The Analytical Reader
I was just over at Gary Corby’s blog, simply checking in. Gary was giving a nod to his beta readers with comments such as, ‘Asks all the tough plot, theme and character questions that I really wish no one had noticed’ and ‘His critiques are always so depressingly right.”
Yes, yes, been there. I expect most writers have. This is exactly why good beta readers are so crucial, because they notice plot, theme and character problems and issue critiques that are ‘depressingly right’. I vividly remember, for example, my brother’s suggestion to cut a hundred or so pages out of the middle of one of my books (this advice was spot on, as it was [depressingly] obvious as soon as it was given). From time to time people tell me about the book they are writing or have written, and the best advice I can give them is: You need a beta reader and you need this person to be (a) widely read in your genre, and (b) HIGHLY ANALYTICAL. (more…)