[Link] The Writing Process Part 8 – Using Advance Readers

M.B. Weston, or, as I prefer to think of her,
the writer who has never taken a bad photo..

 by M.B. Weston


Your most valuable writing asset isn’t your computer, grammar knowledge, or storytelling ability. It’s your arsenal of advance readers.

Have you ever applied an update to a software program or a smartphone app only to have it crash immediately (or worse, lock up your device)? How frustrated did you feel? I usually end up yelling into my computer or phone, hoping the software developers can somehow hear me. “If only,” we think, “they had tested this on a few people to make sure it worked before they released it to the world!”

This is why many companies have beta users: people who volunteer to test the software to see how it works before it reaches the public.

You don’t want your cell phone company to send you an update without first testing it. In the same way, you shouldn’t consider your manuscript complete without letting a few people read it first. This post will discuss how to use your advance readers (or your beta readers, depending on what you call them).

Continue: http://mbweston.com/2012/08/15/the-writing-process-part-8-using-advance-readers/