My Best Beta Reaser
I’ve realized that my wife has found the address to both my blog and my twitter username! So I had to quickly take down all the porn and such, and I converted this site into a writers blog...phew. I hope she didn’t see it before :P
Anyways I would like to share a couple thoughts on one of the best beta readers I’ve got. Yes, it’s my wife, Kelly.
Most of the time, we are warned as writers to steer clear of our family members for betas because they can sugarcoat the problems in your work, or worse yet, they won’t tell you at all. While this is good for a confidence boost, it doesn’t really help your writing.
But Kelly is different. She will point out where the pacing seems slow, or mostly in my case, rushed. She’ll tell me when characters seem off and don’t have the right motivation. She’ll tell me where my writing is weak and even where I’ve abused or underused pronouns. She’s even not afraid to tell me when something just sounds plain awkward.
But then once I’ve gotten all battered and bruised and my ego is back where it probably should be, she has a way of dressing those wounds without re-inflating that dreaded ego. It’s pretty amazing what she does.
So Kelly, thanks again for being my #1 beta reader, and since you’re reading this now...can you hurry up with Chapter 28? ;)
Love you.
Anyways I would like to share a couple thoughts on one of the best beta readers I’ve got. Yes, it’s my wife, Kelly.
Most of the time, we are warned as writers to steer clear of our family members for betas because they can sugarcoat the problems in your work, or worse yet, they won’t tell you at all. While this is good for a confidence boost, it doesn’t really help your writing.
But Kelly is different. She will point out where the pacing seems slow, or mostly in my case, rushed. She’ll tell me when characters seem off and don’t have the right motivation. She’ll tell me where my writing is weak and even where I’ve abused or underused pronouns. She’s even not afraid to tell me when something just sounds plain awkward.
But then once I’ve gotten all battered and bruised and my ego is back where it probably should be, she has a way of dressing those wounds without re-inflating that dreaded ego. It’s pretty amazing what she does.
So Kelly, thanks again for being my #1 beta reader, and since you’re reading this now...can you hurry up with Chapter 28? ;)
Love you.
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What is #stabbylove? It's a Twitter hashtag where writers who aren't afraid to check their egos at the door and accept real, honest feedback on their work to make it as polished as possible, even if that feedback is 'stabby.'
2 comments:
Lucky you to have your most intimate relationship open to your craft. I'm sure she'll finish that paragraph when the time is right - by law, your wife's timing is never wrong.
AWWW! That's just ridiculously cute! I agree it is best when your spouse can read your work and call it like it is.
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