When do you start letting people read your WIP's?

I try to get through an entire draft without letting anyone read anything these days because I've learned that if I don't the foundation of my WIP will be molded by other peoples' ideas and opinions about the way the story should go. Once I have that first draft down and I've told my story, then I open it up for critique. It is then that I'll add and subtract to that story based on the advice and feedback I've been given, but it'll be additions and subtractions to a house Randi designed and built, not a house Randi's sister designed and built.

I'm sure many others have many different ways of doing things, and I'm sure their ways work perfectly for them, but I'm an architect. I do like to have a full set of drawings ready before I start asking people to red-mark them.

My family/friends don't get to look until it's totally done. My betas got each chapter as I completed it (meaning it was as good as I could get it). I want problems caught before I have 200 pages of rewrites.

I'll start to allow people to look at it after I've made at least one sweep. Unfortunately, I can't ever seem to get anyone to take a look at my stories so I can improve them. One day...

As soon as it reaches an editor. I care what he or she says. Editors know what they want, and how they want it. Beta readers very, very seldom know either, and they're just guessing at what the editors want.

But if you ever find a beta reader who actually knows what editors want, and who really know what makes something publishable (Which I highly doubt), kidnap that beta reader, lock that beta reader in the basement, and keep that beta reader forever.

Jamesaritchie said:

As soon as it reaches an editor. I care what he or she says. Editors know what they want, and how they want it. Beta readers very, very seldom know either, and they're just guessing at what the editors want.

But if you ever find a beta reader who actually knows what editors want, and who really know what makes something publishable (Which I highly doubt), kidnap that beta reader, lock that beta reader in the basement, and keep that beta reader forever.

Click to expand...

I'm with James on this one. My wife proof reads everything for me after I'm done, but that's all, and no one else sees it until the editor.

I used to let the girlfriend read sections at a time while I was working on the first draft. That changed once she started chiming in with "you know what would be cool, if this character did this, or if this happened." Thus ended that experiment. Now I just finish my first draft, lock it away in a closet and forbid anyone from looking at it. Then it breaks out of the closet at night and sets fire to the apartment, burning up all of my valuables with me nearly escaping death, and the manuscript standing out on the front lawn with a wry smile. God how I hate the thing.

I usually go through countless drafts and revisions before another pair of eyes even graces my work. But that's mostly because I edit while I write.

After I'm done with a scene, I let it breathe and continue on with the rest of the story. Then, I'll revise it a few more times down the road until it works just right. (tweak the details, clean-up dialog, delve more into the characters if need be, etc.) This process is pretty long but ultimately I come out with a better more polished product for it.

Draft 2 at the minimum, usually draft 3. However, I only have beta readers look at my stuff about half the time. Half of what I write, I just submit without anyone reading it first. Possibly this is stupid.

I have to do at least one editing pass first. My first drafts aren't that bad, but I don't really want people seeing them.

Relatives don't always make the best readers of your stuff, so go into that with your eyes wide open.

I don't let anyone read anything that isn't finished and polished, but since I finish and polish as I go, that means I can share out scenes and chapters if I choose. I benefited tremendously from critiques in the early years of my writing, and one of the skills I acquired from that was the ability (and the confidence) to know which advice was worth taking and which I could ignore.

Bottom line, don't share anything unless you're truly ready to hear criticism of it.

I have an alpha reader as I complete the rough draft-- this does two things: gives me instant feedback on what I'm doing. I'm not one who is swayed by instant feedback, but I like being able to step back and eye-ball what I just did before I get totally comittted to something and then discover it was a disaster. It also keeps me writing, and churning out as high a quality first draft as I can (because I don't want anyone to read crap).

After that, it becomes mine and mine alone for a good time as I work through revisions. Revisions are always extensive for some reason.

After I get it as good as I can, it goes to whoever I haven't asked to beta read recently out of my collection of treasured beta readers in my basement (one, possibly two people). Then my agent.

When its published.

I'm going to wait until I finish my first draft at least.

Depends on the length of the project. For flash/short stories, I usually wait until I think it's just perfect and then hand it off to someone else to read. That way they can pick up the problems that I missed, rather than the ones I already knew might be there, and the other person finds.

For longer works typically I'll write to a story break (end of a complete scene or some logical stopping point) and then get a friend to read it before I make any adjustments. I don't want to polish it if I decide it needs to be totally redone after the feedback.

my 2c

After the rough draft.

I have a few people I get pointers from and they greatly influence the "polishing" stage for me.

They're 100% honest, brutal, and it makes my work a LOT better.

I do know some people that let others read as they go though.

I don't let anyone see mine until I think it's the best it can be- after I have a draft that I've polished it and read so many times I know the plot backwards, forwards, and inside out. That way, when I go and ask for criticism, I feel like it won't be so horrible to have to struggle through the plot gaps I forgot to fill in because I got excited, or the millions of grammar mistakes. But I'm super obsessive about grammar mistakes and that kind of thing, so that might just be me, haha

Not a rough draft. After a full revision I let my friend have a go at it. I am currently in about revision 5(?)ish and will pass out to 2-3 others for betas.

My friend likes having all of the chapters ready to go because he can read at his pace. Reading 1 chapter at a time and then waiting for the next to be finished might impact the reader's connection with the story.

I write in a chatroom with other authors and we share sections as we write. We'll sprint for 20 to 40 minutes, then everyone shares a bit of work. We can keep up with each others' stories and help with plotting questions. My complete MS will go to a crit partner once I have it as done as i can get it, or if i need more help than my writing companions can provide I'll send the rough partial out to a CP.

These are all people I've known and worth alongside for years. We all work in similar ways and this works for us. I wouldn't send a manuscript to anyone I didn't know well.

Whenever I get too excited to keep bits of my story to myself

I spend a lot of time pestering people to read what I've written (even stuff that I know I'll rewrite), to the point where my best friends and my sisters team up to come up with convenient excuses for why they can't sit down to read my stuff xD

Still, you know you're doing something right when someone who's been dodging you starts demanding the next chapter

Other than my editors, no one reads them until they're published.

For a few trusted betas - early on. They know it's drafty and give the overview. I keep a few back for more polished versions. But, now, my agent sees them at the polished stage and only the first trusted betas get asked about the rewrites (five in total.)

Anytime except during Moon Voids...

I'm not sure I agree that having family members beta is always a bad idea.

If they love what you write then you can probably discount that because they love you, but if you can't get them to finish it, especially if they are avid readers, that might be a valuable clue.

And if you discuss the story with them, and they seem confused about what happened in the story, that could be a clue that you need to clarify.