{"id":1297,"date":"2017-09-21T09:52:39","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T09:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2019-01-24T13:05:52","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T13:05:52","slug":"mst-alumna-marie-gethins-on-beta-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=1297","title":{"rendered":"MSt alumna Marie Gethins on “beta readers”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beta readers. Some belittle, some won\u2019t admit to using them, some praise them. I fall into the final category. While I\u2019m willing to concede beta readers are not for everyone, I am going to champion them here. I have a two-tier system. My long-suffering husband is my initial beta reader\/listener. After a draft gets past him, I bring it to my writers\u2019 group.<\/p>\n

I\u2018ve been in a small writers\u2019 group for five years that meets every fortnight. Before we formed, I had not submitted any creative writing, while the other two members each had one win, one placement and a couple of listings. Since then, between the three original members, we\u2019ve racked up 224 publications in more than 80 outlets, 61 wins\/placements in competitions, and made 55 appearances. Clearly it is working for us.<\/p>\n

Each of member brings something unique to the table. We recently brought in a new member\u2014a male poet\u2014who gives an additional perspective that previously we lacked. As well as constructive criticism, scheduled meetings are an excellent way to push new work production. I particularly enjoy having this \u2018safe space\u2019 to be experimental and know that they group won\u2019t let me away with anything.<\/p>\n

While the image of an author toiling alone in a garret is romantic, having a trustworthy group that forces you to get out into the world is a good thing. I know how fortunate I am to have found that mysterious alchemy in my writers\u2019 group, but even a single beta reader can really help to hone work.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Read about Marie’s publications and awards on the blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beta readers. Some belittle, some won\u2019t admit to using them, some praise them. I fall into the final category. While I\u2019m willing to concede beta readers are not for everyone, I am going to champion them here. I have a two-tier system. My long-suffering husband is my initial beta reader\/listener. After a draft gets past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni_news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p40Qhf-kV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":715,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=715","url_meta":{"origin":1297,"position":0},"title":"MSt tutor Wendy Brandmark: “On Letting go of a Novel”","author":"MSt Creative Writing","date":"March 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On Letting go of a Novel Wendy Brandmark The launch of novel is an odd experience. Suddenly a book which never let go of me, no matter how exasperated I became with the puzzle of its story and bothersome group of characters, is finally making its way in the world.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MSt News"","block_context":{"text":"MSt News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"head shot Wendy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/head-shot-Wendy-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1608,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=1608","url_meta":{"origin":1297,"position":1},"title":"MSt tutor Jane Draycott reading at the British Library, 26 Nov 2018","author":"MSt Creative Writing","date":"November 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"MSt tutor Jane Draycott will be reading at the British Library on Monday 26 Nov 2018 for Carcanet's \"What makes a Classic?\" From the announcement: One generation\u2019s classics look quite different from another\u2019s. So how do you define them? To celebrate the launch of Carcanet\u2019s new Carcanet Classics\u00a0series, we explore\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/29513100_1616168755086878_858777396298690420_n-242x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1432,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=1432","url_meta":{"origin":1297,"position":2},"title":"MSt tutor Sarah Bakewell awarded a Windham-Campbell prize","author":"MSt Creative Writing","date":"March 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"MSt tutor Sarah Bakewell has been awarded a Windham-Campbell prize. From the announcement: \"The Call of a Lifetime The director of the Windham-Campbell Prizes recently made the call of a lifetime to eight entirely surprised writers, informing them that they will each be recognized with a $165,000 USD prize to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MSt News"","block_context":{"text":"MSt News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/windhamcampbell.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/thumbnail\/public\/Sarah%20Bakewell%20by%20Tundi%20Eugenia%20Haulik.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1388,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=1388","url_meta":{"origin":1297,"position":3},"title":"“Foreign Goods: A Selection of Writing by British East Asian Artists”, edited by, and including a play by, MSt alumna Jingan Young published by Oberon Books","author":"MSt Creative Writing","date":"December 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Foreign Goods: A Selection of Writing by British East Asian Artists , curated and edited by MSt alumna Jingan Young, will be published by Oberon Books on 19 January 2018. It is now available for pre-order. From the announcement: This is the first ever collection of modern dramatic writing by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alumni News"","block_context":{"text":"Alumni News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?cat=15"},"img":{"alt_text":"No automatic alt text available.","src":"https:\/\/scontent.fams1-2.fna.fbcdn.net\/v\/t31.0-0\/p480x480\/23405922_1653862421341151_8729910421626594573_o.jpg?oh=27ec80f0c5bf3b60e5b8990bd90ebc42&oe=5A8F8E34","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1523,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=1523","url_meta":{"origin":1297,"position":4},"title":"MSt tutor Roopa Farooki’s SI Leeds Literary Prize Reading, 14 Sept 2018, London","author":"MSt Creative Writing","date":"August 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"MSt tutor Roopa Farooki will be reading for SI Leeds Literary Prize Readings at Richmix in London,\u00a0 14 September About the prize, from their website: \"The SI Leeds Literary Prize The SI Leeds Literary Prize is a biennial prize for unpublished fiction by Black and Asian women in the UK.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.richmix.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/simplecrop_without_resize\/public\/Roopa%20%2855%29Finals_0.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.richmix.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/simplecrop_without_resize\/public\/Roopa%20%2855%29Finals_0.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.richmix.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/simplecrop_without_resize\/public\/Roopa%20%2855%29Finals_0.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.richmix.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/simplecrop_without_resize\/public\/Roopa%20%2855%29Finals_0.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.richmix.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/simplecrop_without_resize\/public\/Roopa%20%2855%29Finals_0.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.richmix.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/simplecrop_without_resize\/public\/Roopa%20%2855%29Finals_0.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2477,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?p=2477","url_meta":{"origin":1297,"position":5},"title":"Ollie Randall’s new book on cricket and literature","author":"MSt Creative Writing","date":"March 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On May 15th, MSt alumnus Ollie Randall is publishing the first of a pair of forthcoming books on cricket and culture with Fairfield Books. 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PG Wodehouse used his cricket-playing to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alumni News"","block_context":{"text":"Alumni News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/?cat=15"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1.png?fit=667%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1.png?fit=667%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1.png?fit=667%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1297"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1300,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions\/1300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.conted.ox.ac.uk\/mstcw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}