Getting ready to release your book can be a lengthy, sometimes tedious process, and there are a lot of steps to follow in order to give your book its best shot. As I get down to the end of the re-writing process for my new novel, I'm getting out and dusting off the lists of questions I have asked my beta readers in the past. 

When I send my book out to beta readers, I'm looking for very specific feedback. At this point in the book launch process, I'm not looking for editing, and I always include that statement when I send the book. Instead, I'm looking for story feedback. Here are some of my favorite questions that I like to ask my beta readers. While this list may change depending on the book and the feedback I'm looking for, I find these questions most helpful to developing my book based on my readers' thoughts and suggestions. 

#1 Did the story hold your interest from the very beginning? If not, why? What would you suggest I change?

#2 Were you able to get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, and where and when the story takes place? If not, why? What would you suggest I change? (This is a question I find particularly important for fantasy novels that require more world-building at the start).

#3 Could you relate to the main characters? Did you feel their pain and excitement? Do you have any suggestions for creating more relatable, consistent characters?

#4 Did the setting interest you? Did the descriptions seem vivid and real to you? 

#5 Was there a point at which you felt the story lagged or you became less interested in finding out what was going to happen next? Where, exactly?

#6 Were there any places that the book got boring or failed to hold your interest? Were there any parts you feel could be cut out completely? 

#7 Were there any parts that confused, frustrated or annoyed you? Which parts, and why? Were there any parts where you felt you needed more of something? What is it you felt you needed more of?

#8 Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in time sequences, places, characters, or other details? 

#9 Were the characters' actions and motivations believable? If not, why?

#10 Did you get confused about who’s who among the characters? Were there too many characters to keep track of? Too few? Are any of the names of characters too similar? (This is especially one I like to ask for my fantasy novels).

#11 Did the dialogue keep your interest and seem natural to you? If not, whose dialogue did you think sounded artificial or not like that person would speak?

#12 Did you feel there was too much description or exposition? Not enough? Maybe too much dialogue in parts? Did any parts of the story drag?

#13 Was there enough conflict, tension, and intrigue to keep your interest? Why or why not?

#14 Was the ending satisfying? Believable? 

#15 Do you think the writing style suits the genre? If not, why?

#16 Would you be willing to have some of your feedback featured on the back of the book? 

​BONUS QUESTION: Do you have any other thoughts or suggestions?

I hope this list was helpful! Again, this is not a comprehensive list, as the questions I ask largely depend on the story itself and the kind of feedback I'm looking for, but this list always provides me a pretty good starting place. 

Thanks for reading!  Check back next week for more writing tips, tricks, and other fun bits! 

There are many steps I go through in order to prepare my books for publication. In today's post, I will provide a look into my editing process, as well as the purpose behind each step.

Mid-Writing Edit
In last week's post, I wrote about how I try not to edit as I write. This is still true. In order for me to keep the flow going, I do my best to edit as little as possible, so the story has a chance to reach the page. However, I also know myself and my writing well enough to know that one simple draft is not enough. So, as I write, I constantly make notes of where I'm going and what is missing. If I feel particularly inspired by a scene coming up, I write a note about what I need to come back and fill in later. If I feel there's an inconsistency, I make a note to come back and check it out. The purpose is to write in a reminder so that, when I come back to the story once the draft is finished, I can touch it up, fill in any blanks, address major inconsistencies or questions I had. This is particularly helpful for me when I need to look at timeline issues within my stories.

Once the draft is complete, I go back to read and address each of those notes. They're easy to find within my draft, because I write them in ALL CAPS. I write in scenes that were missing or underdeveloped, I build more character backstory, I address and double check my timeline, and sometimes, I fix some sentences that I wasn't sure how to write as I was drafting. 

Developmental Edit
Once I've gone through and adjusted my story according to all the notes I made along the way, it's time for a developmental edit. This edit is meant to address plot, character development and motivation, world building, and other story-wide things like these. When suggestions and comments have been made regarding these areas, I begin my developmental re-write.

My developmental re-write looks like this: I print out the manuscript with all edits included, then I open a new document and literally type the story over again, implementing feedback as I go. I find this way of completing my developmental edit much easier than trying to fix the story by finding the areas that need work and adjusting them within my existing manuscript. This process is much more gratifying to me, as well, because I can compare my initial draft to my rewritten draft. It's always cool to see how far the story has come. 

Quick Edit
When my developmental re-write has been completed, I do a quick scan through the document to fix any glaring errors I can see, and address any new notes that have come up during that developmental re-write process. The purpose for this edit is to quickly clean up the document before I send it out to beta readers. 

Beta Read 
For my beta reading process, I typically find five to ten people who can read the manuscript within a given time frame. I find that three weeks to a month works best for a novel. Any longer than that, and most readers don't send any feedback in. When I send out the document, I also send a list of questions I would like them to think about and answer as they read. I'll post a full list of questions I like to ask my beta readers in an upcoming post, but they usually have to do with character development, story flow (particularly any areas that my readers felt needed more or less page time), and whether the story was believable. 

When I receive the feedback from my beta readers, I get to work reading through their responses and following up with clarifying questions as needed. Then, I begin adjusting the story again, implementing the suggestions and addressing the questions my beta readers sent in.

Major Line Edit
Once I've implemented my beta readers' feedback, I go in and do a line edit. Many authors line edit prior to sending their manuscript out to their beta readers. However, I've found that I end up doing an extra line edit of the whole manuscript after putting in my beta reader edits, so waiting until afterward just streamlines my process a bit.

