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Looking for Beta for fantasy/romance novel

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Blackfire

Blackfire

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Hello, all! I'm rather new here at AW, so sincerest apologies if I do something wrong - which is more than likely.

Moving on, I am looking for (a) beta reader(s) for my WIP novel, Dragonic Soul. I have re-touched my prologue and first few chapters, but the rest is rather first-draft and sparse for detail. What I'm likely going to do is re-touch each chapter to make it more enjoyable before sending it out.

A short synopsis of my plot:
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Aetheria, the land ruled by dragons, becomes threatened by an invisible threat - a single man and his desires to harness the power of forbidden soul art to overthrow the dragon rulers. Chaos ensues when a power struggle between the elemental provinces of Aetheria are joined by the rampant destruction of one man and his growing army of grotesque abominations. The fate of all Aetheria is stripped away from the dragons when the dragon leaders are taken captive; the only hope lies with the band of the few men and women that truly know what is causing the chaos. Along the way, Rayver and his adopted sister Aysu will find struggles, companions, love, and secrets about Aetheria that no human was meant to know.

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Apologies if it's cliche, boring or just plain bad. It's my first time trying to pitch my novel, and my first time writing a novel!

Dragonic Soul is currently about 250 pages in length - sorry that I don't have a word count at the moment. I'm mainly looking for someone who can tell me what works, what doesn't, which character traits and actions are believable, and everything in between. The grammar and syntax will come in time, and I'll accept those types of comments, but mainly I'm looking for story structure!

Thanks to all in advance for your consideration. You can contact me here in this thread or PM me.

P.s. I am willing to do beta reading in exchange provided the genre is similar! :D
 
writermom

writermom

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Blackfire, you should consider placing your first chapter up for crit in the SYW section. You might find someone who clicks with it. Even if you don't, the crits there will help to point out issues that will crop up throughout the novel. -- WM.
 
Blackfire

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writermom

writermom

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It looks like you received some good responses! So that's great. My personal advice would be, you really need to get yourself a craft book. There are numerous threads here on which books people prefer, so I'll let you browse them (use the search at the top).

I really think, from reading your start, that you'd benefit from logical, pointed advice on story structure (which is why I'm recommending a book). Get something that has applied lesson "homework." How to set a scene without telling, how to create atmosphere, how to work in characterization, etc.

You're not bad. I certainly don't want to discourage you. I think with some practice and a firmer grasp on what makes a read compelling, you can improve rapidly.

Good luck!
 
Blackfire

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writermom said:
It looks like you received some good responses! So that's great. My personal advice would be, you really need to get yourself a craft book. There are numerous threads here on which books people prefer, so I'll let you browse them (use the search at the top).

I really think, from reading your start, that you'd benefit from logical, pointed advice on story structure (which is why I'm recommending a book). Get something that has applied lesson "homework." How to set a scene without telling, how to create atmosphere, how to work in characterization, etc.

You're not bad. I certainly don't want to discourage you. I think with some practice and a firmer grasp on what makes a read compelling, you can improve rapidly.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the constructive comment. I am not ashamed to admit that I'm new to all this, and my work is likely sub-par, but that's why I joined! :3

And I'm glad, too. AW is a much nicer community than many other ones in which writing isn't exactly respected. >_>
 
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