he wave surged up into Montserrat’s lap, knocking her back on the sand. She screwed her eyes shut and coughed as the water rushed over her face then slid back down into the ocean.
Montserrat got to her feet, brushing wet sand off her legs. She didn’t want to be knocked over again, and she was tired of waiting. Maybe they weren’t coming today, after all.
Maybe mermaids, like humans, never kept promises.
She turned back toward the beach. A wordless cry had her spinning back around.
Two arms waved at her from the end of the dock, one seaweed green, the other robin’s egg blue.
Montserrat’s heart leapt, and she started to run. Her bare feet dug into the sand and skipped over a mound of dried seaweed. The splintered wood of her uncle’s dock bit into her hands as she pulled herself onto it. Then she sprinted down the length of the dock and plunged into the water.
Before she surfaced, two pairs of arms wrapped around her in casual affection.
In my last post, I briefly mentioned some of the art and writing challenges that take place in the fall. From writing a short story every day to experimenting with different art mediums, here is a guide to fall art and writing challenges.
Continue reading on my website or below the cut.
Fall Art and Writing Challenges
There are so many to choose from! But first, I want to get something out of the way: Inktober.
The Controversy Around Inktober
For those who don’t know, Inktober is a hugely popular month-long challenge in October. Participating artists create an ink drawing every day to improve their skills with the medium. There is an official Inktober prompt list that you can either choose to follow or ignore. Even if you’re familiar with Inktober, you may not know that there is a current controversy wherein Alphonso Dunn alleges in a video posted on August 26, 2020, that Jake Parker, the creator of Inktober, plagiarized sections of his book Pen & Ink Drawing: A Simple Guide in Parker’s new book Inktober All Year Long. Here is Dunn’s Youtube video addressing the issue.
Parker’s book was due to be released in September 2020, but due to the accusations, his publisher has put the book on hold. Dunn’s book was released in 2015. Here is a detailed article from F News Magazine that covers the controversy in detail.
The controversy has been polarizing, and both artists have their supporters. It’s not just an issue of plagiarism, but race as well. Alphonso Dunn is a Black artist, and Jake Parker is white. If the allegations are founded, a white artist has stolen a black artist’s work and claimed it as his own.
If you plan to participate in Inktober, I encourage you to do your own research beforehand. For me, I will not participate until there is proof that plagiarism did not take place as the comparisons of the preview of Parker’s book are VERY suspicious.
Now that that’s out of the way, we’ll move on to art challenges that aren’t laden with controversy.
Brushtober
Brushtober is not a new concept, as there are mentions of the word on the internet for at least a decade. However, it has never officially been used for an art challenge until popular artist Lois Van Baarle announced that she was going to use the hashtag to test out various mediums that require brushes to apply. Her announced mediums include ink washes and ecoline, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache, with each medium assigned to one week in October. Other artists are already following suit, so I can see this evolving into a recurring event. You can find her work on many social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook.
OC-Tober
OC-Tober or OCtober is similar to the two above events in that the goal is to draw every day. Unlike the others, rather than focusing on a specific medium, the goal is to draw your own original characters every day. OC is common internet shorthand for original character. They can be characters from your own original work, or characters you created to participate in a fandom.
This is a more open-ended event, so if drawing isn’t your thing, you can also use it as a writing challenge to write about your characters. It is a popular event without a sole person running it, so there are a few prompt lists floating around. The goal is fun and to let people know about your characters, so you can be as simple or as detailed as you want.
Blacktober is a month long exclusive event where Black creators get to turn their favorite characters into something that looks like them or draw their Black OCs using the official prompt list or their own! The event is meant to overall have fun by putting a fun, representative twist on their faves be it from anime, western cartoons, video games, and more!
@pianta
here is another Blacktober that you may not know about, hosted by Big Black Chapter. This event is for authors of colour and features 31 horror prompts for the month of October.
National Novel Writing Month
Now, October is not the only month in Fall, nor are artists the only creatives. National Novel Writing Month takes place in the month of November. Since that title is extremely long, participants often shorten it to NaNoWriMo or NaNo. The challenge is for writers around the world to write a novel in a month. The official NaNoWriMo site defines that as 50,000 words within the 30 days of November.
