Beta Reading, for those who don’t know, refers to the concept of having someone read your writing for feedback. For any piece, I suggest having multiple beta readers, but asking yourself multiple questions in order to find the best ones for you.
People have beta readers who are friends, family, colleagues, or strangers from the internet. They are a necessary part of long-form writing. Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to start and what to look for in a beta reader. That’s why you need questions to ask beta readers.
Below you will find some key elements to look for in your beta readers:
Questions #1: Do You Respect Them?
This may seem obvious, but respecting those who read your work is paramount. Writers pour their hearts, souls, and lives into writing. If you’re having someone read it early, then that piece may be as sensitive as an open wound. Why would you give it to someone you do NOT respect?
Give your manuscript to someone you admire. If you’re looking for feedback to actually GET BETTER, then you need to respect the mouth that feedback comes from.
For instance, I’m currently working on a novel and recently finished my second draft. I know a lot of writers who I could ask to beta read, but if I don’t respect their writing, I know their feedback will be some I won’t listen to.
If they are someone who I find obnoxious, I won’t believe them if they say something that’s probably valid, but still critical of my work. If you respect the person you hand your piece to, then that beta reader will be able to give you wonderful feedback you may ACTUALLY listen to.
Questions #2: Does this person have a different outlook than you?
There is a term in the literary world called “sensitivity readers.” These are people with a specific outlook who can read through your piece and let you know if certain communities or ideas are handled with the right amount of sensitivity.
For instance, if you are a white man writing a book partially from the perspective of a lesbian black woman, you probably don’t ONLY want a bunch of white men reading your book. You want AT LEAST a few people who are in the demographic of which you are writing to let you know if you’re saying anything offensive or inaccurate.
In a less obvious way, if you’re someone who is an upper-middle-class person who has lived as an upper-middle-class person your whole life, please do not only have upper-middle-class people read your writing. You want people from different backgrounds to read your book to provide feedback.
Diverse feedback helps you do the following:
- Make sure you’re not offensive
- Add more rich texture to your book
- Open up to a wider range of readers
People read, a lot of times, from a place of relatability. If you’ve only written about your perspective, and only people with the same perspective as you have provided feedback, then your audience will be narrow.
Questions #3: Can this person give you the SPECIFIC feedback you require?
A common error people make when looking and engaging with beta readers is that they expect one beta reader to provide feedback on everything: story structure, characters, grammar, pacing, etc.
When you are looking for feedback, not everyone you talk to will give you the same quality of feedback. It will be helpful for you AND the reader if you let them know specific things you are looking for feedback on.
For instance, if you’re pretty far along in the writing process, and you’re looking more for line notes and grammar, you want to tell that to someone. It may be that they are great at high-level edits or character, but their grammar is weak. That would be a bad fit.
If you’re early on in the process, and you want to know if your story actually makes sense, then receiving a line-edited copy back will be of NO help. In fact, it probably would hurt your writing.
Ask for what you want, and make sure they can give it to you.
Questions #4: How does your beta reader communicate?
Beta reading, at its core, is a communication about a manuscript. You, the writer, write a piece. You provide that piece to the beta reader who ingests it. They, in turn, reflect and provide feedback on the piece. Sometimes the back and forth continues, but in the end, beta readers provide feedback.
If you’re someone who doesn’t like talking on the phone, don’t get a beta reader who only works on the phone. If you’re someone who hates line edits but loves an email, make sure that’s something your beta reader accommodates. Also, If you need time to go back and forth with questions, make sure that is something they are willing to do.
Feedback doesn’t help you if it comes in a format that you don’t understand or work well with.
Questions #5: Do you trust your Beta Reader?
This point could be #1. You need to be able to TRUST your beta reader. You have to trust them in multiple ways, too. Trust them to provide you with honest feedback, not steal your ideas, and do what they said they would.
Some people are not trustworthy. That can be fine in a bar-hopping friend or a distant acquaintance, but if you’re giving someone 300 words to 300 pages, you want to make that they aren’t going to steal your piece. You’ll also want to make sure you’ll actually receive and believe the feedback.
Most people in this world won’t steal your piece, but a lot of people may not deliver what was promised. Make sure you trust to whom you give your piece.
Beta readers are necessary. Plus, you need many for any long piece of work. Try out multiple people, and keep your favorites for the next piece. Beta readers can be friends, family, stranagers on the internet, or professionals.
If you’re interested, I do offer beta reading services through FIVR: Let’s talk. I’m happy to read a small sampling of your piece and learn if we’d be a good fit.
Make sure you use the questions to ask beta readers above!
Do you have other questions you ask your beta readers? Mention them in the comments below, and maybe see them in a future update of this piece!
