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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34556
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34556
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

What you're looking for is **beta readers**. Beta readers would read all your work, and look at exactly the things you are unsure about: general flow, plot holes, etc.

Who can be beta readers? Friends, if they are the kind of people who could point a finger at something and say "this doesn't work at all". (Some people are comfortable doing that, others are not.) Friends of friends. Acquaintances. You can post on Facebook that you're looking for beta readers.

Giving your work to people for beta-reading isn't, however, as simple as dumping your whole manuscript on them, and waiting for feedback. That's too big a task - one most people wouldn't know how to approach. So you need to break it up into smaller tasks. You can send your beta-readers your manuscript chapter by chapter, and ask them to answer some questions after each chapter. Questions like:

- Which characters you like? Which characters you don't like? Why?
- What do you expect would happen next?
- What parts did you enjoy? Were there parts you wished to skip over?

Etc. You know your story, so you can tweak your questions accordingly. And of course, there should be a catch-all "do you have any other comments" question. An additional advantage of giving the manuscript chapter by chapter is that if you have an unresponsive beta reader, they don't get any more of your story.

While we're on the subject of beta readers, it might be a good idea to get beta readers from different age groups, genders, etc. People who see the world not quite like you do might see things in your story that you haven't noticed.

Original score: 3