rafiwinters: (quillpen)
Rafi Winters ([personal profile] rafiwinters) wrote in [community profile] betaplease2024-10-11 07:07 pm

beta reading the personal essay

Hi folks, I'm looking for lists of questions to ask my beta readers. Most such lists that I find by Googling assume that the work in question is fiction. But I'll be writing short pieces to post online that are on personal subjects--mental health, for instance. What would you ask beta readers of such work?
prettyarbitrary: Fuzzy Cthulhu plushy with a Santa hat (Default)

[personal profile] prettyarbitrary 2024-10-12 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Spelling and grammar (spag) are always a thing. I would also ask, does it make sense? Does it flow well? Are there any places where your attention wanders or something bumps you out of the essay? Are there questions you have after reading that you feel are outstanding?

If you haven't had betas for this sort of thing before, I find it's also super helpful to simply ask, what's your impression of it? How did it make you feel?

And as you and your beta settle in together, ask them how they like to work. What if anything they specialize in, what their strengths and weaknesses are. What their approach is to feedback--some betas try to be very gentle, others are very blunt. Understanding what their preference is and how it is likely to interact with your own is super helpful for avoiding accidental hurt feelings and miscommunication.
rabbitpiedreams: (Default)

[personal profile] rabbitpiedreams 2024-10-18 12:21 am (UTC)(link)

My favourite thing to know from my readers, in general, is "what is happening?" Or "What does this mean?" And I think it fits here too. It's nice to find out how your work is being interpreted and understood, and can highlight if you've written something ambiguously where you want to be very clear.