Things I Keep an Eye Out for When Beta-Reading My Own Work
Beta-reading is undeniably valuable to any author; feedback, constructive criticism, and general suggestions are crucial to improving our writing! However, if you're like me (don't have a beta reader and possibly are too lazy to thoroughly review everything) or are simply a beta reader searching for some guidance, this is going to help you identify what exactly to look for when skimming through a work!
1. Overly Repetitive Wording
Something that tends to remain at the top of my mind are repetitive words and phrases.
Now, don't get me wrong: not all repetition is bad. Repetition can be used to emphasize, foreshadow, and whatnot, but excessive repetition can feel blocky.
If you find words being repeated over and over and can't help but think 'they could probably use a substitute', then they probably need a substitute.
Re-read the dialogue. It can be a brief skim of what they say, but if the conversation feels too fast, it probably is.
And I know what you're thinking: if we're just quickly scanning the text, of course the dialogue is going to feel fast.
But here's the thing. By reading fast, we aren't giving our brains time to create filler scenarios or lines to fill in gaps. If the dialogue ends up feeling chunky, that's likely because some kind of transition is missing.
Dialogue can have fluff, fillers, small, useless talk because that's how we interact with each other in real life. And that's how we transition from topic to topic.
Personally, I tend to accidentally change perspectives in the middle of my writing--especially in third person (limited)--if I'm not focused.
I don't consider this inherently a "bad" thing, but what I do check for is that the shift is reasonable and smooth.
If the perspectives go back and forth and back and forth, it might be too confusing. If it's a sudden switch without warning, I would try to fix that too.
Similar to my point about dialogue, you want your overall writing to feel smooth. If there's a change in events, whether it be a sudden explosion or a character leaving the hang-out to return home, the transition from this to that should be smooth without an obvious division between the plot points.
If you notice any choppiness, keep that in mind. You can rectify it with some kind of bridging sentence, but if that doesn't work, then just show the time-skip with a physical border, such as dashes to separate the previous paragraph from the next one.
Keep an eye out for the screen time of important, active characters. Generally speaking, they should be involved, or at least mentioned, throughout the text. If a valuable character just suddenly disappears halfway through a chapter when they're not supposed to, that's a bad sign.
Treat your beta-read like the first time you're reading the story, whether that is true or not.
If some phrasing, words, or even paragraphs stand out to you not in a good way, keep that in mind. And make sure to have a reason! Because chances are, if you notice something weird "the first time" you're reading this, others might too. They may not care, but if you do, then see what you can do about it!
You can rewrite it, delete it, keep it, whatever you want--it's up to you.
Although I am saying all of this, please remember that you're writing for yourself. It does NOT have to be perfect or beta-read a thousand times to be good. Your readers are likely much less picky with your writing than yourself, so please don't take this post personally.
With that being said, these points are suggestions. Recommendations. Opinionated. NOT FACTS. Feel free to pick and choose, whether that be a couple or none at all! They are also pretty context-reliant, from writing style to the situation at hand, remember that!
