Beta Reading for "When Life Hands You Lymes"
I used to wonder just how in the world writers pulled it off when they talked about changing a significant plot point or setting or even adding in a character when they were already several drafts into the book.
Then it happened to me. When Life Hands You Lymes was somewhere around the 10th draft when the combination of the agreeing voices of WLHYL's beta readers and a bunch of brainstorming on my part somehow produced a quite important secondary character. What happened next was a mad scrabble to integrate said-chracter into the story. That meant adding scenes in some places and changing scenes in others. There were a lot of sentences previously assigned to others that I tweaked and gave to the new character. I created a backstory. A personality. A future. (And, I just realized I totally failed to give her any physical descriptions... So that will be my next task.)
During this last month when I've been in Mexico I've done a lot of work on When Life Hands You Lymes and am excitedly nearing the the end of the current draft I'm working on. That means it's nearly time to send WLHYL out to beta readers again.
Beta readers have helped me an incredible amount with the book. It's amazing and quite needed to have extra eyes and brains to see problems and and give important feedback. I've found it's best when I have a variety of beta readers because sometimes I don't agree with what one reader says, but if several say the same thing, then it's easy to acknowledge that the problem is most likely with my view point, not theirs.
And, speaking of beta readers... I thought I'd offer the chance to y'all to jump on the beta reading bandwagon if it sounds like an interesting adventure to you. (Cause beta reading totally qualifies as an adventure.) Here's a quick look at what beta reading is comprised of:
*I send you an email with an attachment of WLHYL (which is right under 90,000 words).
*You read the story and provide feedback via email, or by leaving notes on the actual WLHYL document.
It's that simple. The kind of feedback I'll be looking for is:
*Is the story interesting and does it flow?
*Are there any problems with the plot?
*Are the characters consistent and relatable?
*What could I do to make the book better?
*Anything else you feel inclined to say about the book.
That's it for today, folks! If you are interested in beta reading, you can email me at: aidylewoh@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have. I'm really hoping to send the book out to beta readers on Saturday, although I can obviously send it afterward as well.
Then it happened to me. When Life Hands You Lymes was somewhere around the 10th draft when the combination of the agreeing voices of WLHYL's beta readers and a bunch of brainstorming on my part somehow produced a quite important secondary character. What happened next was a mad scrabble to integrate said-chracter into the story. That meant adding scenes in some places and changing scenes in others. There were a lot of sentences previously assigned to others that I tweaked and gave to the new character. I created a backstory. A personality. A future. (And, I just realized I totally failed to give her any physical descriptions... So that will be my next task.)
During this last month when I've been in Mexico I've done a lot of work on When Life Hands You Lymes and am excitedly nearing the the end of the current draft I'm working on. That means it's nearly time to send WLHYL out to beta readers again.
Beta readers have helped me an incredible amount with the book. It's amazing and quite needed to have extra eyes and brains to see problems and and give important feedback. I've found it's best when I have a variety of beta readers because sometimes I don't agree with what one reader says, but if several say the same thing, then it's easy to acknowledge that the problem is most likely with my view point, not theirs.
And, speaking of beta readers... I thought I'd offer the chance to y'all to jump on the beta reading bandwagon if it sounds like an interesting adventure to you. (Cause beta reading totally qualifies as an adventure.) Here's a quick look at what beta reading is comprised of:
*I send you an email with an attachment of WLHYL (which is right under 90,000 words).
*You read the story and provide feedback via email, or by leaving notes on the actual WLHYL document.
It's that simple. The kind of feedback I'll be looking for is:
*Is the story interesting and does it flow?
*Are there any problems with the plot?
*Are the characters consistent and relatable?
*What could I do to make the book better?
*Anything else you feel inclined to say about the book.
That's it for today, folks! If you are interested in beta reading, you can email me at: aidylewoh@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have. I'm really hoping to send the book out to beta readers on Saturday, although I can obviously send it afterward as well.
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