Beta Readers

In the world of writers today, we have something which we call beta readers. What are they? Well, for starters, they’re not professionals, they’re not writers, editors, or publishers, they are everyday people who are a capable of sharing an opinion, but not much else.

Beta readers are a good tool to use in our writing. I had one once who noticed a character of mine was behaving illogically, and I’m very grateful for her help. They have their place in our lives, but let’s not depend on them too much.

Depending on a beta reader as a critique partner is like a contractor depending on a homebuyer to inspect his work. It just doesn’t work.

A buyer can see that the trim is in place and everything works, but he can’t possibly understand that the building doesn’t have the correct kind of wiring, the right size of pipes, or the appropriate amount insulation. Those little things that make the difference between a house that will stand the test of time and one that will crumble around your feet.

Sure, a beta reader knows what doesn’t make sense, and may be able to point out grammar errors, but what does such a person know about echo, redundancies, passive vs. active voice, showing vs. telling, and using strong verbs instead of adverbs, or avoiding adjectives. They know nothing about using specific terms instead of general. They don’t know the rules that mean the difference between acceptance and rejection.

So don’t depend on beta readers to help get you published, they don’t know what will help the most, and you’re not going to learn to write better from them.

Depending on beta readers would be the same as if I’d stayed with that first critique group I joined. I improved my grammar under their care, but that’s all. They didn’t even notice that I was telling more than showing, let alone all my echo, redundancies, and passive voice.

Stagnating at a level of a high school grad isn’t going to induce an agent or publisher to buy your manuscript, at most you’ll get a letter telling you to edit it, and then maybe they’ll look at it again.

Of course, how are you going to fix it, if you don’t know what’s wrong?

Think about it. J