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Dear Reader

Your fingers are tapping nervously against your desk and you’re trying in vain to process the words printed on the page. You glance at your phone’s empty notification screen and bite your lip. Seriously how long does it take to read a chapter? Your phone buzzes and you make a grab for it, almost dropping it in the process. Just started the tenth chapter, the text reads, Bethany is my hero. You shoot a text back, wow you’re a fast reader.

Twenty seconds later, there’s another text, what the hell just happened? You just smile at the sudden influx of messages, oh my god, dude you’re so evil, I can’t believe you just did that. Two days later, she calls you. You struggle to jot down all the important pieces of feedback as she gushes about her favorite character, who incidentally, was actually largely inspired by her. Thirty minutes into the call, it is time for you to do the talking. You begin with the basics, what was your overall opinion? What parts of the book were struggling to hold your attention? What parts were your favorite? Which character did you think did not add any value to the story?

She seems happy enough to answer your questions and does not hold back on constructive criticism. By the time you put the phone down, you have pages worth of notes that will help you create a better third draft. You sit down to arrange them in order of relevance from general feedback to personal preferences. You find yourself rereading the scenes that she loved and the ones that she hated, and you start to see what’s great and terrible about them through her eyes. You highlight the terrible parts in the document, making them a job for your future self as right now, you are too tired to make good choices and changes.

You close the document and shut down, preparing yourself to wind down with an hour or two of mindless media consumption. As you stand up and stretch out the kinks, there’s another buzz. Hey, just starting the first chapter now, can’t wait to see what’s in store for me 😊. You smile, whatever your faults, you have great taste in beta readers.

 

For A, A, and J, my absolutely fricking amazing beta readers

Comments

  1. JewelDecember 16, 2022 at 2:55 PM

    I still can't believe how freaking amazing you are! Won't be long till I get my hands on my autographed, published copy 😎

    ReplyDelete

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