WHAT TO DO WITH CONFLICTING BETA READER FEEDBACK

Saturday, August 5, 2017
It's officially August! How is everyone recovering from Camp NaNoWriMo? I edited for over four and a half hours on the last day in order to meet my goal, and now I'm a little worn out from all of that. I tried writing two different posts before finally settling on this topic -- sometimes the words don't like to word and it annoys me greatly. -.-

This post is inspired about a message I received from the lovely Jeneca:
"I'm confused about what to do with all my beta reader feedback. Some said the dialogue was natural, others thought it not. Some thought the christian elements were natural and well done, while others thought it was too easy and the characters wouldn't reach such conclusions. What did you do with conflicting beta feedback?"
I had many of these same problems when I sent my novel to beta readers (w o w it's been over a year by now). So after some messaging back and forth, here are the tips Jeneca and I compiled:


1. STUDY THE FEEDBACK

In my novel, there was one character in particular that everyone had different opinions on. Most said he was their favorite, but several others said, "eh, he falls in the background and I feel like I don't actually know him." I could've just gone with the majority, but instead I took the time to study his story and his role and realized that yes, he's a likeable character, but I should dive into his thoughts and mind a bit more. He wasn't as developed as he could have been, and that's what the scattered negative opinions picked up on.

Evaluating comments and the story will take a long time, but it isn't supposed to be an easy process. Use your feedback for brainstorming and re-outlining. Your betas have given you an immensely helpful gift.

And hey, if making pie charts and graphs and all that fancy stuff is how you roll, DO THE THING. 

2. KNOW WHO YOU'RE SENDING THE STORY TO

This kind of goes along with studying the feedback. But are the people you're sending your precious little baby to fantasy and sci-fi readers? Have they beta read before? Are they your mom (because chances are their opinion might be a liiiitle biased)? Do they read the same genres as you? 

Knowing their tastes, likes, and dislikes, can help you discover if their feedback is a preference or an actual problem. Different people like different things. Goodness, sometimes I scroll through Goodreads and find it crazy how someone's one star read is a five star read for me. You're not going to please everyone. It's easiest to accept that now.

3. CONSIDER ASKING YOUR BETAS FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS

I hated doing this step, because my betas had already done me a HUGE favor as it was... but, say, if several people struggled with the worldbuilding in your story, considering asking them, "What exactly about it was unbelievable? What sparked the confusion?"

Sometimes digging deeper into the why it was a problem can make the answer clearer. I had to ask one of my betas to expand on their feedback with my own world, which made me realize that I needed to expand my culture and history and traditions of my desert land.

One way to help avoid this is to have really clear and specific questions for your beta readers to answer. Some people I know are crazy talented editors and able to point out problems without being prompted. But if you're wondering about the structure of your story's ending, be sure to ask your critiquers!

4. REVISE AND RESEND

If you're 100% stuck and have no idea which way to go on some of the issues presented... ask another set of eyes to give it a read through. Maybe this person can solely focus on the struggle you're having with a certain character or plot point.

But whether you're having problems or not, it's a good idea to have a couple rounds of betas. They tend to comment on the parts that are most problematic, so once you fix those, you can send it off to a new group of people and dig a little deeper into the revisions. 

5. SOMETIMES YOUR GUT IS THE WAY TO GO

Gentle reminder that this is your story -- your heart's story, so make sure not to take the heart away. You wrote certain parts in certain ways for very specific reasons. Studying the logic and reasons for the beta reader's answers will help make things clear, but in the end it's your decision. Fix and keep what's best and stays true to your novel. <3

Don't be afraid to kill your darlings and hash them to pieces for the sake of making your story the best it can be.
("darlings" being the words + phrases in your novel, and not the actual characters haha)

<3,
katie grace

have you ever struggled with conflicting feedback?
how have you dealt with it?

39 comments :

  1. Yass. <33 *throws confetti on this post* These are so useful. Though I'm not up to beta stage yet, so I'll just save this for a little bit. :P I'm still waiting to get my novel back from my alphas.

    Looking back to when I beta read for you... O-O that was SO LONG AGO. Wow. My critiquing style has changed hugely since then. XD One thing I do now, is in my comments, I point out what's a mistake that needs to be changed, and what's a personal preference for a change. Because that way it's easy for the author to see which they can pick with and which /have/ to be changed for grammatical or understandability purposes. (also NEVER use the word understandability. XD it's way too long. XP)

    I've also learnt that it's very important to pay attention to the negative feedback. Because it so often actually has the really important fixes that your story most needs. Buuut you really /really/ want to shrug it off and push it to the side because it's not fun to think about the stuff you did wrong, you want to think about the fangirling comments and notes and fun parts. But *sighs* that's not what's best, so often. :P

    And yes yes don't kill and hash your darling characters to pieces. XD

    Point five is a very important one to remember though. *nods* Because it can be so easy to go "Oh oh yep yep I'll just fix everything they say" and then end up with a novel that isn't fully /you/ anymore.

