Progress Update VIII

Ah, you’ve come once again to hear how I’m doing, eh?

How kind of you!

First of all your inquisitiveness is greatly appreciated! Secondly and, quite frankly, this is always an odd time of year for the “project process,” dear reader: people are travelling, family is coming in and out of town, cookies must be made, gifts wrapped, and all in all things kind of devolve into a quasi pleasant clusterfuck tempered by the kiss of wine and a good hand of cards.

That and the temporary disregard for how sugar cookies and gingerbread impact my waistline combine for a rather jolly affair and one I hope graced your household as well.

Christmas is now done but New Year’s Eve doth approach and, once again, people are busy planning evenings out with their significant other or getting fucked up to the Nth degree…or both (don’t worry I’m sure those with kids will find a babysitter…probably).

The close proximity of so many holidays together leads to a rather lethargic period for Beta Readers which is understandable given few people want to hole up and read a good book when they’re reuniting with people they haven’t seen in a while (and especially when there’s celebrations to be had). Perfectly understandable, true, but it does result in a bit of a quiet time book-wise and that’s just where we are.

Round Two continues to be a slogging revolving door of sorts but we’re making our way through. One step at a time, slow and steady wins the race and all that. Hopefully once things die down people can pick back up right where they left off and we can keep rocking and rolling but I’ve learned to temper the expectations of my naïve and impetuous youth (IE 6 months ago).

That being said I’ve received several questions from some of you regarding just what Beta Reading is and why I’m so hung up on it. I’m so used to the phrase I never questioned how strange it must seem from the outside so, please, consider this a horribly oversimplified version of what I’m trying to achieve.

Beta Readers are those dauntless souls willing to brave the untested waters of a (relatively) virgin manuscript in order to give honest and open feedback regarding what did and did not work for them while reading. They go chapter by chapter, scene by scene, character by character and denote their favorite and least favorite moments.

Far from fishing for praise or stoking an author’s vanity, this particular enterprise aims to let an author know whether the highs and lows they designed, the plot points, the character relationships- the whole shebang really- if any of it lands the way they intended.

It may sound simple but when writing one may be blind to a glaring issue within their story, unaware the connection they’ve made in their head has yet to make its way onto the page. You can find any number of horror stories online from accomplished authors who sent out their first batch of betas only to find that people actively hated their protagonist or couldn’t figure out which way was up and that’s something I’m all about avoiding, thank you very much.

Now, while it is impossible to please everyone beta readers allow authors to establish…well I call them “data points” of what landed and what didn’t, exposing what elements within their narrative worked and what needs work. Once one round of beta is done the author will evaluate the data and make any revisions to their manuscript they deem necessary. They may then begin another round of beta to repeat the process until they believe their manuscript is as true to their vision as possible (acknowledging again that utter perfection will never be obtainable).

It’s a fairly involved process but one that is admittedly necessary to ensure you don’t attempt to publish the manuscript equivalent of a wet sock and, besides, it typically ends up drastically improve one’s work while being fun in its own right. Once the beta process is deemed complete an aspiring author will then begin the Querying process by which they attempt to pitch their manuscript to a literary agent (more on that at a later date) who will then help them land an editor/publisher and help navigate an entirely separate realm of troubled waters.

Those of you tuning back in are likely aware I’ve been meaning to lean more towards beginning said Querying process but with Round Two being as chaotic as it’s been I’ve been cautious to not put the cart too far in front of the horse.

That all make sense? Is it at least better? Hopefully so, but if not just let me know- I’m always down to answer any questions you may have and, in any case that’s about where we’re at for now, dear reader (and, if anything, hopefully this little explanation helped clear things up for the more curious viewers out there).

Until next time

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