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Beta reader needed for novella @ 21500 WC.

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KemalKinali

KemalKinali

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Hey guys.

I finally finished my novella, which has around 21500 word count and I need a beta reader for it.

I haven't revised it. Didn't go through it to fix anything. Am I supposed to do that BEFORE the beta reader?

What I was thinking regarding a beta reader was to get hard critique on basically anything. Grammar, spelling, optimal sentence construction etc.

If I'm supposed to revise first, I'll do that and come back here when it's done. It's fairly short, after all.
 
Kay

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Speaking for myself, I wouldn't be willing to beta anything that hasn't been revised yet. Betas are to find the issues you can't necessarily see. Fix the stuff you can (overuse of certain phrases, switching tenses, clarifying, etc.), then see if a beta is willing to read it and cacth the issues you're blind to since it's your own work.
 
Lauram6123

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Kay said:
Speaking for myself, I wouldn't be willing to beta anything that hasn't been revised yet. Betas are to find the issues you can't necessarily see. Fix the stuff you can (overuse of certain phrases, switching tenses, clarifying, etc.), then see if a beta is willing to read it and cacth the issues you're blind to since it's your own work.
Click to expand...

I second this. You should have your work in the best shape possible to make your beta's job as easy as it can be. Then they can concentrate on things you can't see, like crutch words, plot and character issues.
 
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KemalKinali

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That makes a lot of sense. Thank you guys. I'll start revising! It's just that English is not my mother tongue and I switch tenses without knowing, which makes it hard to spot even when I read it repeatedly. Also would like the same way of critique that people do in SYW, where they rewrite sentences in smarter ways etc. But I'll start revising and hopefully find a reader who can help me the way I need it :) thanks again.
 
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Maryn

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I concur, the beta is as polished as you can make it. It's the version you'd send to agents or publishers if you didn't have a beta reader.

Finding those verb tense shifts can be a hard slog, but instead of reading your work, seek the verb(s) in each sentence without reading. Are they the tense they should be? Good. Next sentence.

Maryn, knowing it's hard, which is why we're here to help
 
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