Playwriting - Part 9C - Editing - Beta Readers

Once you've come to a point where you have read over your own work and made the edits you marked for yourself, it is likely that you will want input from at least one other person before going further into ideas of readings or possible productions. It is definitely something you want to consider if you are going to submit your play to publishers or playwriting contests.

This is where beta readers come into the picture. A beta reader is a person who reads things and they look for spelling errors, grammar errors, problems with plot or how the writing flows. In general, beta readers are not paid. They do this in order to help other writers. Different beta readers may read different types of literature.

When trying to find beta readers, there is no correct way to find them. These people are doing this in order to help writers because they want to help. They may also enjoy getting a sneak peek into work that has not yet been published or seen or read by a majority of people. In order to find beta readers, all you have to do is start asking people that you know. Ask the people that you know who like to read. You can ask relatives. You can ask friends. You can ask people that you know locally in your town. You can ask people that you know on the Internet.

Be thankful that these people exist. It is okay if you have a deadline for when you need a work back from beta readers. However, if they can't meet the deadline, don't be harsh on them. You can ask them if they can get any bit of the beta reading done and give that to you. If it ends up that something happens and they can't get it done, be understandable. They were doing this for free, so don't be strict about it.

If you were wondering, the term beta reader does come from the term beta tester that is used in softward development. Just as beta testers try to find ways that software may try to break software by looking for weaknesses, beta readers report on what they feel makes writing weak and let you know what they feel like isn't working in the writing. Of course, you never have to agree with these people, but it is always good to get input and then to decide if you want to change things or not.

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