Beta readers are 'gold'

A step not to be missed

You’ve written your manuscript, redrafted, polished. You’re ready to send it to a publisher or agent. But there’s a vital and valuable step to take first: beta reading.

A beta read is when someone who’s not an editor or other industry professional looks at your entire manuscript; the concept being that you are your own ‘alpha’, or first, reader and your beta readers are your second readers.

Group works

A writers’ group or professional organisation can help develop confidence

Writing can be an isolating endeavour. It’s rarely collaborative – at least in the early stages, when you’re drawing out ideas into coherent stories. Time dissolves as you struggle over phrases, finding the right words. Characters sometimes behave, sometimes they don’t; and manuscripts can be put to one side, at least for a while, until you figure out what to do with that collection of letters on the page. But when you’re in the midst of it – when the story flows, the characters work and the setting is engaging to create – you can disappear into the pages. Nothing outside the room matters, time is irrelevant. Food, drink and sleep are no longer required. You’re alone but not lonely, as you live in the world you create.