As I mentioned in this post about my process so far with gathering critiques, I thought I'd share the set of questions I gave to my beta readers, the group that looked at my cleaned-up rough draft manuscript in its entirety.Feel free to swipe this list and/or adapt it for your own use.
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Beta reader questions
Dear Friend,
Thanks for your willingness to read over and offer comments on my manuscript. As you read, please mark (yes, you can and should write on these) any areas you think I should give more attention. Feel free to e-mail comments as you go [your address] if that’s easier. I’d like to receive everyone’s comments by [deadline].
Here are a few things to watch for:
Character
Are the characters engaging and adequately complex? Do you care about them and enjoy getting to know them deeply, even the antagonists?
Are characters’ voices distinct in the dialog? If not, note where you hear problems.
Do the peripheral characters work in supporting the main story without being overly distracting? If not, note which ones are troublemakers.
Does the main character adequately change through conflict, climax and resolution?
Plot
Does the story move forward and keep you reading more? Note where your interest lags.
Do the plot twists and complications work, or do they seem contrived or hokey? Do characters appear to have sufficient motivation for what they do? If not, note where you “just don’t buy it.”
Are scenes paced well in terms of building and releasing tension? If not, note places where the story drags or races.
Theme
Does the [theme description; i.e. understanding vs. judging] theme of come across in a non-preachy way? Note anything that strikes you as heavy-handed.
I’ve played with a dozen title possibilities and I’m not married to the working title I'm currently using. If you can think of a better one, please suggest it.
Mechanics
Note word choices that don’t quite seem right in terms of tone within a scene, or because a particular character just wouldn’t use that word.
Please note any spelling errors, grammar gaffes, punctuation funkiness and missing words (sadly a big issue for me—my brain seems to fill in what isn’t actually on the page!).
Note any continuity errors you see (e.g. wearing a coat in part of the scene and not having it later in the same scene).
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Do you provide guidelines for your readers? If not, why? If so, how did you develop them? What key questions would you add to my list?
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