Unlike the other challenges on this list, NaNoWriMo has been around for decades. It began in 1999, but was officially established as a non-profit organization in 2006. It is by far one of the most popular challenges for writers, and has its own vernacular. “Kickoff” marks the start of NaNo on November 1, with many local groups holding events late on October 31st so that writing can begin right at midnight. A “Wrimo” is a NaNo participant. A “write in” is when participants from the same region get together to write. “TGIO” stands for Thank God It’s Over and marks the end of National Novel Writing Month on December 1st.
National Novel Writing Month can be brought into schools, and it even has a separate website for its younger participants, called the Young Writers Program.
The event doesn’t just take place in November. After a break in December, NaNo returns with the “Now what?” months of January and February where writers work on finishing and editing the project they started in November. Your first draft is never your best draft! Then there are also smaller events in April in July, called Camp NaNoWriMo, that are less official and where you can choose your own word goals.
Other Fall Art and Writing Challenges
This is not a comprehensive list by any means. September, October, and November are popular months for artistic challenges, and I’m sure there are dozens of community events that I haven’t even heard of! For example, I learned of Blocktober, an event for game developers/designers, while fact-checking this article. So if none of these are your jam, keep looking. Your thing is out there.
Which challenge is your favourite? What challenges did I leave out? Let me know down below!
There is no shortage of drawing and writing challenges in October. One of the big ones for writers is Plantober, also known as Preptober, where writers start getting ready for NaNoWriMo 2020.
You can read the post on my website or under the cut.
What is NaNoWriMo?
For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every year during the month of November, writers from all over the world sit down to write a novel in a month. 50,000 words, 30 days, an average of 1,667 words per day to succeed. You don’t even need to be an adult to participate! The non-profit agency that runs NaNoWriMo also has a separate site for their Young Writers Program for writers under the age of 18 and K-12 educators (for those who want to bring National Novel Writing Month into the classroom).
From the Young Writers Program Website:
National Novel Writing Months is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!
Why Start Planning in October?
It’s not a requirement. However, as any NaNo (short for NaNoWriMo) veteran can tell you, when you’re trying to churn out 50,000 words in a month you don’t have much time to sit down and plan things out. If you’re someone who likes to wing it, which NaNo veterans refer to as a Pantser. People who need a plan, though, should start getting ready beforehand.
In the past I’ve never bothered with a plan. This isn’t so much because I’m a Pantser, but because I tend to forget and leave things at the last minute, so I start November 1 with only a vague story idea and a main character. This doesn’t usually work out for me, as I’ve been participating in National Novel Writing Month off and on since 2011 and have only hit the 50,000 word goal 3 times.
And that’s okay! The main purpose of NaNoWriMo is to end with more than you started with, whether that’s 50,000 words or 4000. Either way, your story likely won’t be complete from start to finish on November 30. There will be more work to do. But you’ll have a jumping off point to do that work.
This year is the first time I’m making a solid plan and writing it down. I realized when working on some personal projects over the past few months that I am the type who works better with an outline. My outline won’t be super in-depth. It’s purpose is to be a guide to keep me on track in November.
A Sneak Peek at my NaNoWriMo 2020 Project
Hopefully you can read my writing in the header image. For those who can’t, I’ve transcribed the image below:
NaNoWriMo 2020: My Home is My Castle
Premise: Colby is an immortal. Bored, lonely, and in need of a change of scenery, he buys a haunted castle off Craigslist. All the locals try to warn him away, and there are whispers that it’s occupied by monsters.
If only they knew Colby was a monster himself.
He and his cat Popcorn move in an quickly meet the supernatural denizens of the castle. Most quickly resign themselves to his presence, but Colby is forced to kill a hostile werewolf.
Little does he know how many problems that act will cause.
That’s right. Due to popular demand, I’m turning my short story My Home is My Castle into a full-length novel!
