My First Beta Reader Reports

ProWritingAid's scary-smart feedback

@ freepic

Yesterday, on a “why-not” whim, I fed the 17,477-word draft of my WIP to ProWritingAid.com, an AI manuscript evaluation website. Slightly befuddled (an entirely human emotion I doubt AI will ever master), I ended up asking for not one but three “reader” reports.

OMG

One report was 16 single-spaced pages long and the two others 19. Each was delivered in under five minutes. Each report was slightly different and each mind-boggling useful. I want to add intelligent, creative and sensitive to the list of adjectives, but stop to remind myself that these “readers” are not human.

Yet they sure can fake it, reporting being “kept on edge,” or “glued to the page,” or noting that one character was “a protagonist I was rooting for with my whole heart.”

Dude, you don’t have a heart!

It’s scary frankly, but also, I admit, in my all-too human way, endearing.

What was in the reports

Although each report was different, each had the same three-part structure: Story Overview, Reading Experience and Marketing Ideas.

Under Story Overview:

• Genre (basically a paragraph that could make a really good cover blurb)

• What Really Worked for Me (two of the reports were somewhat similar, but the third was longer and mentioned a significant theme the other two “readers” missed)

• The Heart of the Story (again, two of the reports were similar, and the third significantly different)

• Character List (the lists varied)

• Emotional Journey (this was a long list of the chapters — 36 in my case — with suggested titles and noting the emotional impact, pacing and level of reader engagement, each report slightly different)

• My First Impressions (each unique, “high-stakes suspense,” “I was immediately hooked,” “the voice felt authentic, intelligent, and vulnerable from the very first page.”)

And on, and on, with unique and detailed feedback under the headings:

• What I Felt Reading Your Book

• Climax and Resolution

• How I Felt About Your Characters

• Adherence to Genre

• Pacing (two of the reports referenced a same slowed-down section)

• Almost Put the Book Down (two mentioned a problematic scene — with good suggestions for improvement — and one another scene having to do with the violence of the attacks against religious statues, again with a suggested improvement)

• Tension (again, one report mentioned the slowed-down section noted by another “reader” in “her” Pacing report)

• Thoughts on Your Writing Style

• Dialogue (interestingly, each noted a different scene where the dialogue seemed contrived along with good editorial suggestions for improvement)

Under Reader Moments:

• Standout Moments (one mentioned a scene I feel I will need to revise)

• Memorable Quotes

• Original Elements

• Clichéd Elements (interesting!)

• Editing Suggestions (all different, all useful)

• Ideas to Explore (interestingly, all three suggest different ways to enhance Elizabeth’s relationship with her sister Mary and her very good friend Robin Dudley. All points supremlely worthy.)

Under Marketing Ideas:

• Who is This Story For?

• Ideas for Your Title (Sorry, dear AI readers, none hit the mark, although two suggested A Vow of Thorns. Maybe?)

• Similar Books (These suggestions will be very useful when considering “comp” titles.)

So, all in all, I think you might see why my all-too-human mind is reeling!

I need to put aside, for now, thoughts of what the future holds populated with these super intelligent non-humans and get back to work on the manuscript. After all, I have a deadline to meet! And in my very human way, it’s going to quite a bit longer than four minutes.

Will I send ProWritingAid my next draft? Yes, absolutely. And will I ask for more than one “reader” report? Yes, again. Along with the reader reports I will ask from in-the-flesh teen readers. If you’ve a teen reader to suggest, let me know!