I’ve mentioned before that the first draft of my novel is currently being beta-read by my first beta-reader. It’s nerve-racking, having someone reading it for the first time in seven years, but, this is an important part of the process, and I’ve asked my beta-reader to be completely honest in assessing the story to help me locate weaknesses that I can improve upon.

I’ve gotten some good feedback already. In addition to being made aware of some minor issues with redundancies and areas where the writing can be tightened up, I’ve gotten the following positive comments at various stages in the reading:

“So far, I think you’ve done a good job about making me care about the main character…”

“I am enjoying it because it is reminding me what it’s like to be in that stage of life…”

“Cohesive story, enjoyable so far. It’s a setting that appeals to me, so I find the story interesting.”

My beta-reader is still very much in the early parts of the novel, so I hope they continue to find the story interesting and characters realistic and relatable. So far, the early comments are very encouraging!