Betaing and the Revelation of the Perception Gap

Something odd happens to a person when they write a story out. It becomes very precious to them - they'll put up with all sorts of crap from it because they love it. I can say in all honesty that that is one reason that I've not given up on the Manda after about 5 drafts - I adore this idea and these characters. Never mind the plot holes, unsympathetic characters and the like.

This is a good thing - it allows a writer to go through the insanity of drafting, re drafting, editing, nit picking and so on. But the very obvious down side to being in love with you work is that you don't see it's flaws.

This is where the Beta reader comes in handy. these are the people (they can be other writers or just readers) that go over your work and point out everything that your love addled brain can't see. Now, some of these things you will notice if you leave the manuscript alone long enough, but you will never be able to pick up all the problems.

So the Beta readers point out the problems, and explain why they are problems. You can either agree or disagree (a lot comes down to perception as well, as it tends to do when it comes to that which is creative) but if more than one beta points something out, then you know you've got a problem.

This is bloody useful because once they explain something to you several times around, you actually start to get it, and notice it yourself, sometimes even while you're writing it. But even more useful a process, is your reciprocation.

While someone is tearing apart your piece, and you're feeling like crap about it, you get to tear apart theirs. Now why is this important? It's important due to the fact that you know exactly how they feel about this piece (it's their baby, they're attached to it, it has not a fault in the world) because you are feeling exactly the same thing as they tuck into yours.

And once you make that empathetic connection, you start to think that maybe they're not being vindictive when they point things out. Maybe this is god to honest what they see when they read your work.

Which brings me to the single most important thing that beta reading reveals. The gap between author intent, and what the reader actually receives in character, plot and narration.

Say you write a story about a woman who runs away with her child, out of what you want to communicate is an emotionally abusive relationship. However, your reader sees her as a hypocritical bitch who has just kidnapped a man's life and joy. That is a huge gap - the closer you bring the readers perception of the story and what you intend to say, together, the better your story gets.

Now, this isn't to say you can close that gap for everyone. A perception gap relies on... well, perception. So when it comes to betas you can take one of two roads - either rely on your instincts as to what the beta is correct/incorrect about, or have more than one beta. Or a combination of both.

I have immensely enjoyed both betaing for other people, and having them beta for me. It broke me out of the "writing for myself" stage, and drew me on to "writing for an audience". Strangely enough, when you're writing for someone else, you start to do things in your novels a lot more consciously.

I've found it useful :D

Enjoy creating~

Sian

Beta's and Stories Not Dying

I love my Beta readers. I truly do. They spot things I would never spot, and if their tastes are different from mine, then they're a little harder on my prose, and it makes me work harder.

But sometimes....

I have a world. It was built rather organically, over the time of about six years, and five drafts. So was my story. There was no planning aspect to it to start off with. So it more than definitely has it's problems. But when I've fixed one, another shows up.

Tonight was one such night. Nobody understood the world that Kira lived in, so I had to show them it. Because it's first person, and I was adverse to changing the story, I did that mainly through her thinking. It worked for one Beta. Another said it sort of worked. The third basically said (paraphrasing here): why the heck are you info dumping and why am I forgetting who your character is.

.............

Wonderful.

I spent the end of what has been a wonderful day mightily depressed. Because I believe that I have a good story here. I believe it has a reason for being. I love my characters.

But what is the point of all that if someone can barely get past the first chapter because of confusion issues? And how to get over the confusion issues if I can not feed out the information (in small chunks, but still, not absolutely huge amounts). there is way too much info that HAS to be understood in order to get on with the plot as it. Believe me, when I started this, I had none of that info in there. It confused the hell out of those that read it.

But the thing is, the point of this story has never been the plot. The plot is better than it was at the start, and it may continue to get better. What I have realised is that a number of things have stayed continuous over all those drafts. They are the major turning points and inciting incident.

And as long as they, and the characters, stay the same, it's still the same story. It may be different in its execution, but it is forever the same. Because the message I want to get across is still the same. That message being: There is no right or wrong side. Everyone believes they are right. And so when my main character if thrown into this world, as long as she meets the same opposition, the story is intact.

How she gets through those points is up for debate. I like what I've got, but I could make it better. I may try to. In fact, I think I will. There are two chapters that will remain largely similar. The rest of the first six chapters are important for the introduction. But they can be done differently.

My character needs to meet the Manda, my world has to be introduced, and someone else has to die and deliver and object into her hands by the end of it. I can still do all that, with the same sort of tension, by writing the start differently.

The thing that amazes me is that there have been several of these moments thus far. These moments run along the lines of : "oh god, why don't I give up and go to the next one (project, book, whatever)."

Then I get over myself, my story pops back up and say: Hey, I'm still the same in essence.

I find it ironically amusing, myself.

Fixing Things

Beta's are wonderful people. They truely are. But sometimes, they say something and you feel like hitting your head against a wall.
Often, you feel that way because they're right. For example, Beta A had trouble believing that my characters would be as perceptive as they are. Point taken. They probably wouldn't. I can fix that.
With beta B, I think we may differ in writing styles. But that is good. It's still headbanging, but I look at what she points out, weigh it up, and go in again.
Beta C doesn't really like my main character (something I've tried to fix). But she likes my writing. So does Beta A.
However, being me, I won't be happy unless I get some type of perfection :D

So yes. This is basically a post saying I will do it. And how I will do it.

Beta A reads everything first. I will fix that plot thing by this weekend.

I'm hoping to have fixed the characters thing with changes to my first chapter, and some of the others. I've also removed characters.

