Months before I finally sank my teeth in the first Creative Writing workshop coursework of my bachelor’s degree, I started beta-reading seriously in 2019. I’d only ever left scattered gushing comments on Wattpad original fiction before that. I’d yet to learn the terminology, the difference between beta-reader, critique partner, editor, copyeditor, but I was recovering from tuberculosis, and as such, had a lot of quarantined time at hand. Ages (and quarantines) have passed since then.
The first manuscript I beta-read will be published in 2022, while the second eventually introduced me to one of my dearest writing friends. I’ve ventured into new worlds, improved the quality of my feedback, and eventually created a Discord server for SFF writers to create in a magnified scale some of that craft community. I’ve also had the opportunity to experience undergrad workshops, where I’ve learned most of my reading discipline and the art of writing constructive critiques, as opposed to envious rants or empty compliments.
The Skills Required
But what, you might wonder, is beta-reading?
A beta-reader is a person tasked with reading usually a complete manuscript and, according to their style, presents to the writer an edit letter highlighting what worked well and, above all, what might need revision before submission/querying. A test reader, of sorts. Different from a critique partner, that instead reads rough drafts to share positivity rather than feedback. Though everyone adopts different techniques—some prefer marginal comments, other a long end review, and other require guided questions from the author—beta-reading teaches universal skills in the cosmos of creative writing. “First rule to improve writing is reading,” the advice often declares. I’d argue that earning the honor and privilege (it takes mutual trust) to view a yet-unpublished manuscript greatly enriches the creative mind, since the craft mechanisms are unassembled; thus, visible for studying and tinkering.
Speed
From beta-reading, before my position as peer writing tutor, I’ve patiently gathered an array of useful skills later transferred to my job. I’ve developed a keener, faster eye. Because of the disciplined repetition of reading with the intent of providing feedback, one’s vision almost sharpens to identify patterns and collect them into what the UCWbL would define as “agenda points.” I still love reading for pleasure, in which cases I turn off the critical switch. When browsing through a student piece, topic unknown until the hour before, I manage to see threads writhing underneath the words. I collect them like a fisherman jutting their nets in the ocean, and by the end of the first read-through, I usually have a bullet-point plan for my summary letter (I say usually, of course, because the good problem with well-written pieces is the scarcity of fishes to catch).
Restraint
Another invaluable skill I’ve learned while beta-reading that has transferred onto my role as peer writing tutor is restraint. When confronted with 100k+ words manuscript, the overwhelming task looms over a reader’s sanity, no matter the eagerness to venture into a new story. Often beginner’s beta-readers lose the promised motivation: how can one critically tackle this beast and truly help the writer without losing sleep? But beta-reading (and by transferring property, also peer tutoring) doesn’t demand copyediting. Those are different roles in different stages.
A beta-reader shouldn’t mark every single occurrence of a concern, nor should they attempt to highlight every instance of a pattern (emphasis on should, highlight the craft’s subjectivity). On the contrary, a good beta-reader seeks to explains tools through examples and conceptual feedback for the writer to later see (and evaluate) the concerns on their own. Not only does it make the task less daunting, but it fosters a greenhouse for reader and writer to enact a conversation about the topic, both learning, both improving.
Offering Opinions
While my history with peering through fellow authors’ manuscripts has aided me when, in 2020, I started working at DePaul’s Writing Center, I’ve recently only grown as beta-reader because of peer writing tutoring. The relationship of the two roles, it turns out, is mutually beneficial. Besides the obvious honing of my editorial writing skills, as I’m required to draft summary letters almost daily, my time at the DePaul Writing Center has taught me am invaluable lesson. A lesson that, shamefully, I’d buried in my consciousness before stepping into the virtual UCWbL workplace: the most valuable opinion you can offer to an author sharing their yet-polished manuscript is the one of a reader’s, not a writer’s.
Providing feedback requires critical skills and knowledge of the writing craft, whether acquired through one own’s work, study, or reading record. However, when peer reviewing (and in turn, beta-reading), it can be damaging to adapt a writer’s mindset. The tone quickly sours to involuntary harshness, and instead of offering the author a unique, outsider perspective of their words, they might end up losing ownership of them.
While they might be the expert in their field, a tutor should approach a text through the lenses of a reader, and as such, offer feedback based on that perception. The writer then gauges for themselves if their point has crossed the bridge, or if there’s something they need to elaborate better, since it hasn’t made the hoped-for impact. I realized that in my early beta-read manuscript, I didn’t try to do that, instead attempting to impose my non-existent expertise to validate my points. Thankfully, I’ve learned to tackle writing through reader’s lenses, and since then I’ve established great long-term relationships.
Supporting the Writer’s Vision
This perfectly ties into the next great skill I’ve learned during my time as writing tutor: you’re not trying to fix an essay; you’re attempting to nudge it closer to a writer’s vision. Perhaps that’s the hardest lesson to implement. As tutors, we often review work generated from mandatory assignments, and so we can’t expect students to pour all their time into a revision when they didn’t even want to draft the paper in the first place. But even then, grasping the writer’s vision is essential for constructive, helpful feedback, because the temptation to guide the comments toward our own vision of “good” often misleads non-experienced readers.
Beta-readers, as much as peer writing tutors, are the very first audience a writer finds. They don’t seek the voice of someone else taking other theirs; rather, a critical encouragement that will help them refine their vocal cords until the melody matches the intention so present, so vivid in their head. Sometimes, feedback even reveals to them what they’d been seeking all along, which yes, implies rehauling and reworking, but the heart soars lighter at the prospect, as opposed to first time drafting.
After adopting this mindset into my friend’s manuscripts, I’ve had a surprising amount of people thanking me for my words. Not that it hadn’t occurred before, but suddenly they were seeking out a conversation beyond the pages because I understood their vision, and so they valued my opinion as they unfolded their ideas.
Moving Forward
I aspire, one day, to work as either literary agent or creative editors. In both steads I’d strive to champion a writer’s work in the publishing industry, while also offering a personal, trusted peer reading relationship. As my skills grow in preparation, I’m forever grateful of the practical experience my job cultivates, as much as I thank my writing friends for sharing their works with me. I can’t wait to look back at this piece and think of every new thing I would learnt by then, embodying a better reader version of myself.