Why I Have First Draft Beta Readers

It's a common practice among writers to have beta readers look over a finished draft before submitting to publishers/agents, etc. You, my loyal blog minions, have probably noticed the occasional post here as I beg and plead for people to beta my books.

However, by the time one of my books is finished enough to see the light of day and I start summoning beta readers, I can pretty much guarantee that at least two people have read all or most of the book. In fact, Scarlett and Adam usually see my chapters before the ink is even dry. Or would be dry, if I wrote by hand, which I don't, so the metaphor doesn't quite work, but you get the idea. I'll even copy and paste lines/paragraphs into the MSN IM windows as I write them to see what they think.

In other words, I have betas scouring my work before it's even finished enough to qualify as a first draft.

So why on Earth would I show someone my writing when it's still in that state?

Besides the obvious (I'm crazy), it's simple: Because sometimes I need someone else's eyes to tell me if a story is working or if it has some lethal, glaring problem that would be a real bitch to fix on a final draft.

We read each other's first drafts with the tacit agreement that we're only looking for plot issues, not prose problems (though we'll certainly point out if a particular piece of prose works really well...which it frequently does in Scarlett's work, let me tell you...and Libbie's, for that matter, since I'm currently reading one of her drafts). It's understood that these are first drafts, so they're not always pretty.

Perfect example of why I do this: Yesterday, I was wangsting pathetic about Breaking the Rules. I had written the final chapter (which I always do early on), and quite frankly, thought it sucked. I was ready to bin the entire manuscript and move on to something else because I thought the ending was "meh". Then I thought, "Well, I'll give Adam and Scarlett a look and see what they think."

To my surprise, it received enthusiastic thumbs up from both of them. My concerns were, evidently, unfounded. So, with their reassurance (and a few threats of bodily harm from Scarlett), Breaking the Rules continues.

Other books that have been saved from the Wangstbasket of Doom by the eyes of first draft betas? Between Brothers. Rules of Engagement. With The Band.

Even better, it's happened on more than one occasion that Adam or Scarlett will say "Ooh, does this happen next?" Or "You know what would kick ass? If *mumble* did *mutterwhisperhiss* because of *mumble*..." And I've said, "Oh! Good idea..." Because of a comment like that from Scarlett, a set of dogtags comes into play in Rules of Engagement and actually becomes a fairly significant part of the story.

But it's not just the reassurance of "yes, this bit works" that keeps the first draft rolling...sometimes it's quite the opposite. I'd rather get a "WTF is this shit?" when I've only written 5,000 words than, say, 75,000 words.

As a perfect example: The Infamous "Sort it, Shithead" Incident of 2008, wherein I explained a story to Scarlett after writing a chapter or three. She saw the massive coincidence upon which my plot hinged, and lightning bolts rained down from the heavens as she commanded me to "Sort it, Shithead!" I scrapped the entire thing, everything I'd written so far (a few thousand words), and redid the outline from scratch. I shudder to think of how horrible that story would have turned out had I written it from start to finish before showing it to her, but because of her feedback, the story rose from the ashes and became Playing With Fire.

A lot of writers cringe at the thought of sharing their work in its unpolished, unrefined state, particularly with other writers (because we tend to be a nitpicky bunch), but having spent the last few months writing first drafts with what amounts to two pairs of eyes looking over my shoulder, I have to say that I highly recommend this practice. Find a trusted writing partner that will give honest, solid criticism (and praise!), make sure it's understood that it's a first draft (so prose issues, grammatical errors, and rough spots are to be expected), and swap chapters as you go.

It's not for everyone, but if you find yourself hitting rough spots, wangsting about whether or not a story works, or what have you...it's worth a try.

And now I must get back to Breaking the Rules, because Scarlett is demanding the next chapter...