The Writing Life: The Use of Readers While Drafting

Fiction or non-fiction, a time comes in every manuscript’s evolution when we, the writer, just want to know one thing. Is it working? Maybe we’re so far out to sea in a work that we can no longer see the shoreline. Perhaps we’ve sailed it harbor-to-harbor, maybe even twice, but still aren’t quite sure where the shoals lie. Or, the scariest possibility of all, there’s miles of smooth seas under the hull of our work and safe harbor in sight after we’d been stuck on an atoll for three months with a litter of burning craft leading back to the marina where we started. Is it working, though?

To find out, we often need to enlist the help of readers. Since every work we ship out on is different, we might utilize one type of reader over another on any given story, book, or article. Then again, we might use them all.

Witnesses

Witnesses watch us set sail from shore and cheer our progress across the waves. I use witnesses at the start of a novel or first draft of a short story. They aren’t allowed to say much of anything except “keep sailing”. Witnesses can be actual readers of your first few chapters until you’re properly launched from shore or they can be social media pals you check in with to share your progression. They might also be those you simply wave an arm at and shout out that you’re still swimming. They serve the purpose of giving you motivation to keep venturing further from shore until the wind fills your sails and you’re fully engaged in your work. Mine are cultivated for each work as needed from among my writer friends, but I also wave an arm on Twitter through #5amwritersclub and #amwriting.

First Reader

First readers help us chart our course and find the deeper waters of our theme. I utilize my trusted first reader once I’m mid-journey and again at the end before dry-docking and repair. If I’m drifting a bit or unsure of the stars I should be aiming for, she talks me back on course. Or lets me talk myself back on course. She might also brainstorm with me on the challenges I want to set for my crew of characters to overcome. She reminds me I’m the captain of my ship when the crew tries to mutiny. Except, occasionally, she sides with the crew if they see the ripple of a sea change before I do. As a first reader, choose a writer friend you converse easily with and with whom a solid argument is all for the good of the ship and then forgiven over a bottle of rum.

Critique Groups

Critique groups help us find the shore again, map the shoals, reassure us we’re on the right course, or jump in to scrape off the barnacles and swab down the decks as needed. My critique group has saved me from many a shipwreck over the past twelve years. Although you may get several differing viewpoints on an issue, chances are, while in silent observation from your hot-seat crow’s nest, you’ll see the common tangled line every reader tripped on. When evaluating a critique group to join, pick one that critiques the genres you sail, make sure the time and dates they meet fit within your schedule, and attend at least two meetings to see if you like the way they wear their tri-cornered hats before you commit. It’s also best if there’s a couple of old salts or more on board who know more about sailing than you. Locate a critique group at floridawriters.net.

Beta Readers

Beta readers double-check our knots, probe the log for the deepest currents we sailed, and let us know if the sextant kept our navigation true all the way to world’s end. After we think we’ve sailed the last leg, after witnesses, first reader, and critique groups, come the beta readers. They are, or pretend to be, the potential buyers of our proven sea-worthy ship. I ask at least five to ten betas to read my final draft. They’ll be a mix of writers and readers who love my genre. Betas read and comment on plot, character, pace, structure, dialogue, the beginning, the climax, the end, plus whatever struck them as a speedbump and whatever bit they liked the best about the book. I listen hard to their feedback and use it to course correct before I hit the marina bumpers, turn the ship over to the dockworkers of the Copy-Edit Union, and check-in with the Harbormaster of Market. They should be fresh eyes on your ship, not having served duty in any of the reader categories above. I recruit readers from among my real-life acquaintances and friends on social media. Avoid close friends as they may not give you the most objective feedback. And avoid total strangers, both because you still need to protect your story at this stage and because it can be hard to judge the value of the feedback if you know nothing about them at all.

Please share your thoughts on, or your experience of, using different types of readers before your work goes to market. Join me on the first Friday of each month for exploration, discovery, and discussion of the writing life.