No matter what I’m writing, feedback in invaluable. I request feedback at different stages of working on my novel manuscripts.

CRITIQUE PARTNERS

I have been so lucky to have belonged to an online critique group for well over fifteen years. We started after finding one another on a writing website where folks could sign up and be placed in a group. We named ourselves The Blue Quills.

Over the years, members have come and gone, but we’ve always been kind with our critiques and supportive of one another.

So when do I use my critique partners for feedback?

My critique partners often see very early versions of my work. Currently, we send up to five thousand words/month and offer all kinds of feedback from catching overlooked typos to issues with how characters act/react, places in the WIP that cause confusion or require clarification, and reader reactions to our stories.

I enjoy getting these initial reactions while I’m still working on my first draft, because they help me make a much stronger revision when the time comes.

BETA READERS

Once I’ve finished my first rough draft, I spend several months doing big picture edits, analyzing character arcs, making sure my chronological timeline makes sense, and cutting or adding scenes until I have a decent second draft.

This is where my beta readers come in. I use a combination of writers and readers of my genre. They are given the full book, such as it is. I also send them a series of questions to answer, based on their reading experience. Some of the questions include things about my protagonist and antagonist, my plot, the ending, pacing, what they wanted less or more of, and anything I feel might make the book even better.

I usually ask beta readers to get back to me with their feedback in about six weeks.

Then, I create a chart for the feedback and put things into their appropriate columns. Now I can decide what works, changes I wish to make, and anything that I choose to add because of the feedback.

That’s my third draft.

Sometimes, if the feedback warrants a lot of change, I may ask a beta reader to re-read the book to see if it works better.

If I’m writing a type of character that’s too far from me, for example, a nationality that isn’t mine, a character with a different sexual orientation from mine, or a place I’ve never been, then I also utilize a sensitivity reader to make sure I’m not making any grave errors with the location or creating more of a stereotype than a real human character.

Now it’s time for a line edit (the language level), copy edit (grammar/punctuation/spelling etc.), proofreading (typos/formatting issues) before I am ready to query the manuscript.

Not everyone uses both critique partners and beta readers, but for me, the feedback I receive at these two vastly different stages in every manuscript allows me to put out the best version of each new book.

If you’re a writer, do you use critique partners or beta readers?