To See Or Not To See

I finished my third edit of the sequel to Screwing Up Time. (Throws confetti.) And I’ve given the book to one of my first betas. This beta isn’t a writer and doesn’t even do a lot of fiction reading. But this beta has one “gift.” He doesn’t see scenes in his head.

A lot of readers are people like me—as they read, they see the scenes of the novel in their mind. It’s like watching a movie. (In fact, that’s why I often think I’ve seen a movie version of a particular book even when I haven’t. It’s led to some unfortunately recommendations.) But not everyone “sees” in their minds. So a scene that’s clear to me and others who see in their heads may not be clear to readers who don’t.

I’m sure there are many readers out there like this beta, and I want my novel to “work” for them. So this beta marks the scenes that he can’t follow. And then, I go back to the unclear scenes and work on them until they’re completely understandable and the beta says, “Oh, right. I get it now.”

I’ve wondered over the years how many different types of reading experiences there are. For example, I have one beta who “hears” everything in her head. The characters actually speak aloud with appropriate accents, etc. (She’s an amazing beta reader for voice.) What about you all? What are your reading experiences like? Do you “see” movies or “hear” dialogue? Or do you do something completely different? I’d love to know.


BTW, I was recently featured on Samantha Sotto's blog along with two other authors. Samantha is the author of Before Ever After--a page-turning romance through history and time. If you'd like to visit here blog,click here.

Spring Break Book Betas

In spite of the cold that has turned my body into a scum manufacturing center and a chapter so difficult that I'm sure it's from Gehenna, I’m now nearing the end of the second edit of my sequel to Screwing Up Time. And I have a decision to make. If I work hard, I can finish this edit by the end of the week. And my kids have spring break next week. So do I let them read it?

They’ve always been my alpha beta readers. But here’s the problem. You know how people say don’t trust your family, they’ll tell you how wonderful your book is even if it’s not because they love you? Yeah, my family’s not like that. Don’t get me wrong, they love me, but they’re not the kind to blow sunshine at me. They’re more like “Uh, you realize Mark would never say this, right?” or “This section is dumb/confusing/uber-lame.” or my all time favorite “I don’t like this word, you need to change it.”

And actually they are very helpful. But I know that the book isn’t polished yet. The character’s voices aren’t pitch perfect. That comes after nailing the plot when I go through and make sure that all the characters not only say the right things, but say them in the right way. And I’ve only done in a hit and miss way so far. I know there are sections when Mark sounds like Miranda/Granddad/Kate/Brian because I changed the attribution from M/G/K/B to something Mark said because it fit better for the pace or the plot or who knows what—sometimes I get confused about who knows what and when. I actually have notes listing each character’s knowledge about the events of the plot.

So what I’m saying is, “Am I prepared to have my hard work run through the nit-picking eyes of the Keller clan?” The answer, “Yes. Because I need the nit-pickers. They make my job easier.” So, I’ll give them each a highlighter and red pen. (Yes, I believe they delight in marking their teacher’s papers.) In the meantime, I’ll find my thick skin—elephant hide works best. And I’ll get my glasses—the kids’ penmanship deteriorates the further they get in the novel. But it’s all for a good cause. And if I’ve made it through the scum disease and the chapter from Gehenna, I can handle a few/a lot/solid pages of red corrections.