I haven’t gotten far into the chapter breakdown of my outline yet. After all, we’re only five days into October.
Time to Reflect on the First three-Quarters of 2020
We’re heading into October, the final quarter of 2020. And what a wild ride this year has been! Yet it’s also been somewhat boring for me, despite how much has happened in the world. So, now seems like a good time for me to reflect on what I’ve accomplished in the first three-quarters of 2020, and all the things that I didn’t accomplish.Â
I was let go from my job last November, and with current events I haven’t been able to find a new one. I’ve been fortunate that I still live with my mom and siblings, so I’m not in a financial crisis. But it’s still hard.
Accomplishments in 2020
One of my new year’s resolutions for 2020 was to start journaling again. Since the rest of my new year’s resolutions involved things like meeting new people and going outside, it’s the one of the few that I actually accomplished this year. I’ve never been the type to journal every day. I forget, lose track of time, and return to it in a few days or weeks. But I’ve kept up the habit pretty well this year. It helps that I’ve motivated myself with pretty sticks. Who doesn’t love pretty stickers?
Thanks to my efforts making stickers for my Etsy shop, I have a bunch of stickers to play with. I especially like my poppy ones.
What can I say? I love pretty flowers. Giving myself permission to put a pretty sticker and some washi tape on each page of my journal has been a great motivator to write in it. I’ve always been one of those people who hoards nice things because using them seems “wasteful”, when really all that does is deprive me of something that makes me happy. If you’re like that too, use your stickers! Your happiness is never a waste.
Launching my Etsy and Redbubble stores were definitely some of my accomplishments that I’m proud of when I take the time to reflect on the first three-quarters of 2020. While I haven’t made sales yet on either store, I’m okay with that because I know nobody has much disposable income right now. Maybe it’ll pick up in the future. In the meantime, I’m focusing on building up quality inventory. I feel like my art and graphic design skills have taken huge leaps this year.
I also launched this website in June of this year! Since then, I’ve written twelve short stories and six book reviews. I hope to increase that number even more next year.
What are your proudest accomplishments of 2020? I know it’s been hard for everyone, but I think we all have something we can take pride in, no matter how small.
Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs is the third novel in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series. I have also reviewed the previous two books, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City.
This review may contain spoilers. This review contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission off of qualifying purchases made through the links on this page at no extra cost to you.
After the events of Hollow City, Jacob, Emma, and Addison on are on their own in their quest to rescue Miss Peregrine from the wights. And now the wights have the rest of their friends as well. With the help of the intrepid Addison’s Peculiar-sensitive nose, they are able to track the wights and their captives to the loop entrance leading to Devil’s Acre. They must pay for passage from a mysterious boatman, who warns them to trust no one and swears not to help them beyond transporting them safely to the shore.
Setting
While Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs begins in modern-day London, but by chapter two Jacob, Emma, and Addison are in Devil’s Acre. The exact year of the time loop is never stated, however, it was long before the invention of modern plumbing as its inhabitants dump their waste in the river. Sharon, the boatman, describes Devil’s Acre as containing, “Nasty things… Dreadful things. Vile things. Anything you like, so long as what you like is nasty, dreadful, and vile…” It is home to outlaws, mercenaries, and exiles.
Ransom Riggs’ talent for descriptive writing means that we get to see Devil’s Acre in sordid detail, from the stinking water of The Ditch to the flower boxes on Oozing Street.
Continue reading below or on my website.
Characters
I was pleased that Addison the talking boxer returned in this book, as I enjoyed him immensely in Hollow City. He is proud, courageous, and loyal to the point of recklessness, as indicated by how he charges off anytime he thinks Miss Wren, his ymbryne, is nearby. In fact, his pride and recklessness results in him often blurting things out, revealing that he is a Peculiar dog at inappropriate times, such as around Normals.
Jacob grows braver and more sure of himself. However, he retains his natural timidity, which means that he is cautious and doesn’t fall victim to the typical male protagonist brashness. If Jacob had his way, there would always be time to come up with a plan. That’s not his reality, though, so he has learned to be more flexible and to think on his feet as the series grows on. I’m very pleased with his growth from a bored, nihilistic teenager to a brave, selfless young man.
