my friends read the first chapters of my new book 🫠... beta reader feedback reaction *adult fantasy*

[@kelleyiswriting]

ahh thank you for letting me read!!

[@KrisMF]

thank you for reading!!! :D

[@AdamFishkin]

21:48 "I can only hold so many thoughts in my head at once with every single draft ..." That's not a weakness, Kris. That's a reasonable human parameter and I think you should be nice to yourself. Knowing everything you're about to create, before you create it, wouldn't be any fun anyway.

[@writewithjoy]

girl the way I LEAPED to watch this video. I've been waiting ever since I watched Lynn's & Kelley's 💕

[@writewithjoy]

also, re: starting earlier vs. starting later in the story, I have found that I have a tendency to begin the story WAY too close to the inciting incident and I always end up going back and adding at least a chapter or two more to the beginning, lol. I think it’s a leftover instinct from my creative writing classes that drilled getting to that point immediately & also from writing so many short stories. But I’ve found that if readers don’t understand the stakes and the character and the foundation of the world, they won’t care about the inciting incident. It’s a hard balance to strike.

[@KrisMF]

@@writewithjoy that's so true! i used to start my stories too early and now i'm wondering if i'm also starting too close to the inciting incident lol.. a vicious cycle

[@jackmeowmeowmeow2177]

Something I tend to do for describing characters is that I include a few defining features of the character in introduction, but I keep some details hidden and over the course of the first few chapters I drip feed these elements as the characters get to know each other (You can also use this to include more backstory instead of info dumping someones life in chap 1, have a character they met recently, ask them about something personal or bring up something personal like an old scar, etc.) Sometimes I would be in the POV of character A as they are introduced to character B where they get an overview of who they are, their style so to speak. Then maybe in POV of character B later on, give more details regarding the other. I like to break it up into a distant view of the character, followed by more close up examinations of them. distant you can get stuff like build, clothing, hair styles, demeanor, attitude, etc. where you can further focus in on each aspect in a close up view, physically you can add features like scars, eye color, tattoos under clothings, personality, or things you generally wouldn't make out from someone from a glance across a room. I often like to work backwards in a lot of things, starting with the whole picture, then removing and simplifying certain things for the reader early on, stuff that they need to know. Not every detail of a system needs to be fully understood by the reader, you can leave room for wondering. (Like introductory Magic systems will be more basic like Magic 101, vs Advanced magic systems which is more like a more advanced physics class.)

[@AriBPK]

loved this video, kris! so fun to see the feedback and love how you, lynn, and kelley all exchanged feedback - so excited to learn more about the floating house, love everything i'm hearing about it so far! 😍

[@KrisMF]

I'm so excited to share more soon!

[@jaswriting]

aah kris!! I truly adore these kinds of videos from you! Your trio is so solid 🥹

[@cynthiawrites]

i also have trouble describing how my characters look!! i always appreciate getting to see the beta reading process. even without seeing specifics, it keeps the writer brain sharp

[@davidwooldridge4079]

I work with a beta reader that is an established author and he just sent me my last manuscript riddled with comments. It's BRUTAL but honestly amazing feedback. I feel like I would get a lot of followers if I read the book aloud on stream and then read the comments.

[@heyyitssj]

Such thoughtful and kind feedback! Good luck on the rest of the draft 🫶

[@awritingdai]

Love a strong beta/critique group! It’s nice that you guys can be encouraging and kind while also giving feedback that will actually develop the story!

[@ascontralto]

(Re: are you a writer or a reader with descriptions) I'm primarily an illustrator lmao. I've been doing prose for fun this last year, and one of the biggest things I've been figuring out my Voice for is descriptions. Its the whole "you cannot describe literally everything in your head", multiplied by "I'm so used to just being able to Draw It" lmao. But luckily, all of my feedback so far indicates that descriptions are one of my stronger points! The best metaphor i can think of is, instead of trying to paint a whole scene, you're selecting a small handful of focal features (i try not to do more than three or MAYBE four at a time) and render them in vignette, and let the audience fill in the implied gaps. Then i can spend my mental energy making sure the things i describe help build not only the literal imagery of what things look like, but the emotional impressions and such as well. I also try to use the least/clearest words possible, because i have ADHD and so do like all my friends 😂😂😂😂 I assume you already know all this kind of thing, but i enjoy figuring out how to compare/contrast my art job stuff with writing lol. Thanks for the video, its fun ✨️

[@TheSnakeInk]

I love these types of videos! Not only am I stoked for your new project, but this also makes me want to try something like this. I only need to have some writer friends lol What you mentioned around 21:30, I feel you on this. I struggle with descriptions, so I end up skimping out on that a lot. I also tend to underdescribe my characters. However, I think that for me it's because I'm an artist and I'd rather draw something than describe it. I need to work on that haha From what I understand, this is an unfinished first draft, right? I usually work on my first draft alone and never let anyone see it. But I've been having this itch to have someone read my current WIP's first draft and I don't know if it's a good idea. My first drafts are usually a mess, so that's what usually holds me back. I guess it depends on how you work? I'm getting the feeling that this would work better for someone who edits as they go along, which I don't. So, I would appreciate any thoughts on this :)

[@KrisMF]

yes! I edit a LOT as a i write my first drafts. i used to be very averse to others reading my stuff until it was fully finished, but now that i've been writing for a while and i'm much more confident in my process/have beta readers i really trust, i'm more open to it!

[@TheSnakeInk]

@@KrisMF That makes sense! I might give this a try in the future since it sounds so much more efficient lol

[@northofdakota]

I feel you when you said you under describe cause that's something I struggle with too especially since I'm autistic so my brain has trouble registering details when it comes to people's appearances and places 😩 but thankfully that's what revisions are for! 🤣 so that's something I'm gonna spend more time on during the revision stage

[@Man-ej6uv]

i'm the opposite, i describe eveeerything because i stare at people

[@davidwooldridge4079]

I want to jump in on this. I will share my first couple chapters in exchange with you. I want to see what you wrote!

[@arcane9205]

Personally, when I read, I skip description if it's more than a paragraph long I can't lie lol, but I have no clue if that's a general thing or not

I'm a writer and when I'm reading I always skip descriptions lol 😅😅

[@giveandtake8428]

This is so inspiring.

[@EmillyCreative]

Brazil🇧🇷