Suzie’s House 277 : What is a Beta Read?

“What’s a beta read,” Lisa asked. She sat at my kitchen table with an air of determination as she tried to convince me to take her on.

I took a bite of bread while I thought of how to answer. Seems like simple things are always the hardest to describe.

“There are all kinds of way to read a novel. There’s the way you would read it if you were going to give a book report or a review, the way you read for a critique, or just for the fun of it. A beta read is where you read something with an eye toward how you feel about what you’re reading.”

“So you want me to critique your book?” Lisa looked doubtful.

Ben developed a furrow between his brows – not quite a scowl, but clearly not liking the idea that I would want Lisa to critique my work when I’d never given him a chance to do so.

“Yes and no. With a beta read you tell me what your reactions were, but not what you think I should do about it. I may or may not have polished the book when I ask for one. I’m not looking for help with spelling or wording. I’m looking for a reader’s gut reaction.”

“Oh. Yeah, I think I can do that.” Lisa looked more disappointed than relieved.

“So it’s more like a review?” Ben held his plate out. “Can I have another slice of bread?”

I took his plate with the intention of taking it to the counter where I had the fresh-baked loaf sitting on a cutting board, then thought better of it and put the plate back in front of him. While I talked I cut several slices, then moved the board to the table so the kids could serve themselves.

“A review is a bit different. In a review, you’re trying to say enough about a book so that a stranger can decide for him or herself whether it’s worth reading. You don’t want to give too much away and spoil it, and you aren’t trying to fix it. I’m not looking for that from a beta reader. I’m just checking to see how my work is perceived. I want to know if something made you laugh or cry, if you didn’t believe it, if you think the hero is an idiot, that sort of thing. I’ve been known to eviscerate a book because someone got upset at the wrong thing. It was a book people liked, but it didn’t match my vision for it.”

“So you’re just looking for readers.” Lisa looked even more disappointed.

“It’s a bit more than that. I’m looking for people who can roam around inside their own heads and recognize their own emotions. Not all readers can. I don’t need advice on how to write after all these years of doing this. Not that I won’t listen to advice, but that kind of critique doesn’t improve my work nearly as much as a beta read can.”

“But with me it’s critique, right?” Ben finished off the last of his slice and reached for another.

“Yep. What I do with you is critique. With Lisa, I suspect it should be encouragement first. If she really wants to do this.”

“I do. I want to be a writer. But I think I can handle some critique.” She frowned.

“The muse is a fragile thing. Better to get some words under your belt before dealing with a critique. When you aren’t ready for it, even a gentle critique can be lethal to your muse, and I’m not exactly gentle.”

“I can vouch for that.” Ben lifted his chin proudly. “Hey, why weren’t you like this with me?”

“I was trying to get you to give it up so you didn’t end up like me.” I grinned at him, making a joke of it.

He had the grace to grin back. My efforts to save him from himself were futile, much to his glee.

“So…” Lisa spoke slowly, thinking her way through it. “A beta read is something that you could do even if you can’t do a critique, right? I mean, if I brought something I wrote to you, you’d give me a beta read even if you wouldn’t critique it?”

“Maybe.” I considered the problem. “I believe in honesty. But honestly speaking, very few people write as well as they think they do. There’s something I call ‘latest greatest syndrome’ and something else I call ‘ossification’. I’ll explain that after you’ve done more writing. They have a lot to do with ego, and can make an honest opinion, even just a beta read, hard to take. Your writing future can hinge on getting past these things. So… I guess if you want to do something with me, you should start by showing me that you are actually writing. After you’ve written fifty thousand words, I’ll give you a critique.”

“Fifty thousand? That’s…. a lot.” Lisa looked horrified. Ben nodded agreement. He’d probably didn’t realize he’d already shown me about 25,000 words so far.

“The average novel runs around 80,000 words. 50,000 is about the size of a Harlequin Romance. You could read it in a day, if it’s written well enough. It could take you a year to write it, or you could join National Novel Writing Month and push hard for a month. Unless you’d rather do like Ben and bring in short stories. None of the words have to be any good. It’s just to prove to yourself that you can come up with them. I’d be willing to offer suggestions, just not a critique. Or you could bag the whole thing and save yourself a lot of grief. There’s no way I would fault you for deciding it isn’t for you and just moving on.”

“There you go again,” Ben said with a grin. “Always trying to get people to quit.”

“Quit? Not really.” I smiled into my glass of juice, feeling all enigmatic, but not bothering to say what I really wanted was simply to test their resolve. Writing isn’t for wimps.

“Well, you aren’t going to get me to quit.” Ben’s face shone with pride.

“Good. I’d hate to think I’d been wasting my time on you.”

Lisa looked from one to another of us with a mildly horrified slackness in her jaw, then closed her mouth with resolution. Her eyes turned distant so that I could already see her making plans.

If you enjoy Suzie’s House and would like to see more, please leave a comment. Suzie’s House is powered by its readers. Ok, enough of the writing introspection for a while. I’ll give you a Lisa update in a few weeks.