Beta feedback is a gift from the holy fountain of book perfection. 

For some, it makes them face plant into a vat of sludgey self-loathing and bookpression. But for others it turns their sleep deprived eyes into glinty, sparkling ones accompanied by feverish hand rubbing and villainish cackles.

Your book, if you listen to your beta readers, will be oh so much better. That word-turd you vomited out over months of sleepless nights, will finally become a polished glitter covered book.

But receiving beta feedback can be somewhat overwhelming, especially if like me, you don’t do detail.

I’ve finally managed to get on top of the beta feedback and have almost finished going through it.

This post is dedicated to my amazing beta readers, there are no words to quantify my gratitude.

Here are 6 ways to manage and organise your beta feedback.

There are two types of thinker in the world:

Introverted Thinkers – the ones who can read a ton of information and process it internally, chomping through the material using nothing but the might of the meat machine that is their brain. They can hold all their notes mentally, and quite frankly, make information processing look as easy as breathing. They are processing ballerina’s… Ducks that keep the surface smooth and calm, but on the inside, under the surface, their brain-legs are paddling frantically.

Extroverted Thinkers – Although I’m an introverted person, I am most definitely an extroverted thinker. I am not a duck and I am certainly not a graceful ballerina. Unless by ballerina you mean clumsy, flat-footed elephant.

Extroverted thinkers can’t process inside their brains. They have to ‘get it out’. Holding information inside their heads clogs them up with a TV like static. They’re the ones that like to ‘bounce’ ideas around, talk it out, get white board and diagram happy as they whip themselves into a post it frenzy.

Or they do what I did in the photo. Make a god awful mess of their livingroom.

There is always, a lot of feedback. Beta readers invest considerable time and energy into providing quality feedback because they’re invested in your story and in you. They want your story to be the best it can be. Which is why we writers owe it to them to make the most of their feedback. That doesn’t mean you HAVE to bow at their feet and humbly tweak every comma they picked up, after all, it’s your story and only you know how it bleeds commas, but it does mean you have to carefully process and consider each of their thoughtful comments.

Now, introverted thinkers might not find this so useful, in fact, extroverted thinkers might not either, but nonetheless here’s a chuff load ideas for different ways you can organise beta feedback.

How do you manage beta feedback? Let me know in the comments below.

WAY ONE – ALL ABOUT THE DIVAS

If most of your feedback is based on character developments, because little Johnny Tubster is fat with flatness, then you can create a page per character, jot the edits or changes down and reference the chapter the changes are needed in. Or use a short quote to identify the exact spot. This isn’t like plotting or creating a character template/interview. The reason this is handy is because you can see all the changes you intend to make to one character in one place – and if they’re in one place, you can see if the changes you’re going to make are consistent.

Why not note down your character’s arc at the same time, just to make sure they’re fat with depth and not word flab. It doesn’t have to be war and peace you can do it in three short sentences:

Where does he start? – Being bullied because he can’t bend over far enough to pull his wedgy out.

What’s his revelation that starts his process of change? – The only way to stop being bullied is to lose enough weight to pull the offending wedgy out.

Where does he end? – With a bit of weight lost and the ability to remove underwear from his buttcheeks he’s no longer bullied.

WAY TWO – SHIMMY DOWN THE SUB

Subplots are the threads that stitch your novel together, they take it from cloth patches, to patchwork quilt.

But fuck them up, and readers are left confused, or with millions of unanswered questions. More often than not, you think you’ve explained a line of your story, but you haven’t. If you’re anything like me, you know your story and your book world inside out, but sometimes what you think you’ve tattooed into the page, has actually stayed resident inside cell M in sector 9 of your brain.

Subplot Mechanism One – You could create a table with two three columns, a name for your subplot, a one sentence summary of it in the next column and in the last, the edits you need to make and the relevant chapters they’re in. Like this template.

Subplot Mechanism Two – Get a massive piece of paper and use cue cards or Post its to record your subplots and relevant changes

Subplot Mechanism Three – create a timeline on a big bit of paper, and mark up the key points at which your story progresses, like the hook, the twist etc, then in a different colour for each subplot mark on your timeline the edits you need to make.

