Having a cadre of beta readers is vitally important. When selected wisely, they can provide necessary feedback to improve the story that you are trying to convey to readers. Aside from grammar and punctuation, beta readers can spot flaws in your characters and/or story.
Part of my job as a writer of historical fiction is to properly research the time and place of which I am writing. When searching for “words of the 18th century,” I came upon a marvelous word. Wow! I just had to find a place for it!!
And so I did:
“As dinner ended, Portia came through the door with ginger cake and cream. Despite feeling dreadfully crapulous, Aubrey grinned at the sight of the cake.”
Underlined, and noted in green, my beta reader said, “This word is just too gross.”
In the end, I agreed with my reader, and Aubrey ended up feeling sated, not crapulous!
Note: The Oxford English Dictionary states that the earliest evidence for crapulous is from around 1540, in a translation by John Bellenden, poet and translator, where one is characterized by excessive eating or drinking.