The brashness belongs to Emma. Emma has a strong sense of justice, which gets them into more than one mess. She can’t bring herself to look away from people being treated poorly, even for the sake of rescuing Miss Peregrine, who she loves like a mother. She is far more than a love interest, and does her part to advance the plot.
There were also a number of new characters introduced in this book.
Sharon
I knew from the moment we met our seven-foot-tall, hooded boatman that I was going to love him. He’s sarcastic, he’s morally-ambiguous, he’s got pet rats that he refers to himself as “daddy” to. I was guaranteed to like him. So I hope that he would stick around for more than that one scene, and sure enough Emma and Jacob were able to convince him to help them navigate Devil’s Acre. Sharon is a Peculiar, but his power is never explained. I, personally, am assuming it has to do with rat communication. Sharon is a nuanced, round character, and he is my favourite of the new characters in Library of Souls.
Mr. Bentham
The younger of Miss Peregrine’s brothers. The council of ymbrynes exiled him to Devil’s Acre for his part in creating the hollows. Bentham is weak both physically and mentally, often requiring his grimbear bodyguard PT to carry him around his own house. He has a checkered past of good deeds and bad, and neither Emma nor Jacob trust him despite the assistance he renders to them.
Caul
The older of Miss Peregrine’s two brothers. Caul, whose birth name is Jack, is the leader of the wights. While he appeared in Hollow City, we get to see more of him as a character in Library of Souls. Caul is sadistic and selfish, with no loyalty to his own men or his siblings. All Caul wants is to rule the world. To achieve that, there is nothing he isn’t willing to do. Torture children? Threaten his own brother? All fine in Caul’s book. While his motives aren’t complex, he is sensible enough to never put himself in harm’s way. He holds deep bitterness for his sister, Miss Peregrine’s, status as an ymbryne, which gives her great status in matriarchal Peculiar society. This seems to have factored in to his desire to rule Peculiardom as its king.
Mother Dust
Mother Dust is not a major character, but I feel she is worth mentioning.  She is a healer in Bentham’s employ who gives Emma and Jacob a tool to help them infiltrate the wights’ fortress. To use her healing power, she has to rub her flesh into dust to sprinkle on wounds. This means that her power harms her each time its used. When Emma asked her about it, Mother Dust said through her assistant Reynaldo that this is how she was chosen to serve. The narrative implies that she has no tongue, so she never speaks directly. Reynaldo translates everything she says. Mother Dust might be French, as Reynaldo has a French accent.
Final Thoughts on Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
I loved Library of Souls from start to finish. It was one of those books that I was sad to see end, though I was satisfied by the conclusion. The first thing I did after reading the last page was excitedly tell all my friends how much I enjoyed the book.
I know that there are more books in the series, so I’ll definitely be picking them up. Library of Souls tied up the loose ends from the previous two books, so I’m curious about what the other books will be about.
Definitely recommended! However, there are applicable trigger warnings: torture, madness, human experimentation, unlawful confinement, slavery, drugs, needles, blood, injury, and child abuse.
The interior of the cave was more beautiful than she imagined. It was made entirely of crystal, some translucent and others in shades of blue and purple. The beam of her flashlight hit the crystal and refracted in a hundred different directions.
A smile stretched across her face as she stared, enraptured. She learned that shining her flashlight on certain crystals at a specific angle turned the light dozens of bright colours.
It was so beautiful. She didn’t understand why people said this place was bad.
In the back of the cave was an enormous stalagmite that towered several feet over her head. It seemed to glow from within, and she stared at it, mesmerized, for longer than she should have.
“This is amazing, Dorian!” she exclaimed. When there was no response, she looked around in confusion. He wasn’t in the back cavern with her, so she started back toward the cave entrance. “Dorian?” she called.
Her steps faltered. There was a fork in the path. But it had been a straight tunnel from entrance to cavern… hadn’t it?
She must have not noticed the split. No big deal.