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    1. Eeep! *flail* So the alpha readers... are they alphaing this new version of Killing Snow?

      NO NO LET'S NOT LOOK BACK THAT'S A VERY CRINGE-Y EXPERIENCE. I've also grown hugely since then and eeek I'm ashamed at what I sent out there. *hides*

      I know the feeling. The good comments feel so good and it's so easy to want to just shove aside all the picky ones. But... unfortunately they're the ones that are really needed. >.<

      Thank you so much for your thoughts, Jane! I always love reading them. :D <333

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    2. [AHEM] and now I have to apologize because somehow in my sleepy state I thought your name was Savannah so that's why I asked you about Killing Snow. *headdesk* I got so confused when I was replying to the real Savannah's comment below and was like, "wait... didn't I just reply to hers??" SO, ahem. Sorry. XD

      (and what's funny is that I even used your name. *sighs at my brain* Too much wording xD)

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  2. I've actually never beta read or sent anything to beta reader, so I'll just tuck this post in the back of my brain for the future when that becomes a thing to deal with. *hides this post in the darkest, deepest writer parts of my brain*

    I would actually love to beta read something some day, I think I'll be beta reading Eliza's Dawn Chandler novel when it's beta worthy.

    I've always worried a little about my babies and how people will respond to them. Like Hope is a total drama queen, but I don't know if she's TOO drama queen-y. And then there's Alex...oh Alex, he's her best friend/love interest and he's a little...well...awkward sometimes? I don't know, I just feel that something about him isn't quite right lol. Idk, I'll figure it out someday.

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    1. You'll definitely be one of the beta readers :) But now that I'm looking at how busy senior year is gonna be it may be longer than I expected... xD

      {bookstagram} @eliza.noel.writes

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    2. Hopefully it will be someday! It's definitely an exciting moment. :D

      (daww, this exchange makes me happy. xD)

      Yeah, I understand that. And even though it's hard to send something to beta readers -- especially if you know you have things to fix -- that's when they can really step aside and help. Hypothetically. xD

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    3. @Eliza Noel
      Yay!! I don't care when, I just want to beta read for youuuu. But yeah, our senior year is insane...

      @Katie Grace
      Yeah, I'm excited for when I'm ready to do the beta reader thing.

      (I know, Eliza and I are adorable. ☺️)

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  3. This is actually really useful Katie!!!! Thank you so much for sharing, because right now I have Alpha readers and though nothing has conflicted yet I know when it comes to beta reading with all the people it'll be a bit tougher! :)

    Anna | www.worldthroughherheart.blogspot.com

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    1. I hope everything's going well with the alpha readers! Do you plan to start looking for beta readers soon?

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  4. SO. USEFUL. KATIE!!!!

    I'm in my school's creative writing club and this weekend we have to read each other's stories, and on Monday, my story is one of the chosen stories to be discussed first. I AM SO NERVOUS BUT THANK YOU FOR THIS!

    - andrea at a surge of thunder

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    1. THANK YOUU!

      ACK THAT SOUNDS REALLY TERRIFYING. You got this. *nodnod* I think critiquing in person is something very valuable, because you get all of their reactions firsthand and unedited. Take notes and let me know how it goes! :D

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  5. Ah, this is so helpful! I'll definitely keep this in mind whenever I get to the editing/beta stage with any of my projects. Thanks for this!

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    1. Yay! I hope it proves to be helpful when the time comes. :) (though... maybe I should just hope that you don't even run into the conflicting feedback struggles. :P)

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  6. *bookmarks this post for my own stories* ALSO ITS FABULOUS TO HAVE YOU BACK ON SATURDAYS

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    1. *mwahaha yas* AND AWH THANK YOU, RACHAEL. It always makes me happy to see you appear in the comments!

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  7. These are definitely tips that need to get out there. I am always afraid that my feedback conflicts with what the writer feels is right for the story / what the other betas had to say. :P

    ALSO I DON'T KNOW IF I SAID CONGRATS ON 4 1/2 HOURS SO I'M GOING TO SAY IT NOW: CONGRATSSSS.

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    1. Ahh yes that is always hard. And ultimately you're just giving your opinion, so it's up to the writer whether they take it or leave it. I know from experience that you are a very fabulous beta so don't you worry. xD

      EEE THANK YOU! Congrats on killing your goal even though all the busyness. :D

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  8. Ah, yes, this has happened to me before :P Especially when I have someone looking at the nitty gritty details and another looking at the uniqueness of the novel as a whole.

