Building A Writing Team: CPs, Alphas, and Betas
When you query a manuscript, you want that manuscript to be in tip-top shape. That doesn’t mean that it can’t have a few lingering typos (my manuscript sure did!) but it does mean that your manuscript should have a cohesive plot, good character development, and pacing and tension to keep your reader turning the page.
How do you make sure that you’ve done all you can for your manuscript before you query? You build a writing team to help you out.
My writing team consists of my critique partners, my alpha readers, and my beta readers.
Critique Partners
A critique partner (a “CP”) is someone who you work with intensively on your writing, at every stage in the process. My CPs gets distressed messages from me at 1am when I’m worried about a plot hole, and help me fix it. They talk me through early outlines, and read zero drafts of each chapter as they’re completed. They’re the person who read through my drafts again, and again, and challenge me to be better when it comes to character development, plot, tension, you name it. And I do the same for them! It’s really fun.
A CP is someone who has to know you and your writing really well. They have to be able to critique your work and make it better, but they also have to be the kind of person who understands how you think, and what your creative process looks like. Not everyone works together well as a CP. I’ve found that my CPs and I have a similar writing style and write in the same genres, but also have a similar thought process when it comes to writing.
I found one of my CPs through #CPMatch, a twitter event geared towards helping writers find a CP. I found one of my CPs because he tweeted about a plot element of a forthcoming book that was eerily similar to one of mine, and we started messaging. But you can also meet people via #writingcommunity twitter, or twitter pitch events (if you see pitches you think are interesting and mesh well with your work, ask the author if they’re looking for a potential CP!). You can also find critique partners on youtube, instagram, facebook, and the plain old internet.
Alpha Readers
Alpha readers are readers who read your work as soon as you have a complete manuscript. I usually pick one or two alpha readers who are the first ones to get a completed story, and they give me feedback on the first draft. This helps me get a sense of the reader experience so that I can go and do a first round of revisions.
Having multiple alpha readers is helpful to me because I like getting feedback from different types of readers (readers who are writers and those who aren’t, readers who usually read fantasy and those who don’t, etc.). But if you find that getting multiple sources of feedback is daunting or confusing, you can slim down the number of people who alpha read for you (or give one alpha reader the manuscript at a time).
Beta Readers
Beta readers are those who will read what you think is a fairly polished draft of a story. I usually try to find readers through twitter or my extended writing community who haven’t heard me talk about the project at all, so that they can look at it with fresh eyes.
I rely on beta readers to be a final test before I give a book to my agent. If they enjoy the story as a reader would, I consider it good to go!
Revise Between Rounds
Remember that between each round of reader (CP, alpha, and beta), you should be revising based on feedback. This ensures that each round of reader is getting a more polished draft, and ensures that you make the most out of having different people read your manuscript at different stages.
One piece of advice I usually give is to trade samples of your work first, to make sure that the feedback you get will be useful to you. And share expectations! Do you only want the harshest critique, with no punches pulled? Do you want positivity sprinkled in there? Make sure you’re transparent about your expectations and what you need as a writer.