She turned right, confident that it would take her to the exit, but the tunnel narrowed until she couldn’t go further even by turning sideways. There was no choice but to double back.
When she saw the huge, glowing stalagmite looming ahead, she stopped in confusion. She had been waiting for the path to fork so that she could try the other way this time. There was no way she could have missed it.
Well, she must have, because she was back in the cavern. She would have to pay more attention this time.
But when she turned, the path had disappeared. There was only a clear wall of crystal casting her reflection back at her.
She spun. The cavern was sealed off. There were no paths out. The stalagmite glowed brighter, and she shrank back against the wall with a whimper. Then it flashed, once.
When the light faded, the girl was gone and the path had returned. The only proof the girl had been there at all was her still-lit flashlight rolling slowly across the floor. It hit the stalagmite and came to a stop, and its light winked out.
If you enjoyed this, check out my other stories: A Tale of Wolves, Battleground, and I’m With You.
Did you know that I have an Etsy and a Redbubble? Be sure to check them out!
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs is the second novel in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series. I reviewed the first book, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, back in August. You can read that review here.
This review may contain spoilers. This review contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from purchases made through links on this page at no additional cost to you.
As with its predecessor, Hollow City by Ransom Riggs uses a mix of vintage photography and haunting prose to craft a creepy, atmospheric novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but a few warnings to the squeamish: there is blood, animal death, character death, sexual assault (inappropriate touching from an adult to a minor to frighten and intimidate), impalement, and monsters. There’s probably more that I’m forgetting, but those are the big ones.
Continue reading below or on my website
Premise
Jacob Portman and the Peculiar children leave the time loop on Cairnholm to try to find a way to help Miss Peregrine, who is trapped in bird form after her rescue from the wights’ submarine. They make the treacherous trip from Cairnholm to the mainland by rowing three small boats. Then they have to make the even more dangerous journey to London through war-torn Europe in 1940.
As if the war didn’t make things dangerous enough, the wights and hollowgast are dogging them every step of the way. The Peculiar children have to use every ounce of wits and power they possess in order to survive, and they have a time limit. If they take longer than three days to find another ymbryne, Miss Peregrine will be stuck as a bird permanently.
Setting
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs is mainly set in England in the year 1940, during the second world war. However, given that the children are searching for an ymbryne, who control time, they venture in and out of time loops to other times. They face disappointment after disappointment, as most loops have been abandoned after raids from the wights. However, they do find a hidden loop whose occupants direct them to London and Miss Wren—the only ymbryne yet to be captured.
The Peculiar children arrive in London during the middle of the Blitz. Most of London’s children are being evacuated to the countryside for safety when they arrive to search for clues of Miss Wren’s whereabouts.
Characters
I was pleased to see that many of the Peculiar children were rounded out further in Hollow City. We already got to know Jacob, Emma, Enoch, and Millard well during the first book, but we got to see sides of the others that we hadn’t seen before.
Bronwyn
Bronwyn, whose peculiarity is super strength, was fleshed out the most in Hollow City. We learned in the first book that she was a strong, impulsive, brave girl who thinks fast on her feet. In Hollow City, we also learned that she is gentle and maternal. With no adults, Bronwyn is the one who takes care of Olive and Claire, comforting them when scary things happen. She carries them when they’re too tired to keep up with the older kids. I love that she calls Olive “little Magpie.”
In sharp contrast to Enoch, who doesn’t seem to have any compassion whatsoever, Bronwyn is the most averse to causing harm to others. She hates the suffering around them when they arrive in London and really struggles with the fact that they can’t stop to help.
Horace
While Horace isn’t as heavily featured, we did learn more about how his power works and the sort of information he can get about people through his prophetic dreams. It’s thanks to his power that they were able to convince Melina to join the group (and not kill them). He is one of the more timid members of the group.  Horace faces his fears to do what needs to be done in the extreme circumstances the group is in.
Hugh and Fiona
We still don’t know much about these two, but we learned that they met before entering Miss Peregrine’s care. They are also a couple, which was hinted at in the previous book. I look forward to learning more about them, especially Fiona. I’m a sucker for plant powers.