WAY THREE – I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SCENE SIDE

Depending on whether you prefer to work scene by scene or chapter by chapter, you can note your edits in a table with each chapter broken down. Like this template.

WAY FOUR – SANTA’S NAUGHTY LIST

We all have bad habits, I end up with a crutch word list the length of Britain, but thankfully, I have a smart trick to get rid of them. What the trick fails to do, is capture any duplicated phrases I may have used vomited repeatedly like Groundhog Day. Having a handy list means I can pick them up as I go.

WAY FIVE – READY… SET…WORLD.

Writing fantasy means you like playing god, you create worlds. That means complex societal laws. Rules that can’t be broken, nuances, clothing, powers, ceremonies, jobs, you name it, you need to make sure you’re consistent with it. If you have time bending powers you better make sure your sister doesn’t end up as your mum, or your grandma as your daughter.

Having a sheet that collates any world building or setting faux pas will help you when it comes to ensuring continuity.

Same for plotting the time of day in each chapter.

WAY SIX THE CLUSTER FUCK APPROACH

Last but by no means least, here’s my approach, that I’ve fondly named, the cluster fuck. In which I sit in the middle of my livingroom, spread shit E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E, thereby irritating my spouse profusely. I then meander around like a wasted toddler sticking brightly coloured shit and things to bits of paper.

Okay, joking aside, I do a bit of all of the above. I start by reading through every single comment the betas made, TWICE. I put a tick by the ones I want to do something with, and then write up by hand (there’s that extroverted thinking again) what I’m going to do. Usually, I will put the edit I am going to make on either ‘a character specific sheet’, a subplot sheet or a general edits page. I also note the chapter, and then I take obscene amounts of pleasure from crossing each post it off once I’ve made the edits.

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The post 6 Ways To Organise Your Beta Reader Feedback appeared first on Sacha Black.

You’ve written ‘THE END’ on your first, second, eighth – or if you’re me it will mostly likely be my third draft. You know it’s not perfect, but you’re happy you have taken your manuscript as far as you can. What next?

Alpha / Beta readers

As I approach the end of my first draft this concept is becoming more than just a twinkle in my eye. It’s quietly growing into the elephant in the corner of the room.

What are beta readers? How do I get one? How long will it take? Will they tear my work to pieces?

I resorted to asking some seasoned pros for advice and they really have given some amazing helpful and comprehensive answers. Please welcome Geoff and Dylan

Why use a Beta reader at all?

GEOFF – You need someone to tell you the story hangs together. That is what I want. Not a clean up on typos and grammar though that is useful, but is the plot engaging, do the characters work, does the story flow, make sense etc. to me a beta reader is not a paid for editor who could do the same job but a friendly help mate who is prepared to offer a view, possibly in return for you reading their work. Ideally, it is someone you know and trust to tell you as it is without some other agenda. But I’m not sure there’s any difference between a beta reader and the right sort of editor – clearly you need an editor as well for grammar and typos but that is different to a beta reader.

DYLAN – As a writer you are too close to your work. Even when you leave a manuscript to rest for a few weeks before going back to it, you know the story intimately. You know the character’s motivations and their backstories. You need beta readers to tell you what you’ve actually written, rather than what you intended to write. They give you insight to things you’ve missed out, things you’ve never thought of, plot holes, characterisation issues and so on.

How do you find your Beta readers?

GEOFF – Word of mouth, brazenly asking people, posting about the book and asking for help – personally I have found people love to help albeit that sometimes they don’t realise quite what is involved.

DYLAN – By asking people nicely.

When choosing a Beta reader, do you look for a certain type of reader? i.e. someone who does or doesn’t read your particular genre, and why?

GEOFF – I want someone who will take the job seriously. Ideally they will have a fondness for the genre but they must be open-minded. My first work – a comedic book – was easy enough to place. For my current WIP I had three aspects where a specific Beta would be useful. I found someone to cover two of the three.

DYLAN – I think it’s important to get a spread of people who are likely to view your work differently. Try to get writers and readers, those that are immersed in your genre and those that aren’t. Most important, get people who aren’t afraid to tell you the truth.

