Alpha Your Way To THE END

There are those who like to rush through a rough draft, breathlessly writing until they reach the end. Not me. 

As some of you may have noticed - I have a problem with finishing things. I need encouragement. I need accountability. I needed an Alpha Reader.

Last month I made a deal with one of my on-line crit partners. The deal was, every Friday we'd exchange a new chapter of our rough drafts. 

This isn't an easy thing to do. Allowing someone to read the unedited first ramblings of our story is intimidating. But for me - it's been awesome. 
We've been exchanging for about a month now and this week I'm working on chapter 5.

I can hear some of you scoffing:  "One month and you've only written 4 chapters? I can write a whole novel in that time period."

To those people I say:  "That's awesome. I wish I could be more like you."

But I'm not. I write slow and very often I don't write at all. Throughout this month there's been many times when I just wanted to quit because a scene was difficult to write or I just didn't feel like writing.
Knowing that my Alpha was expecting me to send her something kept me writing. And now instead of nothing - I have 4 whole chapters. Yay!!! If I continue on at this rate in around six months I'll have a finished rough draft. Thank you Alpha - you're awesome.

So if you're someone who's having trouble finishing your rough draft - get yourself an Alpha.

Here are some key characteristics of an Alpha reader:

They read your stuff - chapter by chapter(or any amount of your choosing) and give quick feedback. 
They don't do line edits. 
They look at the overall elements - pacing, tension, plot arcs, characters etc.
They'll let you know if a scene worked for them or if it fell flat.
They let you know of spots that are confusing.
They can also be a sounding board - someone to bounce ideas off of.  
An Alpha is a cheerleader. They encourage you to keep writing. 

And most importantly:  Take care of your Alpha and your Alpha will take care of you.