Do You Dance the Beta?

Disclaimer: I do not use beta readers in the traditional sense that others may. My methods are unorthodox, retarded, and generally not recommended to those that are incapable of maintaining a complete overview of their story from start to finish.

I am against pre-readers, beta readers, and the like for many personal reasons, but/however, there are those that undoubtedly need a person to read over their manuscript to give it that fresh set of eyes. I sort of have a person like this. But I only utilize them when I myself am aware of a problem with the narrative. I have a fairly good grasp of plot progression, plot logic, and narrative development; so my person is usually called in near the final stages of the manuscript's production: that stage right before publication.

There are many writers that rely heavily on the second opinions offered by beta readers. Some well known authors use them, and some do not. In the fan fiction community, is seems that one cannot enter into a group, club, or forum without being bombarded with offers from betas, or requests from writers looking for one.

I wrote a post some time back on what exactly an editor job was, along with a copy editor, and proof reader. Today, I'm going to reluctantly describe what a beta reader is, and why you should or shouldn't need one, and what their job is.

Ahem.

Since this blog post is appearing on a fan fiction site, I am going to be speaking to the fan fiction writers, not writers of novels or dramatic plays or anything like that. So when I say, "Writer," I really mean Fan Fiction Writer.

Most writers, as of late are under the false assumption that a beta reader is someone that will tell you if your story is good. This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, as a writer you should never go looking for people to tell you if something is good. It's egotistical, and hardly productive. Beta readers are not interested in whether they think it's good, their job is to tell you if there are problems with it.

Think of a beta reader as an advanced audience for a movie. We'll take the film, Alien 3 directed by David Fincher. The movie as some know was a smelting pot of production problems from start to finish, and once most of the movie was completed, Fincher showed it to the executives at Fox; they watched it, and all threw up their lunch less than thirty minutes into it, when he shows an elaborated and explicitly detailed scene of ten year old "Newt" being gutted and sawn apart for a gruesome autopsy scene. At the request of the advance screen audience, the scene was cut down, and much of the horrific footage was destroyed.

Now, this is an extreme case. But you are starting to see where I'm going with this.

What you want, is for a beta reader that can spot things with a story that might not work with a target audience. But be warned, they have to know what they are doing, or you end up with a version of your story that is anything but your story.

I don't like very many books, or stories. I detest about 90 percent of the fan fiction that people write. I read it, and at the end of it, shrug my shoulders. So if I were a beta reader (which I've done), I won't tell you if it's good. Chances are, I don't like it already. I may not even like you. But I should be able to tell you what a reader expects from you and your story.

Another thing that I see happening a lot, is inexperienced writers start looking for beta readers, or (pre-readers) at the onset of their story. Don't do that. Beta readers are just that. They are readers, not editors. Their job isn't to find your spelling errors, or run-on sentences. Their job is to tell you if it's readable, and whether your audience will enjoy that bit you decided to throw in there that seems out of place. If you take on a beta reader too early, then you begin to rely on their directional input too early in the creation process, and before you know it, the story is no longer yours: it's theirs.

Editors are what you want, if you want to have someone with you from the beginning. But make very sure that you only use one editor, make sure that you give every scrap of information about the story to your editor, and that they know just as much about the story as you do. An editor with no working knowledge of your story is like a brain surgeon trying to operate through a keyhole. So DON'T let a beta reader read your story before it's finished. If you do, you are being bad, and I will have to slap the hell out of your hands.

For any writers out there that are reading this, and you want to put your beta reading hat on, then let me give you some advice. Be a reader! Leave your creative feedback on the doorstep. It's not your job to point out syntax, dangling modifiers, or comma splices. Do your job, and let the writer's editor do theirs. Your job is to determine if scene A negates the logic of scene D, or if character A is required to encounter character G, and to point out that character D only appeared once, and never showed up again. Or if, magically enchanted monkeys really needed to come in at chapter four.

You one true job is to determine if something about the manuscript seems odd, unmarketable, or if the writer has gone too far over the edge. in the case of genre; look out for things that break the rules of genre establishment. But be aware that very few writers actually sit down and just right straight up one kind of genre anymore.

If you are a beta reader, and you push the writer too far into a corner with wild and radical ideas, make sure that it's not from a perspective of, "Well, if this were MY story, I'd do it like this." Remember, it's NOT your story. It never was, and it never will be. Your name shouldn't even get mentioned in the acknowledgment page as far as I'm concerned. So keep that in mind.

This whole next section is taken from an article by, Anne R. Allen. I'm going to use several paraphrases, so it's not a direct quote. But this next part goes for both Beta Readers, and for Writers; mostly for the Writers. Also remember that NOT ALL the advice you hear will be useful, or helpful. Don't blindly trust everything that a beta reader tells you. People that know nothing are just as opinionated as those that actually know something.

