Anyone who writes with the intent to be read by the public, from the brand-name published authors to the fan-fiction scribbler, will tell you that a good Beta Reader is worth their weight in GOLD.
What IS a Beta Reader?
-- For those new to this concept, a Beta Reader is your own personal Pre-Editor that looks at your work BEFORE you post it and helps you edit your story to its best potential.
Where do you get one?
-- The easiest way to get a Beta Reader is by simply posting a note on your blog or journal ASKING for one. "Would anyone like to beta-read my stories for me to make sure it reads smooth and clean?"
So, what is a Beta Reader really for?
Most Beta Readers look for obvious grammar boo-boos and glaring spelling errors, but the really good ones look at your story as a whole and tell you where your strengths and weaknesses are so you can adjust them.
These are what I ask MY Beta readers to check.
Whether you’re a Writer looking to check your work or a Beta Reader who wants to point out a few things to your favorite writer, feel free to borrow, spindle, and mutilate this list of questions to your heart’s desire.
[B]MY Beta-Reader's Questionnaire [/B]
[B]Is it BORING?[/B]
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• Does any part of the story Drag?
• Are their parts that you skipped to get to ‘the good part’?
• Do I over-inform (info-dump) anywhere?
[B]Did you Get it? [/B]
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• Did you understand every phrase / term I used?
• Did I forget to mention that someone was demon-possessed, half angelic, or had mystical powers?
[B]Love Scenes?[/B]
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• Do any of the love scenes seem overly cliché? (Or overly sappy?)
• Were the love scenes too fast, too slow, or too frequent?
• Did you have to reread any part of the love scenes to understand who was doing what?
• Did any action in the love scene make you cringe?
• Did it make you hot?
[B]Do the scenes FLOW? [/B]
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• Does one scene lead logically into the next?
• Do the scenes flow smoothly from one action to the next, or did they jump as though something was skipped?
• Is there enough downtime between intense scenes to allow it to build to the next?
• Were the Flashbacks smoothly integrated to fit onto the current scene -- or did they seem plopped in, like a chapter that was in the wrong place?
[B]Is anything VISUALLY Confusing?[/B]
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• Can you SEE every action clearly?
• If you went there in real life, would you recognize the places?
• Did you have to reread any part of the action sequences to understand who was doing what?
• Could you SEE what the characters looked like clearly?
• Did I forget to describe their Clothes, their Hair, their Eyes, or any other distinctive feature?
[B]During DIALOGUE scenes…[/B]
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Does the Dialogue sound realistic for the individual characters?
Could you SEE what the characters were DOING while talking?
Could you SEE where the characters WERE while talking?
[B]Did the Characters WORK?[/B]
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• Do their actions & reactions seem logical & realistic?
• Could you feel the Emotions between the characters?
• Does the story stay focused on my Main Character?
• Is the villain actually Villainous?
• Were any of my female characters too much of a b!tch or a bimbo?
• Were any of my male characters whiny, wimpy, or overly dramatic?
• Who did you like best and WHY?
• Who did you hate and WHY?
• Who got on your nerves and WHY?
• Do any of the characters get in the way of the STORY?
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The answers to these burning questions will keep your fiction crisp, focused and Popular. If your Beta readers liked it then loads of other people will too.
[I](I still think that if George Lucas had used a few test readers for those last three Star Wars movies, the scenes with Aniken as a child would have been much shorter - and made more sense. Jar Jar Binks would never have appeared. The romance between Aniken and Amidala would have been a Romance, and the clone war would have been a frikkin Clone War. But that’s just MY opinion...)[/I]
Enjoy!
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DISCLAIMER: As with all advice, take what you can use and throw out the rest. As a multi-published author, I have been taught some fairly rigid rules on what is publishable and what is not. If my rather straight-laced (and occasionally snotty,) advice does not suit your creative style, by all means, IGNORE IT.