    Your tips here were so helpful! I'll definitely keep them in mind when I (finally) send another novel to betas :)

    FOUR AND A HALF HOURS?!?! O.O Girl, you rock! <3

    audrey caylin

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    1. Sighhh it's a problem indeed. I'm happy for every comment I can get, of course, but sometimes it's hard to gather all of them. xD

      YESS hopefully I'll actually be able to beta one, this time!

      THANK YOUU! <3

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  9. Great thoughts--this was really helpful!!

    Hailey
    www.haileyhudson.wordpress.com

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  10. I've only had one book beta read (it was the novella-form of Killing Snow and OH BOY I still get embarrassed thinking about the fact that I let ANYONE read it when it was such a mess. Meep. *hides in dark hole forever* xD) and there weren't very many conflicts in the beta's feedback - probably because I only had about ten betas xD. But when there WAS conflicting feedback, I would try to figure out WHY the betas were saying what they said, and then I would decide for myself what would be best to do about it xD.

    ~ Savannah | Scattered Scribblings

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    1. PSH IT WAS FINE. We all have those novels that we regret sending out. *cough* especiallyme *cough* I'm still proud of you for sending it out so YOU GO GIRL

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  11. Just about to start giving my book to beta readers, so this was perfect. I'm excited for feedback. I'll keep this post in mind because goodness knows I'm going to need all the help I can get to sort through feedback. XD

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    1. AHH REALLY? Oh my goodness that is so exciting! How many betas do you have? You'll have to let me know how this goes. :D

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  12. LOVE this, Katie! I'm getting close to sending my story off to beta readers and these are some great things to keep in mind! ^_^

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    1. Thank you, Madeline! And oh my goodness, you are? AH that's so exciting! How long is your story?

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  13. THIS IS SO INTERESTING! Totally tucking it away for when I get betas:)

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  14. Great advice, I have been dealing with a bit of this.

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    1. I hope you can figure out how to deal with it easily! It always involves so much thinking and decision-ing :P

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  15. Thanks for this, girls! I actually just put the post out asking for beta reader sign ups for my novel Seek, and reading this post was neat. :D
    God bless!
    -Ang | thepeculiarmessenger.wordpress.com

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    1. Oh my goodness really? YAY! I hope lots of people will sign up and that the experience goes well! Let me know if you have any questions. :)

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  16. Oh man it's been able since I dropped a comment here. But this was such a good post! I'll definitely be coming back to it when I get Beta-Reader feedback. I mean everyone has different opinions so it can be overwhelming at first right?

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    1. Welcome back, then! XD

      I knowww. And that's something to keep in mind when going into it -- no one is alike and there's something unique about enjoying different things. You just need to know how to not take it personally. :P

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  17. This post is really relatable. As someone who is approaching competition season (I am currently busy SCREAMING while also thinking about the proposals and essays I also need to write agh and honestly it's super hard because all of the ideas come at 12:30am and I'm like I LOVE IT BUT I HAVE TO DRIVE SUPER EARLY TOMORROW THIS IS NOT OKAY), it's super hard to find beta readers that can be objective but can also thoroughly explain what exactly isn't as well-developed about certain pieces. IT IS SO HARD.

    I do agree that we need to know who our audience is-- one of the things that I end up doing while choosing which beta readers to send my manuscripts to is know what their reading tastes are; if I had a friend who was into contemporaries but I'm working on a dark dystopia novel, even if they're the sweetest cinnamon roll out there, I couldn't send my novel to them. >.<

    You go get some rest and pizza now-- four and a half hours of editing is ROUGH!

    xoxo Abigail Lennah | ups & downs

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    1. ACK I HOPE IT GOES WELL BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS SCARY AND RATHER TIRING. You can do this, girl. *nodnod* I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!

      YES THAT! I just kind of sent my beta novel to everyone and next time I'm going to choose people more carefully. xD

      Eee thank you! I hope the competition season goes amazingly. :D

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  18. This was such great timing, Katie! lol. I was just thinking about how best to deal with things like this the other day when I sent out a few copies of a short story for a couple of wonderful betas. It's a tough situation, 'cause like you said, you feel bad about taking up their time and/or not acting on their feedback... but at the same time, it is your story, and you have to stay true to your vision of it. With that in mind, I'd say your tips are spot on.

    Also, tagged you for the Early Writings Tag! :)

    Like others here have said, you deserve a break and one giant, massive cookie! Every time I pop by here you've done hours upon hours of work and editing lol. Keep up the amazing momentum!

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    1. Aww thanks, Eve! I totally agree with you -- thanks for commenting. :)

      I'll have to check it out!

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