The Value of Beta

Last night someone came and asked me how I got into creative writing.  I was kind of confused by the question, since I've been doing it since before I could really spell.  It's like asking someone how they got into eating.  It's just something I do.  But I told him that I started out tracing pictures from How to Draw books, and then I wrote stories to go along with them.  Most of those stories were never finished.  As I got older and the books I read changed, I started writing Middle Grade-ish novels.  Those were never finished either. 

Then I got into fan fiction.  Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction.  Yes, Yu-Gi-Oh.  I created a character, put her in the world of the TV show, and wrote several short stories about her.  After having several strange dreams, I started coming up with an idea for a novel featuring this character, and after rewriting the plot several times, I cut out any references to Yu-Gi-Oh and have been working on a fantasy trilogy ever since.  There are many other ideas I have for novels which I hope to write in the future, and I actually completed the rough draft of another novel this year.

The person to whom I was telling all this said he has thought of several characters, but he doesn't want to write a book about them yet because he doesn't want to write something terrible; he wants to save these characters until he's a good enough writer to create a story worthy of them.

I can understand that; that used to be how I thought about blogging and submitting work for review by others.  I didn't want anyone to see it until it was perfect, and I didn't even want to start it until I had a plan.  How can I write a blog post when I'm still doing research?

But I don't see things that way any more.  This post, itself, is a testament to that.  I started off thinking, I wonder if I could relate that conversation I had last night to the value of beta.  And then I just started on it.  Beta, for me, is like practicing in front of a crowd.  You're still working on it, but everyone gets to watch your progress.  It's kind of nerve-wracking, but it's helpful to get feedback so you know what needs to be improved the most.

Going back to creative writing, I wrote tons of stories that never got done.  I also wrote a lot of stuff that was downright ridiculous and let friends read to help me figure out what I needed to fix.  Sometimes they rip it apart with criticism, but that's what I need.  My fan fiction short stories will never be published formally.  But all of these things had value.  The novels I didn't finish and my silly fan fictions were important because they prepared me for later writing.  And the criticism my friends gave me taught me to write better.


In my conversation last night, I told this person that he should just write about these characters.  Put them in a situation and see what happens.  You can always scrap that story and start again, and you can always change those characters and see how it changes your plot.  Bad writing has worth.  It teaches you.  It helps you move forward.  You might decide that you don't like where it's going at all and just throw out the whole thing, but you've learned and you've realized what doesn't work for you.

That's exactly what beta is.  When you seek social proof in the middle of a project, you're learning.  When you publish a blog post before you've done much research, you see what you need to find out.  You see where your logic is lacking.  You see your own thought process.


Don't be afraid of beta.  It's a good thing.