New Characters
We also got to meet some new faces, though I’ll only mention the ones that stayed until the end of the book here (without spoiling too much).
Melina
One of the few survivors of a raided loop. Melina has telekinesis powers and zero tolerance for Enoch’s nihilism. She joins the group in London on the search for Miss Peregrine, reasoning that it’s better than staying in her loop and waiting for the wights to find her. She is very protective of Joel-and-Peter.
Joel-and-Peter
Joel-and-Peter are a pair of Peculiar brothers who are “joined in the head.” They can hear each others thoughts. They are from the same loop as Melina and fled into the crypt when the wights attacked. Both boys are blind and use echolocation to see. They are always arm-in-arm. Joel-and-Peter hate to be separated to the point where they break into hysterical, supersonic screaming if they are forced apart. Along with Melina, they join the group in London.
Addison
A Peculiar dog with the ability to talk. While he doesn’t join the group, he is a notable character.
Final Thoughts on Hollow City
There were two absolutely shocking twists in this book that I enjoyed very much. I am excited to see how they’ll get out of their predicament in Library of Souls and how Jacob’s power will continue to develop, since nobody seems to know much about it.
I also really liked that Jacob and Emma continue to have a cute, respectful romance while also having those tough conversations about their circumstances—he’s from the present and she can’t survive there—as well as working together to protect the younger kids. They’re basically the co-leads of the group, and they work together really well. Even Enoch, who started out questioning all their decisions (largely due to Jacob’s presence), comes to trust them.
So I definitely recommend this book if it sounds like your jam.
First, if you don’t know what a beta reader is, check out my previous post on beta readers. But why do you need a beta reader?
A beta reader provides feedback on your finished manuscript before you publish. This is super important because a lot of times you’re too close to your work to see its flaws. You need a neutral third-party to read through your manuscript for things like plot holes, wonky dialogue, or inconsistent characters to help you see your book in a new light.
But I’ve Edited and Proofread! My Book is Perfect!
Maybe your sentences are grammatically correct. You’ve caught all the typos. All your facts have been well-researched and triple checked for accuracy. The tenses are consistent. So, why would you need a beta reader?
When a reader picks your book off the shelf at a book store or previews it before purchase (such as with eBooks), chances are they’re only going to skim a few sentences or a few pages before deciding whether to buy or not. We call the first page the “hook” of the story, since it’s intent is to grab the reader and make them not want to put the book down.
A technically-perfect hook isn’t necessarily an intriguing one.
Your potential buyer is bored, puts your book down, and walks away. It doesn’t matter how great the rest of your book is if you lose them on the first page.
If you’re absolutely certain your hook is great, I’ll take your word for it, but I really do recommend having an unbiased person take a look at it.
Why else might you need a beta reader?
Again, a beta reader assumes the role of your intended audience for your book. If the beta reader notices something off, chances are your future readers will too. Maybe you think certain scenes are boring because you’ve read them so many times. Which makes sense! You know everything that’s going to happen because you wrote it.
But what if you show your work to a trusted friend or your critique group, and they think that scene is boring too?
You’ve got a problem! If these initial readers are bored, the people who buy your book will be bored, too.
It’s easier to fix problems before your book is published and reviews are posted for the world to see, so you need a beta reader to help you catch any issues. Negative feedback may hurt your pride or your feelings, but better that than publishing a bad book.
This is especially important if you self-publish. There will be less eyes on your book before publication making sure it’s the best book it can be. In some cases, the only eyes on it might be, well, yours. And you might think you have the emotional distance to be critical of this manuscript you’ve spent months slaving over and crying over, but it doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion.
So get a beta reader. I’ll walk you through how to find a beta reader in another post.