"Even worse than know-nothings are the know-somethings who turn every bit of advice they’ve ever heard into a 'rule' as ironclad and immutable as an algebraic formula. Follow their advice and your book will read like an algebraic formula, too."

Here are some common pitfalls that Beta Readers are apt to use on a writer that isn't always the best advice given.

1. Eliminate Every Cliche
Unless you are writing a character that is a robot, or an alien with a strange unknown planetary custom; then this is very poor advice. Cliche phrases are part of our collective vernacular. Imagine how boring and dull entertainment would be if the villain didn't have a "Bullet with your name on it," or the hero "Split a few wigs, and busted a few caps." Let your characters talk like normal people, and throw in some cliche dialogue in there.

2. More! Make it Vivid!
There is an old saying. "Less is more." If your beta reader is insisting that you get verbose with a description of something and they suggest that you make it vivid, it just means that they can't use their imagination. There is nothing wrong with some wordiness here and there. But in my experience, too many words about a thing, or a place, or a person allows for stupid words to weasel themselves into your narrative.

3. Avoid Repetition
Sometimes, repetition can be a good thing. Using the same word fifty times in a chapter will have your readers wanting to tear out their eyes, but saying something like, "He was a chill killer, a calm killer, a methodical killer," reads much more intently and better than, "He was a chill killer, a calm murderer, a gun man with a knack for death."

4. Put Your Protagonist's Thoughts In Italics
Unless your editor wants you to do this, then it's really not necessary. In first person, it can almost be avoided entirely, and in third person where the protagonist is the central focal point of the narrative, then you can slip in and out of this "head-speak" rather fluidly without compromising the third person tone of the story.

5. Characters Must Behave Predictably
Wow, this is a big one problem I've noticed that a lot of editors and beta readers have issues with. They want characters to behave a certain way, and will all but murder you for making them act out of character.

Here's the bottom line. The beta reader cannot tell you what a character will or will not do. Period! Only the writer knows this information. So let's say that I'm writing a MLP fan fiction, and I decide to have Applejack become an international spy, where she violates everything remotely associated with her element of harmony. That is my choice. I alone know whether or not, Twilight Sparkle will jump to her death in heartbreaking despair; or if Apple Bloom will run away with Mayor Mare on a world tour romance, and end up in jail in Reno for shooting a stallion (just to watch him die).

6. Protagonists Must be Admirable
Wrong!

"Saints are boring in fiction, unless they liberate France and get burned at the stake, and that’s been done."

7. Describe Characters' Physical Appearance in Detail
"When your English teacher told you to beef up that "Summer Vacation" essay with long, colorful descriptions of your new kitty, she was looking for a complete page, not preparing you for publication. Brevity is now and ever shall be the soul of wit. The only thing Jane Austen told us about Elizabeth Bennett’s appearance was that she had "fine eyes". Let your reader's imagination do the work."

8. If We Don’t Point Out Everything Wrong, We’re Not Doing Our Job
This is probably the biggest mistake that beta readers, and a huge amount of self-appointed amateur editors seem to make: the idea that they have to layeth down the smack on everything.

I can't tell you how sad it is when an editor or a beta reader drops their role, and puts on the role of critic. Sure there is a certain amount of criticism that goes with the job, but it isn't solely the responsibility of the beta reader to find everything in a negative light. If a beta reader or editor can't say something positive about the work that I've done; then why should I believe them when they tell me something is really bad. Does that make sense?

Let me put it to you like this. If everything gets nitpicked too much, the writer's brain will shut down, and you'll lose your ability to reason with them... ever again. No one can hear endless negativity. The brain will shut down to protect itself. And you as a beta reader don't want to have that sort of track record do you? Now this has nothing to do with whether the writer is wrong, or you are right. I couldn't give a damn about that. It's about being approachable. If I lose my trust in you, I'll never work with you again, and I'll pass it on to as many people as I can.

So be careful when "helping" someone with their story. If you don't know what you are doing, you will cause way more harm than good, and in the end, the writer will be coming to you for answers as to why their story isn't more popular, because, "I listened to everything you told me to do, and my story still ended up sucking! What have I done?"

Comments

6. Protagonists Must be Admirable
Wrong!

I agree . t's not a character's perfection that attracts the reader, it's their flaws! A harden cop that refers a glass of whisky as "an self-prescribed medication". His best friends are a bowl of nuts and a cab. That's interesting! Not a flawless character where everything goes his/her away.
" A perfect man lived a perfect life, then died and no one really cared. THE END." My jaw unhinged as I yawned myself to death- metaphorically. I'm going to watch Walter White build a empire over his dead and secretes;not Mr. Rogers talking to inanimate objects and imaginary people who are off screen...A psychologist might want to, but not me.
On a second note: I enjoy you How to write blogs.Though, couldn't you publish a small pocket book on writing with them?"

[Davidism]

If I do, I would have to admit my narcissism.

: )