How long do you expect a Beta reader to take to read your work – do you agree a time?

GEOFF – I always tell them when I need the results by and I’m realistic to make sure I give them at least a month and often longer.

DYLAN – I try to set them a deadline of around a month, giving them warning beforehand, but they get as much time as they need.

How much feedback do you expect to receive or give when going through a beta reading process?

GEOFF – Piece of string. I tell Beta readers that I want more than ‘well done’ but then they know that. I try and give them at least three things to have in mind as they read. In all honesty I’m grateful for whatever I get, given they aren’t being paid and if they are shit I don’t ask again. I have the luxury of no deadlines so if I find the Beta reader or Beta readers I have asked aren’t any good I can circle back and recalibrate my timings.

DYLAN – Each beta reader is different. Based on their background and inclination I like to give an overview of how I felt about the book and then break it down into plot, setting, pacing and characterisation.

Do you set any guidelines or ask any specific questions of beta readers before giving them your work? 

GEOFF – Yes to questions, no to guidelines. I want the Beta reader to work as they feel comfortable. If they ask for guidelines then I discuss with them. Recently I had a Beta reader respond in three parts – plot, dialogue and other but that was their choice and they were looking at my writing about American characters hence dialogue as a separate topic.

DYLAN – I’ll ask them to cover the areas I mentioned above beforehand, and occasionally point them to a specific scene I’m concerned about, but otherwise I leave it to them. Any feedback is gold dust and I don’t want to either restrict them or steer them too much.

What does beta read feedback look like? Or maybe more importantly feel like?

GEOFF – I don’t think there is one way it is set out. The best is someone who will take a word version and annotate it with comments and changes but an email explaining is just as good. I don’t feel feedback – that’s far too spinach and quorn for me.

DYLAN – Again, it’s different depending on who the beta reader is. I like my beta readers to be blunt and honest. I don’t need the feedback sugar-coated because it’s important I get both their thoughts and emotions at the time of reading. All I ask is that it’s constructive. I always say “don’t tell me it’s shit, tell me it’s shit because…”

How do you receive feedback? All in one go or chapter by chapter? In a word doc, or hand written scrawls across the page?

GEOFF – See above; I had all sorts. I prefer not hand written scrawls and I prefer not face to face. I want to absorb their ideas. Some however prefer to explain themselves. There I have learnt to button my lip and not ask anything unless I really don’t understand what they are trying to say.

DYLAN – Most send me feedback electronically. Some like to give general thoughts, others a more detailed chapter by chapter run through.

Have you ever been stung or pleasantly surprised by beta reading?

GEOFF – My first Beta reader – my wife – hated it. I realised how hard it was and after that have always been grateful for whatever is said, even if it pulls something apart. No one, yet, has been obviously out to destroy so I take whatever they say in good faith. Have I been pleasantly surprised? Once; my current WIP contains a lot of the science of genetics and I had two biology graduates from oxford read it. They both made the same points and both complemented me on my understanding; since I stopped biology aged 12 I was quietly pleased!

DYLAN – I’m always pleasantly surprised by the feedback my beta readers give me, even if it’s pointing out terrible writing or major errors.

What’s the best advice you could give someone about to embark on the Beta reading phase?

GEOFF – Ask anyone who you think might be good, if they’d do it. Even if you don’t use them there will be another occasion. Work hard to make them feel comfortable; they know how much this means to you but if they are really going to be helpful they need to be made really comfortable that you’ll not eat them or, worse, if they are friends, you’ll not hate them. Remember: once you give them your manuscript it’s no longer yours, it is theirs and anything they say is right. Treat them with kid gloves and respect; if they haven’t understood something, chances are you haven’t told it very well. However if they suggest a solution be very wary about accepting it. Only you know your own book.

DYLAN – For the writer, be very grateful for the feedback you receive, positive or negative, and remember that any comments the beta reader makes is because they want to improve the book. You don’t have to take all points on board but you should read and consider each one carefully.

For the beta reader, be honest and constructive. These are your opinions so they can’t be wrong. And yes, we’ll still be speaking at the end of this!

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So here are my top 10 tips for the Beta reading stage:

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