What I'm Writing:
THE POISON DAUGHTER - Current Stage: BETA READERS!!
Thank the gods! This chonker of a book is finally off to Betas after a developmental edit. I am cautiously optimistic that I didn't break anything with my first round of edits, but part of the reason I do a beta stage is to catch any errors or onsistency issues, to poke holes in the plot and character arcs, and to just generally let me know what's working and what isn't.
Today, I'll be picking up my draft of Ballad of the Heartless in the hopes of finishing the rough draft of this second Fable Song book in the next month or two.
Craft Corner:
Because I'm talking more about my writing process this year, I thought I would address a question I get asked a lot. How do you find critique partners and Beta Readers? How do you know they're a good fit? And what exactly do they do for you?
Critique Partners:
This is honestly a good bit of luck on my part. I have two lovely critique partners, Tanya Grant and Liz Leiby, whom I've worked with on NINE books so far. (Not all of them are published yet).
I've known Tanya since high school, so I'm sorry to say that one was entirely luck. Not everyone will have a fabulously talented friend that they've known since they were fifteen.
I met Liz in a local NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) group during COVID, and we hit it off right away.
A lot of this is luck. I found two people who are very different but complementary writers to me. They notice things about my stories that I don't. They have completely different strengths from me and from each other. Liz is excellent at the larger story and romance arcs and overall pacing. Tanya is really good at critiquing on a scene level, pacing/tension, and character voice. I'm not sure what they would say I'm good at. Emotions, maybe? Inventing tragic backstories for characters? Definitely.
Regardless, they are my first line of defence. I send them the roughest version of my stories, and they read it warts (and many typos and unfinished adhd sentences) and all. And they give big pictures feedback on the story.
One thing that's important about critique is that when we read for each other, we are trying to help the story get as close as possible to the writer's initial intent, meaning that critique should be devoid of words like "should" and "have to". When I critique, I'm not telling them how I want or think the story should be. I'm telling them how I think they can strengthen what they have and add tension or raise the stakes. This is a hard thing to conceptualize for some people, but it's really critical if you're reading the rawest version of the story. You really have to treat the manuscript and the author wiht tenderness. That doesn't mean pandering, but it does mean being clear about what kind of feedback they're looking for ahead of time.
Beta Readers:
When I get my critique notes back from my CPs, I do a round of developmental edits and then send the book off to my beta readers. For TPD, I'm using six betas. I've worked with five of them before, and one is brand new. This is more than I would typically use for a standalone, but given how long and complicated the book is, I felt like I needed a few extra perspectives.
My betas are also all writers, some published, some with works in progress, whom I'm hoping to pay back the beta reading favor for eventually. I've found that direction is really important. I always send a list of questions to prompt them on what to pay attention to as they read. I personally won't ever beta read for anyone unless they give me some questions or direction on what they're looking for.
At this stage, you're still working with a raw story. Usually, it's more polished than the original draft, but there can still be areas that need tweaking. Usually, this is where I find out what I broke while trying to fix things based on my CP notes. In fantasy books, it's especially important to have fresh eyes ot make sure you didn't mess with any of the world building too much and that your world and characters are as clear and refined as they can be.
Once I get feedback from them, I combine it all again, prioritizing the issues from most significant to minor changes, and then I get to work. This is an important note: you do not need to change every single thing from beta feedback. I prioritize feedback that resonates with me immediately and anything that multiple betas agree on. Sometimes I will take their feedback to my CPs if there's a larger issue I need to solve, and we will talk through how to fix it. But usually, I can handle this stage on my own, and Liz and Tanya just handle occasional whining about how long it's taking me and how sad I am that my first draft wasn't perfect.
Sensitivity Readers:
A quick note, I have also used sensitivity readers for several of my other books. I had several sensitivity readers for The Lost God Series and A Legacy of Stars for fertility issues, mental health issues, sexual assault and recovery, and for mixed-race characters.
If you're not familiar, sensitivity readers are everyday readers who have a lived experience that aligns with the characters in your story. I write from within my experience for most of my books because writing has always been a way for me to process traumatic things, but many of these topics are incredibly nuanced and require more than just my eyes on them. I usually do this step during or right after the beta phase so I can ensure that I'm presenting them with the most complete version of the book, but you could do it earlier if you wanted to.
I HIGHLY recommend this if you are writing about any sensitive topics, or if you are writing a character from outside of your lived experience. There are readers for hire, but I have found most of my readers through exchanging manuscripts with fellow writers. Either I read for a sensitive topic for them that is in my expertise, or I do a regular beta read. I'm very grateful to the readers who have given me such valuable and necessary feedback to deliver my stories with as much care as possible. You'll notice them mentioned in my acknowledgments, though not by name, to protect their anonymity.