I never knew what an Alpha Reader was until I perused FB groups. Once I learned, I pursued them. Much to my naive surprise 99% of people I asked, didn’t want to read what I wrote, even those who profess to love me. I assume that they assume I suck at writing and they don’t want to have to break my heart. On the other hand, I would read. And yes, I would pretend. I love them that much. I guess I found a way to measure love……LOL.
But, there are those 1%ers that will read. And read with honest feedback. This is invaluable. Ongoing feedback is so incredibly helpful to me. I see writing like digging a hole, when you’re in the hole (or in the fantasy of the world you created), you lose sight of the depth and width, you have no idea how deep it looks from above. Alpha readers give you that insight. From the very picky with notes on every paragraph, to the overall general view of “That was good, I liked it.”… feedback lets you know how the hole is going as you dig further and lose yourself. And when you write, the more you lose yourself, the better you write. Alphas allow me to dive into deep waters as they stand on the shore letting me know where I am.
But be careful. If you have a Male Alpha who is upset because your male character didn’t stop for lunch while making a six hour road trip, refrain from adding lunch stops all through the book. They are rabbit holes. As a writer you could quite possibly and happily dive into a world of interesting diner characters, interesting lunch menus and all sorts of side trips into plots that have no real place in your story. Hold your ground. No one ever died from missing a lunch.