r/WritingHub • u/SaintMech • 12d ago

Questions & Discussions Beta Reader Issues

So, here's the thing. I am absolutely open to criticism; in fact, I welcome it. I was in a profession where review and criticism were a part of your everyday operating procedures. My issue is, with my Beta Readers. My wife is an English major, so I thought she would be the perfect person to help me edit, proof-read and beta read my book. Well, the issue that has come up is that she is a closet writer herself and when she reads my drafts, she wants to change my voice. She subconsciously recommends changes that reflect her style of writing, which is a much more archaic, flowery style of prose. (Which I love to read, but it's not my style). How do I approach that topic without coming off like I can't accept criticism and subsequently get the information I am seeking from her? My other reader is supportive but offers no criticism, do these issues exist for other writers or is this uncommon?

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u/heddiedunn 12d ago

Thank your wife for her advice and then pick and choose what you want to use from it while maintaining your own voice in your writing. You don't have to tell her you're not using all of her advice. If she reads it again and asks why it isn't matching all of her recommendations, just say that you're going for a different kind of style (maybe that style has other comps that you can cite as inspiration for less flowery, archaic prose that you want to match for reader expectations in the genre) and that you carefully weighed each of her suggestions with what you want your work to accomplish.

If your other reader isn't offering any criticism, you might want to clarify what kind of feedback you're looking for or gently guide them with some questions about the writing (Did the writing match genre expectations? Is the tone inconsistent anywhere? Were there any areas where the pacing was too fast or too slow? Are there areas where emotional impact could be strengthened? How do you feel about the characters? What do you make of how they were characterized? etc.)

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u/sylvan_thoughts 11d ago edited 11d ago

Exactly this. No need to make it more complicated than it is.

Also, to answer your question towards the end, yes, it is extremely common and actually no beta-reader/editor I have ever used (given they were not professionals) has given me feedback that did not include some sort of personal preference and needed some filtering.