u/Rare_Background_3462

I’m sure we’ve all been there. Someone agrees to beta read your novel, and they find something terribly wrong with it. My most recent beta reader read 3/4 of my novel and would not continue. They said it disregarded the laws of physics too much for them to bear. Keep in mind, I didn’t classify my novel as a hard science fiction, but a soft, character-driven science fiction. I’m usually very upfront about that fact. I wasn’t aware that science fiction required all scientific laws to be followed.

Either way, I was devastated. Out of all the feedback I’ve received, this is the first person who has completely abandoned the project. It made me question myself and my writing. I’m not exactly sure how to handle this. Should I adjust based on the rejection?

Edit: Since some have pointed out they can’t judge if they don’t know to what extent laws were broken, I’ll name a few. 1) Certain planets called “living planets” can absorb energy from their sun. 2) The sun itself can be re-energized from a dying state with an energy equivalent transfer. 3) Brainwave transmitters are used to communicate between different languages. 4) Spaceships can survive a supernova, but not without significant damage. Keep in mind, this world includes shapeshifting aliens and technology that doesn’t exist. The basis for the story already establishes that real, hard science takes a back seat.

This is a request for beta readers for my adult science fiction novel HUMAN SHAPED, complete at about 70k words. It’s a character-driven story with soft science and space travel.

The sun is not meant to be hidden.

This sun is hidden in human form.

Alexander Delgado, an alien species researcher for the Intergalactic Division of Science, has been lying to the sun ever since he found him eleven years ago. He named him “Ty,” taught him to read, speak, and everything a human should know. Everything except the truth of his nature.

Ty is the last of his species, but the first of his kind to develop intelligence. It’s this intelligence that leads him to question the framework of Alexander’s control. After Ty breaks the illusion at a Division of Science charity event, containment slips into chaos, and trust is muddled. What was once an alien study turns into revoked travel permissions and an escape to Earth. There, Alexander’s motives continue to be questioned, and Ty learns just how inhuman he is beneath the skin.

Despite his true nature, it’s Ty’s humanity that tips the scales. And although Alexander was born human, his actions speak louder than origin.

What defines humanity? Its shape, or something more?

Note: If you would like to beta read, please comment as well as DM. My manuscript is on Google Docs and will only be sent via DM. I’m not currently doing swaps.

This is mind-reading in the literal sense. For context, the characters are able to communicate through thoughts. One half are an alien species that use antennae to speak into each other’s minds and the other is a scientist who utilizes a brainwave transmitter/receiver. I don’t call it a “neural link” in the book, so I won’t call it that here. Conscious thoughts sound like normal speech, while subconscious thoughts sound like whispers. Images and emotions can be transmitted if they’re strong enough, and memories can be accessed if the mind isn’t actively guarding them.

The second part of my book relies heavily upon this form of communication, since the scientist can’t speak the alien species’ language. More than once, the aliens have reached into the scientist’s memories without his permission. Twice, it’s been to find out secrets vital to progressing the plot. I’m worried that even twice is too much.

The memories aren’t: “Bam! Full memory recap of the secret revealed!” The characters make their own connections based on the pieces they get. But this plot device feels a bit weak to me, even if I only used it twice. And guess what? I’m about to use it again! Only this time, one of the main characters forcibly reaches into someone else’s mind to get the specific location of a place. This is the last time I would use this trick, making it the third instance.

The whole book isn’t just this. The main mind-reading comes much later in the book. It’s not out of place for the story, either. But to me, it seems more unreasonable that someone wouldn’t take advantage of their ability to read mind if given the chance. The biggest thing is that it’s crucial to at least two parts of the plot.

Thoughts are appreciated!

I constantly run into the same problem where my sentences in my novel will go:

(Character) did/said this. He also did another thing, as something else happened. (Character) then does a different thing, causing yet another thing to happen.

This repeats if I don’t catch myself. I’ve gotten better at realizing when my sentences mirror each other in structure, but it’s frustrating when the easiest way to write action is by starting it with the character’s name, or their pronoun. I absolutely do not want to use descriptors instead of names either, unless it’s infrequent. I also use “as” too much. For example:

Foliage snags on the fabric of his jumpsuit as he moves through the forest.

Sounds normal at first… until every other sentence uses “as” like a crutch. Turns out, not everything can happen as something else is happening. Certain actions should be isolated and not tacked on to the end of the sentence.

There has to be a way to make your sentence structure flow smoothly without sounding like you’re repeating the same three paragraphs or strings of dialogue descriptions. I’ve been writing painfully slow in the home stretch of my last 10 chapters because I’m picking apart the structure. Then I go a read a published book and it looks nothing like what I’m writing. I’m starting to wonder what I’m doing wrong.

(I’m also dreading having to edit the 55k I wrote without my structure mistakes in mind)