The purpose of my line edit is to go in and adjust grammar, syntax, and sentence-level or paragraph-level flow. In this edit, I use a pen and markup as I go. I watch to ensure I vary my sentence length. I adjust my sentence structure. I change out, add, or remove adjectives and adverbs. I make my verbs active rather than passive. I check my punctuation and spelling, and so on. Then, I go through and put the edits into my document. 

Manuscript Formatting
When I feel I've got a pretty well developed, well edited story, I start my manuscript formatting. I choose my page size, margin size, font, spacing, and page numbers. I edit my chapter headings and add the additional pages that are not directly connected to the story: I update my About The Author page. I write my copyright page, my dedication page, and add in any other additional content. When I have my document how I want it, then I upload my manuscript for publishing, but there's one more step before it's really ready. 

Proofread and Final General Edit
The final step I go through in my editing process is proofreading. I order a proof copy of my book with a finished cover. When my book arrives, I go through it twice. The first time I go through the book, I'm looking for formatting adjustments I need to make. Usually, it's minor things, like changing the font size, or adjusting margins or page bleed, or tweaking my chapter headings. 

The second time I go through the book, I do one last read through. This final read allows me to catch errors that have slipped through the cracks, and it gives me an opportunity to look at the story from a "reader's" perspective to see if anything sticks out to me with the story that will need to be changed. I especially like to wait to do this last piece until I can actually hold a physical copy of the book in my hands, because I find it helps me get into a different headspace - that of a reader. This helps a ton!

Check back next week for more about the questions I ask my beta readers! Until then, thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week!

As I continue working to put my writing out into the world, I'm often asked a number of questions: What is your process like? How do you keep writing when you get stuck? How do you finish your projects? And so on. I thought I'd take a moment to answer some of these frequently asked questions.

What does your process look like?
I'm a mom who works full time, so time is not a luxury I can afford when it comes to passion projects. Before I was a mom, before I had the job I have now, I was a secondary English teacher, with grades to keep up on and planning to get done. Before that, I was working full time and going to school full time. However, writing has always been important to me, and I'm highly motivated to get my work out there, so I've always had to find a way to make time for it. Nowadays, this process begins after I put my son to bed for the night. I try to write for at least 30 minutes, 7 days a week. 

When you sit down to write, how do you get started?
It's not always easy to just sit down and have words magically fly onto the page. In fact, when you're sitting down at the end of the day, and you're tired, and your brain is foggy, and you have a million other things on your mind, it can feel nearly impossible. This is how I get past all that to get words on the page: I sit down, set a timer for five minutes, and just type. Sometimes, I write nonsense for five whole minutes. It usually looks something like this: Okay, Brey. You need to write. You have no idea what to write, but you're writing anyway in case something comes up. Blah. Blah. Blah. This is where you're at right now, what's going to happen next? This is what you want to write, but how... and so on. I make these notes in all caps, so when I come back to edit, I know what still needs to be written, and what details I need to work on. Eventually, the words begin to flow, and the actual content writing can begin.

What do you do if you get stuck while you're writing?
Well, I shift gears, and alter my expectations. I do the same thing I just mentioned. I just... start writing things, thinking through what I want to say and where I want my story to go, but here's the kicker - here's where everyone I talk to get's hung up - I have to do my thinking on the page. I have to keep my fingers moving. If I don't I remain stuck in my head, and the words never get to the page. 

Do you plan your story first, or do you develop your story as you go?
My answer to this question is yes, to both parts. I usually start my stories by outlining an idea. I give it a basic skeletal structure, write down major conflicts I'd like to include and directions the story can go. Once I get writing, though, the plan only really helps me when I'm stuck. The characters within drive the story, and often things I had in my outline never make it into the story at all. The same is true with my character development. I always start with a guide for my characters - an outline of their basic nature, their likes and their dislikes, their motivations - but the story also highly impacts the characters, and their development is made deeper and more specific by the events that take place throughout my writing and editing process.

Do your characters ever surprise you?
Oh, all the time. Once I get writing, my characters often take over.

Do you edit as you go?
In writing my first book,. I would edit as I went, and it took me forever. There were times where I would go months at a time without writing a single word because I was so caught up in trying to make it perfect on the first go. Now, I try not to edit anything as I write if I can help it. This is tough, because I really do like to edit, and I'm kind of a perfectionist. BUT! I have found that I'm better able to develop the story if I write my first draft more quickly, if I can keep the flow going rather than stopping and starting again for longer periods of time. I have also found that writing like this allows me to finish my first draft much more quickly. 

HOW DO YOU FINISH YOUR BOOKS?
Many people who talk to me about my books tell me that they are interested in writing a book, or that they have even started writing a book, but they have no idea how to finish it, and they can't seem to get very far into their draft before they lose their drive. I totally understand that. My first book took me five years to finish. I completely understand the imposter syndrome that comes along with putting your work into the world, the fear that what you have to offer isn't good enough. These thoughts are ones I have often, ones that I'm always working to combat. The best answer I have in regard to how I get past those thoughts to finish my books, the best advice I can give, is this: Get the words on the page. Keep writing. Make a habit of it. Set a timer. Even if the words you write are complete nonsense, keep writing. You can fix any errors, develop any piece of your story, cut things out, add things in, and rewrite, but you can't do much if you don't have words to to work with. 

Writing books - writing anything, really - can be tricky, but it can also be so freeing. And holding a copy of your published book in your hands for the first time is incredible. Check back next week to read about my editing process. Have a great week!