I will fix chapter 1 by next Wednesday. What beta B suggested changing was largely editorial stuff - not that much to do with the plot. Which is good.

I will finish reading through Beta A and B's work by tomorrow, and send them off their chapters. On Thursday afternoon, I will do that plot fixing. On Friday after noon, I will plan my other story out more, and attempt to write something else. Maybe see if I can do a short story (surely I can at least finish one without turning it into the start of a book.)
Saturday - probably more plot fixing
Sunday - More of the same. If I'm finished by then, then I will go over my Beta's chapters.
Monday - fix that first chapter.

After that, it depends on the feedback I get. *sigh* will probably have to find one last person to look through this all. After I've looked through it.

The point of this post: I will do these things. I will fix things. Each time a beta comes up with a problem, an answer comes fairly naturally to me. Things have not fallen apart yet. I must breathe.

Off to read my beta's chapters. Wish me luck for the week ahead.

Terrified of the Hunger Games

Now, I finally did get around to reading the hunger games - about a month ago. I was a very late uptaker (as I was with Harry Potter - what is it with me and popular books?). I enjoyed the book immensely. When I have time, I will read the other two.

But here's the thing. I started writing The Manda when I was about 13. It's been through five drafts since then, and is finally approaching something marketable.

Every Beta reader I have has told me that Kira (my MC) reminds them of Katniss. After reading the hunger games, I can see why. They're not the same person, but they definitely share similar characteristics.

Plot wise, the books couldn't be any more different. My MC end up creating a neutral hospital, not starting a rebellion. Plots have nothing similar (except a oppressive government, but even that isn't that marked. Definitely not as marked as it is in the Hunger Games series. Mine is also slightly more balanced - there's a repressive rebellion too. I mean, you've gotta keep it interesting :D )

I have this innate fear that I will be passed over for representation or publications because someone (agent/publisher/editor) believes I'm trying to rip off the hunger games. I feel as if some shred of my story has been ripped away from my ownership.

I just hope it doesn't come over as too pronounced.

Just random thoughts and worrying :)

Rip, slash, arghhhh ( was in a piraty mood)

Sometimes, life is just life. Sometimes its good. Other times its great.
This is one of those times. I have a story. I story I knew I had problems with. But I've gone over it so many times that even though I know something wrong, but I have no idea how to fix it.
Then comes along someone who tells me the stories crap in certain areas, and I feel shit. Then I feel excellent.
Because bigger editing is so much more funner than line editing. Line editing is where you go - do I really need all those adjectives, abverbs and commas? Bigger editing is where you deleat entire pages. Sometimes it doesn't work.
This time, it has. I feel like an axe murderer, standing over his prey - never let it be said that someone telling you your work is crap is a bad thing.
First, I cut two pages of the first chapter, and merged it with the second. Then I get to decide whether to do away with two chapters entirely, and what to replace them with. There has to be something there, otherwise it doesn't work.
The basic thing I have to do with these chapters is introduce the Manda, and impliccate them in what is going to happen next.
Implication. whuwhuwhu. I feel evil already. No idea what I'm actually going to do, but the Manda tournaments dissappear after the first book. I don't need to go into so much detail.
And it's a really sucky introduction of Rowan. There's no logical reason why he would even be there. I just need to make something happen, and then get her back to her house, so all hell can break loose.
watch out manuscript, I've got a rather large knife.

Antagonist found - please get back to me :p

Okay, firstly, an explanation. I came to the realisation just before I started this blog, that my main motivation for doing anything comes when people say I can't.
I don't get angry. Not in the way I suspect most people do anyway - I get that when I get frustrated with a brick wall of a person.
But when someone says I can't do something , I say, "damn you, just watch".
That was how I survived Japan, that was why I learnt so much more Japanese in Japan then I did Chinese in china. In Japan, someone was telling me I would never adjust. In China, they smile, say I'll be fine, and then lock me in a classroom with no teachers. That's more frustrating than antagonistic.
I just found the perfect antagonist to motivate me to write better. This person, who shall remain anonymous, just shredded the story I have re-written five times, and that has been a part of most of my life since I was 12.
When I say shredded, there is nothing wrong with that. He just didn't suggest anything worthwhile after the shredding. Or what he did, other people already had.
Of course, this is his opinion. He's entitled to it, I'm not going to argue with him about it. But I desperately had the urge to punch someone after reading what he wrote. After calming down, I realised this particular person was gold. If I can convince him to suggest how he would make my story better, then I would happily have him shred my story into confetti. That doesn't mean I'll necessarily listen to everything his says - I'm liable to ignore most of it. But because he doesn't actually like what I've written, he will be perfectly and totally honest. And for some of the things he hates, he might hate for more reason then it "just didn't work for him"
I learnt, both in Japan and in China that you can laugh at everything. My meimei (younger host sister) keeps asking me about why I'm laughing, because frankly, the things I laugh at aren't all that funny.
There is more than one type of laughter. And laughing - even if it is an angry laugh, a frustrated laugh, a "wtf" laugh, a resigned laugh - feels a hell of a lot better than any other reaction.
This guy made me laugh. Weirdest laughter ever - there was no physical reaction to any emotion in my chest. Normally, you get a tightening, or a feeling of dread, or as I did the other day, a stomach ache.
Turns out for me, anger shows itself physically more in its absence than anything else.
But I desperately hope this person finds my kowtowing email ( well not quite, I started off with something that could possibly be labelled arguing, depend how he takes it) good enough to get back in contact. I want him, so badly, to critique my piece. I want him as my antagonist, and thus my motivation, just because he would do such a bloody good job at it. I might not even hate him so much by the end of it :P