August 21, 2017

The beta reading process: 10 critical steps

I'm starting to get beta feedback on the last draft of TUBE (just in time, before I plunge into final revisions in September), and since I shared some of it, many of you have asked about my beta reading process: how I do it, how many beta readers I have, what I send them, in what format, what I ask for in return, etc.

I dug around in my blog archives and found not one, not two, but four posts on the same topic. One from 2012, on luring beta readers with cookies. Two from 2013, on connecting with beta readers and on adapting their feedback. And one from 2015, on 10 things to know about beta readers.

I think it's time for an updated post, since it's 2017 and my process has improved. So here goes.

1. Finding beta readers.

November 26, 2015

How to persevere when you think your writing is shit

by Ksenia Anske

"Hi Ksenia! I'm currently writing my second novel. The first one was so easy; such a continuous rush of excitement and inspiration and creativity. But this one... is very different. It's the first time I've lost all faith in my writing and thought that it all is pure shit, and wondered how I'll ever be able to turn this into something readable. I feel like just giving up. How do you do it? Are you ever faced with these moments of despair and futility in your writing? You are so goddam inspiring—you've made a career out of writing books all by yourself, in a language that isn't even your native tongue! That amazes me. I'm hoping you might be able to pass on some wisdom to me. Thank you!"

Hi Spencer! Thank you for asking this difficult question. We like to boast about the rush of writing but we don't like as much to talk about the other side of it, do we? We like to hide, to pretend, to blame writers' block, or whatever. Most of the time we do it quietly, we the non-social creatures who don't like to air out our personal problems in public which is why we like to write fiction in the first place, right? And the truth is, most of the time after we decide that what we write is so bad there is no point in continuing, we quit. And that's a shame. So many books could've been written. So many books never get finished because of this fucking internal police.

October 15, 2015

How I find new books to read and choose what to read next

by Ksenia Anske

Lucia asked: "How do you find new books to read? How do you choose what to read next? And how do you select the books worthy-of-your-time?"

I have developed quite a method, Lucia, for finding new books and choosing them and reading them in the order that suits me. There are several parts to it, and they keep fluctuating and mutating according to what I learn as I read every day and begin to understand what books are worth my time and what books aren't. I'm fooling myself, of course, and fooling you, by telling you all this. The best books I read have come out of nowhere and I frankly don't remember how I stumbled on them and they defy all my methods. Nonetheless, since we're playing this game of knowing, let me list for you my sources and the decisions I go through before picking up and reading a new book.

August 12, 2015

Growing your vocabulary by using etymology

by Ksenia Anske

I seem to have cracked one of my biggest obstacles to writing well: the excruciatingly slow growth of my vocabulary (have found a way to significantly speed it up, I mean, not crack it). Since I started writing in English, I have tried all kinds of methods to pound new words into my head and failed at each, adding maybe 10 new words per month or so, which was nothing. It got me mighty pissed that I couldn't retain the meaning of words like "inexorable" and "parsimony" and "celerity" and "doff" and "grandiloquent" and more complex words packed with layers of meaning like "egalitarianism" and "idiosyncrasy" and "meritocratic" and the like. I'd open up a new book and every few paragraphs would have to whip out my phone to look up that word or the other or whole phrases like "bona fide" or "tour de force" or "carpe diem" and such. It would drive me bananas that I came across the same words over and over and over again and failed to remember what they meant.

Then over the last month I have been astonished to find that the new system I'm using is finally fucking working! Fucking glorious hallelujah!!!

July 23, 2015

Making time for writing: keep the gates to your mind closed

by Ksenia Anske

Drawing by Stefan Zsaitsits — Drawing by Stefan Zsaitsits

The last few days I keep stumbling on the same issue that either some of you are expressing to me, or I see others struggling with, which is easy to summarize in the following statement:

"Oh, I want to write a book, but I have no time. There's ... (insert a valid-sounding reason like "millions of dollars to chase for my American dream" or "twenty elderly aunts to take care of" or "scores of TV shows to catch up on" or "hungry triplets to feed from three bottles at once" or whatever.)

So here's the deal. Life is full of busy shit. We're like muckworms squirming in it, fighting for that bit of sun to warm our slimy hides (you can tell writing TUBE is influencing my imagery here). And life is full of people. These people will demand things from you, like help with their own dreams of millions of dollars, or help with changing diapers of their forty elderly uncles, and on and on and on. Unless you employ a stopper for this chatter, IT WILL NEVER CEASE.