How to be a great Beta

Today I wanted to write a post about great beta readers and/or critique partners. Thanks to Mary Kole, again, I had to opportunity to hook up with a few exceptional ladies who said they would like to take a look at my MS. First off ((waves and winks)) I want to say thank you to these gals. They have been the very best group I've worked with so far. (And not just because Lisa has said so many kind things about my story). =)

It got me thinking about what I like about them vs. past experiences. Now, I don't want to belittle anyone who has swapped reads with me beforehand. Not at all. All of you others have been great. But some of the things that have stood out to me are these:

• They always keep me updated as to where they are in my MS.
• They point out the good along with the nagative.
• They aren't affraid to speak their mind if something doesn't work.

I love it when people can be completely honest with me. The harsher the better, I say. Now, perhaps I have grown a tough skin through the last few years or hearing people's oppinions, but there is no growth without a little (or a lot of) pain. The worste thing you can do for someone when reading their work is to tell them the good, wash over the rest while pretending the bad parts don't exsist and blindside the person to their flaws.

I want to know what stinks. I want to know when something doesn't work, or isn't believable. That's the only way I can grow as a writer, learn from my mistakes. I love that one of my betas told me something wasn't right and then explained why.

Having as many people read your MS as you can helps in so many ways. Everyone picks out different things that I never noticed before. Some things used to be perfect and then during last rounds of revisions it somehow got cut out on accident. So, in that way alone, having someone look at your work after each round you see things that need to be sharpened.

I love Nathan Bransford's way (or old way...sob) of having people critique each other, using the sandwhich affect:

• Compliment (possitive comments)
• Constructive Criticism
• Compliment, compliment and compliment some more.

It was always great to read his critiques on someones work. People are more apt to listen when we point out the good, build them up with encouragment, but also be completly honest with the not-so-great parts.

And just a hint for some of you out there. Don't NOT finish someone else's MS because they gave you a harsh crit. That's all I'll say about that =). It's sad when someone gives you all sorts of help and then, because maybe you didn't agree with it, or it was too hard to hear, you simply didn't do them the justice of finishing their work.

Now, any stories or other hints anyone want to share on the subject?

How do I love thee...Nathan Bransford???

Okay.

Prepare yourself.

I am totally in love--in-a-very-non-commital-non-threatening-notreallythatsortoflove-type of way--with Nathan Bransford. You know who he is. That wonderful literary agent over at Curtis Brown. The one who has us hanging on his every word, whose blog is tatooed with many a shiny award sticker saying how great he is.

ANYWAY...he had a totally awesome (NO, another one) post today. All about the errors we (I) make while writing. It was so in depth. So perfect. Shiny (yes I used that word before). I can only write like him when I am hopped up on goofballs...figuratively speaking of course. (No, I haven't edited this post).


To give you a clue I will quote said post:


"Description Overload: Upon this page there is a period. It is not just any period, it is a period following a sentence. It follows this sentence in a way befitting a period of its kind, possessing a roundness that is pleasing to the eye and hearty to the soul. This period has the bearing of a regal tennis ball combined with the utility of a used spoon. It is an unpretentious period, just like any other, the result of hundreds of years of typesetting innovations that allows it to be used, almost forgotten, like oxygen to the sentence only darker, more visible. And it is after this period, which will neither reappear nor matter in any sense whatsoever to the rest of the novel, that our story begins."

Yes folks, pure poetry. This was my favorite one, BTW.


Click on Nathan's name above for a link to the whole post. There is many a nugget in them thar hills.


It's totally awesome

and so are you!