This morning, I finished my rewrite of chapter one and sent it off for feedback.
Getting reader responses is absolutely crucial to me for many reasons. When I'm editing in particular, I find that I have a hard time gauging whether I've made something better. This is probably because I don't edit enough and haven't gained a sixth sense for it. In order to know how the changes have affected the story, I'm trying something new and have recruited a few readers who have never read this story before to read two different versions of the first chapter--without knowing which is the rewrite.
Of course, getting a fresh take on two versions of the same chapter is impossible. Whichever they decide to read first will probably alter their reading experience of the second (i.e. they might get more bored with the second because it's conveying much of the same information). But maybe not.
I've given these readers a week to read and respond in a poll--I might update and add the results to this post when they come in, just so we can see how well I did with the rewrite.
Now, onto Chapter Two!