The posting on the library bulletin board caught my eye. It read, "Are you a writer?" Why yes I am, I thought and continued reading about the small group of writers that met in one of the library seminar rooms every Tuesday at 7 p.m. New members were welcome, so I went.
Up until that point, I was writing in solitude. I had a story so I brought the first few pages to get some feedback. Everyone was nice and supportive. Someone read my work aloud. That was a crazy feeling, but nothing compared to the praise I got afterward. It felt so good to be validated and encouraged and to feel like I was doing well at this thing I loved. My words were connecting with readers!
Later that year I enrolled at Humber School for Writers in Toronto and used that manuscript as my project. They paired me with a mentor author, Richard Scrimger, and from his honest feedback, I quickly realized my story had huge problems. My small group of supportive writers was just that: a support system to encourage me and cheer me on no matter what I wrote. Groups like this are great if we need motivation, but at some point we all need readers who will tell us what's not working for them. If they can tell us why, all the better. At some point we have to put ourselves out there for the honest feedback that ultimately makes the story better because it comes from the people who will read it.
Not every writer has those people in their lives. Best friends and family members are usually the worst. If you need someone to read, as a reader, in those early stages of your manuscript, and don't have anyone handy, we can do this for you without too much strain on your budget. Beta readers are simply necessary for us to see if our intentions are making it to the page clearly for others to understand. Better to know before the revisions begin.
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