10 Questions to Ask Your Beta Readers
Handing your manuscript to a beta reader is a vulnerable moment. You've spent months (perhaps years) living inside your story, and now you're inviting someone else to judge it. The natural impulse is to ask, "Did you like it?" or "Is it good?"
Unfortunately, these questions rarely lead to helpful answers. A beta reader might say, "I loved it!" which feels good but offers no guidance on how to improve the sagging middle, supporting characters, or improve your prose. Or they might say, "It was okay," leaving you guessing what went wrong.
To turn a beta reader’s reaction into actionable manuscript feedback, your questions must be specific. You need to guide them away from being a reviewer and toward being a diagnostic tool. By focusing their attention on specific elements, you uncover the structural weak points you're too close to see.
What Beta Readers Are Not
A final reminder before we dive in: beta readers are great for telling you what's not working. They're not great for telling you how to fix it. Don't ask them what they would prefer instead. They don't see the interconnected plot threads like you do, or the foundations you're laying for book 2. They're good for telling you there's a loose stone in the mosaic, not for selecting the piece to replace it.
1. Where did you lose interest or find yourself skimming?
This is arguably the most important question you can ask. It addresses pacing and engagement.
Readers are generally polite. They won't always tell you that Chapter 8 was boring. However, if you ask them to identify exactly where they felt the urge to put the book down or skip a few paragraphs you'll pinpoint your story’s dead zones. If multiple readers flag the same sequence, you know exactly where you need to tighten the tension or raise the stakes.
2. Did you connect with the main character? Why or why not?
A plot can be technically perfect, but if the reader doesn't care about the protagonist, the story will fall flat. This question reveals whether your character feels like a real person worth following.
A common misconception is that your protagonist needs to be likeable. They don't. They need to be relatable. The most memorable characters hold up a mirror to some aspect of the human experience. Fears, desires, contradictions, flaws. Even when we wouldn't make their choices, we understand why they do.
If readers feel indifferent toward your lead, you may need to revisit their internal motivations or make their goals more tangible early in the narrative.
3. Could you visualize the setting?
This balances description and worldbuilding.
This question helps you find the middle ground between "White Room Syndrome" (where dialogue happens in a void) and "Purple Prose" (where descriptions go on for pages). You want your readers to feel grounded in the location without being bogged down by unnecessary architectural details.
4. Were there any confusing moments?
Confusion is the enemy of immersion. This question helps catch plot holes, unclear motivations, or convoluted prose.
You know your world’s history and magic system by heart, but the reader only knows what is on the page. If a reader has to re-read a paragraph three times to understand who is speaking or how a magic spell works, the narrative flow is broken. Similarly, if they didn't catch your big reveal, you might need to sprinkle more hints earlier in the narrative.
5. Did the ending feel satisfying?
This tests your story structure and payoff.
A satisfying ending doesn't have to be a happy one, but it must feel earned. It should resolve the central conflict and deliver on the promises made in the first chapter. If readers feel cheated, rushed, or confused by the ending, it often indicates a problem with the setup in the earlier acts.
6. What is one scene you would cut?
This helps identify bloat.
Every writer has scenes they love; witty banter or a beautiful description of a landscape. But these don't always move the story forward. This is the "kill your darlings" phase. If a reader points out a scene that stalled the momentum, examine it closely. Does it reveal character? Does it advance the plot? If not, it might need to go. Here's a quick refresher on how to know what to cut.
And this touches on a broader strategy: force your beta readers to have an opinion. Asking what to cut is better than asking if they should cut. They must cut something. Find out why.
7. What did you think the story was really about?
This checks for thematic consistency and clarity.
As writers, we often believe our themes are obvious. We think we are writing a story about the corrosive nature of revenge, but a reader might finish the book thinking it was just a cool story about space pirates. If their answer aligns with your intent, you have succeeded. If their takeaway is vastly different, you may need to weave your theme more strongly through the narrative arcs and dialogue.
8. Did any dialogue feel unnatural?
Bad dialogue pulls readers out of the story faster than almost anything else.
You're looking for two things here:
- Exposition dumps: Characters telling each other things they already know just for the reader's benefit.
- Voice consistency: Does the street-smart rogue sound like a university professor?
9. What surprised you?
This question gauges predictability and emotional impact.
While some genre conventions are expected, a story that's entirely predictable can feel stale. You want to know if your plot twists landed effectively. Conversely, if a reader was surprised by something you intended to be obvious, you might have been too subtle with your foreshadowing.
10. Rate the book out of 10
This is a controversial question. Not everyone would agree with this one, but here's a reason why you might want to try: it gives your beta readers an opportunity to tell you at a high level where you're at.
You could receive tons of detailed feedback through the first nine questions and still presume you're sitting at a 9/10. But if you see a 6 come in, it helps you understand how much work might still be needed. This numerical anchor provides crucial context for interpreting all the other feedback. It's the difference between "these are minor polish issues" and "there are fundamental problems to address."
Bonus: Genre-Specific Add-Ons
Depending on what you are writing, you should add one specific question to tailor the feedback to your audience expectations.
- Romance: Did you believe the chemistry between the leads, and was the conflict keeping them apart believable?
- Mystery: At what point did you solve the case, and did the clues feel fair?
- Fantasy: Did the rules of the magic system remain consistent throughout the book?
- Horror: Which scene genuinely unsettled or scared you?
Conclusion
Beta readers are an important part of the writing process. The right questions transform vague opinions into actionable feedback that helps you identify weak spots you're too close to see.
Yet any author will tell you, working with beta readers can also be challenging. Some take weeks or months to respond, and quality can be a mixed bag. This is where tools like Inkshift can help. It provides in-depth manuscript critiques across your entire novel, and best of all, it's available in minutes.
No matter where the notes come from, the most important part is being receptive to feedback. The only way to improve as a writer is to see what's working, and what's not. And with these ten questions, you'll turn vague sentiment into concrete targets for revisions. Good luck!
