or balanced. I have had beta readers who check for grammar, but they tend to be frustrated. I make errors (everyone does) but quite often my grammatical errors are intentional, especially incomplete sentences. I don’t need to turn incomplete sentences into complete sentences, for the most part: I need to decide if they belong at all. They’re a part of my style and I tend to overdo them. Speaking of style, the best style editors I’ve ever had have been my editors – they have picked up on things that my beta readers missed. Still, when someone makes good comments along any of these lines (especially concerning plot holes!) it makes me very happy.

5. Do you always want the same thing from the beta reader for each novel? For example, when you have deadlines and only have time for high-level feedback?
I’ve been very lucky with deadlines. No, not lucky. I’ve set up a pattern whereby I have a lot of time to revise and rethink. I know that this pattern of work won’t endure forever, but while it lasts I’m making the most of it and learning as much as I can from the comments of others. This means that I have the luxury of choosing whether to seek beta readers for a particular volume and when to seek them.
Since each of my novels is rather different from the previous in many ways, I ask beta readers to look for different things. One I just asked to read a novel to see if it was tolerable for a male reader and if it made sense.

6. How hard is it to find a good beta reader?

I have so much trouble answering this. Sometimes they’re lined up, wanting to read my manuscript and sometimes I manage without them, for they are not to be found. It’s hard to find someone who understands what I need to hear about the book, and that it’s not the same as what a reviewer explains to a potential market. When I find that person, I am grateful, for their words can be golden.

7. Do you have any advice for readers who want to be beta readers or even editors in the long run? For example, what type of commentary to you prefer?

Learn how to look at a manuscript to see what it can be. Once you can see what that particular writer is capable of, with that specific story, then seeing the ways the writer can bring it into being isn’t that hard. A lot of people see the story as they want it to be, not the best it can be within itself. Comments that tell me how more appearances of this character would be gratefully accepted help because yes, it’s good to know that the character works, but they don’t help nearly as much as knowing that the subordinate story is woefully underdeveloped and lacking in the lovely complexity that makes the main story so good. Telling me that my grammar sucks doesn’t help unless you give examples and even then, you’d better be very careful that you’re right. I’ve been told off for non-existent grammatical errors and I’ve also been told off for using words that don’t exist, which only demonstrated (when I check, which I tend to) that I knew more grammar and had a wider vocabulary than that beta reader.

The best beta reader of all is a reality check on my telling of a story. They don’t need to know the technical reason why something doesn’t work (although an editor really does need to know – this is a big difference between the two) but if they can explain where it doesn’t work and how for them it has failed, I can work out the reason. In other words, complete and honest (and hopefully tactful) comments are very, very handy.

Gillian, thank you very much for an interesting start to this series of blog posts on beta reading. As I have a number of these on hand, I’m sure this will be an interesting series.

Donna

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