If you read my review of Lately Social (and I recommend that you do), you will remember that I could not highly recommend Lately Social because of issues with my posts failing. However, since I posted my Lately Social review all of my posts have been published successfully.Â
I think I figured it out.Â
I feel so silly. I switched to saving all of my files as .JPG files due to the file size limitations of the free version of Lately Social. And I think that has something to do with why my posts are successful now.Â
I didn’t know this, but Instagram also has a post limit. Therefore, if your .PNG file is too big, Instagram won’t allow it to upload.Â
So Instagram wouldn’t upload my .PNG graphics, which caused the posts to fail. It wasn’t Lately Social’s fault at all! Switching completely to .JPG files solved the problem completely. If you're having problems with your posts failing, check your file type! You might be having the same problem.Â
I just wanted to set the record straight that it was human error that was the problem, not the platform. I can now safely recommend Lately Social for your social media scheduling needs.Â
If you're interested in trying out Lately Social, check out my step-by-step guide on how to schedule a post on Lately Social.
So you’ve written a book. Great! That’s an incredible feat, and you should be so proud. Now that you’ve written it and edited it until you don’t even know what words are, you might want to get a beta reader. But what is a beta reader?
A beta reader reads your book and provides feedback. Often unpaid, a beta reader is not an editor. They can be a friend, a family member, another writer, or a stranger on the internet. Anyone you trust for honest feedback can be a beta reader. However, people who read your manuscript and simply say “I loved it” are generally not valuable sources of feedback. Conversely, someone who has nothing good to say about your novel is not a good match either.
What Kind of Feedback Do Beta Readers Provide?
It depends! What kind of feedback are you looking for? You’re allowed to ask your beta reader specific questions about your manuscript, such as:
Did the opening pages grab your attention?
Were there any spots where you got bored or that you skimmed through?
Does the plot make sense?
Do the characters feel rounded and genuine? Did you notice any inconsistencies in setting/plot/characters?
You can even go more in-depth with your questions, asking specifically about dialogue or action sequences. It’s up to you and what kind of feedback you need. But be sure to communicate it with your beta reader. Books are big, and you might end up with feedback on characters when you wanted feedback on your plot if you aren’t specific.
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with just wanting general feedback about what your beta readers notice.
Is One Beta Reader Enough?
Generally, it’s best to have more than one opinion. If you get the same criticism from more than one reader, it’s likely that there’s something that needs to be fixed. However, if one reader complains about something but the others don’t, it may be a matter of preference. Use your best judgment. I think three beta readers is good for multiple opinions without getting overwhelmed by differing opinions. You can definitely have more, but at a certain point it becomes difficult to keep track of who has responded with their feedback and who hasn’t, and following up with everyone.
Some Tips
You will get the most benefit if your beta readers actually enjoy the genre that you’re writing in. Someone who hates the genre of your book is less likely to enjoy it and will be more critical.
Some beta readers will want a synopsis of your book or for you to send them a few chapters to get a feel for your book before they commit to the project. This is fine. Remember, they’re probably doing this for free in their spare time. They’re allowed to take a quick look before you send them the rest, or they say “sorry, but it’s not for me.”
You’re going to get feedback. Some of it will be negative. It’s the nature of the beast. Accept it gracefully, thank your beta reader, and set it aside until you can examine it calmly. You don’t have to incorporate feedback right away. Read it all over and decide what is most valuable for you and your book.
Set out a turn-around time. Don’t be afraid to ask your beta reader how long they expect to take to get back to you or to set a deadline. You don’t want to get stuck in limbo waiting for feedback that never comes.
I hope you found this brief overview of beta readers helpful! Next week I’ll cover why you need a beta reader.
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Wind blew through the trees and set them to rustling. It was as though they whispered secrets to one another, but Lucy couldn’t understand.
She walked the forest path and listened to the leaves as Grandpa instructed. He said the leaves would tell her where to go.
They whispered too softly for her to hear.
She walked and walked and walked, but she could not find the door that Grandpa said would lead her to Faerie, and her Grandma. Her feet blistered from searching. She needed a faerie potion to save her brother.
The leaves told her where to go. She was not listening.
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This story was writting for #flashfictionmagic over on Instagram! It’s hosted by tumblr user thebarnettburrow, so be sure to check her out for more awesome flash fiction.
