So You Say You Want Gabe To Beta Your Story, eh?

[house_illrepute]

Everyone is doing these wonderful "how I write" entries lately, and really, when you're in such wonderful hands as furiosity, pushdragon, pir8fancier, minisinoo, calanthe and others, you can rest assured that you're in good hands. There's is little to nothing li'l ole Gabe can add to the mix that wouldn't simply be recapitulation of their ideas, only stated much less eloquently

Comments

[madlodger_007]

Just got to "Oxford Comma", had to stop and consult Wikipedia, got this:

"The Times once published this description of a Peter Ustinov documentary: "highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.""

Unresolved ambiguity, indeed!

I am loving this post, and already have a multiple question betaing poll brewing.:D

Off to read the rest of your post now.

[house_illrepute]

:lol:

i LOVE that example! so very much! hahaaah!

I am loving this post, and already have a multiple question betaing poll brewing.:D

well, thanks for taking the time to read it. i know it's a long jumbled mess.

poll, eh? ;-)

[madlodger_007]

poll, eh? ;-)

Yep, need to think it through, though. Will post it on IJ and link from there. I am not a beta, so it would be POV of a bad author, hehe.

So, why beta? What's the reward and how did you come about your first "official" beta story?

Do you consider yourself primarily: a writer, a beta, or 50/50.

What can author do to keep their beta happy?

What is one thing to piss your beta off and to potentially loose them?

Is there such a thing as "betaing high" as opposed to "writing high"?

Overall, I like that you brought this topic up. Everyone is always talking about writing, which is pretty cool, but I feel that betaing is a bit neglected in the overall festivities :)

i know it's a long jumbled mess.
Not at all. It was interesting and I learned a couple of things.

[grey_hunter]

Wow you're very methodical. I always feel guilty when I send back stuff to my current beta and pester them with questions. And none of my past betas did anything other than basic spelling and grammar corrections. Just tell me one thing: where do you get the time for all this?

Btw, red font rulez!

[house_illrepute]

I always feel guilty when I send back stuff to my current beta and pester them with questions.

oh, i love it when an author does that. it shows me that they actually want to improve their writing, even if they're not wanting to be a writer professionally or even a BNF. ;-)

hell, my 'corrections' usually come with 'rules' and 'mini-grammar lessons' anyway. so asking questions to me means you're paying attention.

And none of my past betas did anything other than basic spelling and grammar corrections.

i know a lot of people that are like that. i actually had a section called 'editor vs beta-reader' to specifically deal with that issue and why i don't really like the term 'beta' for what i do.

tbh, i've actually had people not want to use me because all they wanted was minimal SPAG (and usually just SP) and didn't want much else. I can't seem to turn 'full-mode' off, so it usually means they go elsewhere.

Just tell me one thing: where do you get the time for all this?
well, that's also where the 'selection' part comes in.

[grey_hunter]

hell, my 'corrections' usually come with 'rules' and 'mini-grammar lessons' anyway. so asking questions to me means you're paying attention.

*o* I don't think my newest beta will do that, but I can always hope, right? :P Well, I haven't got any story back from her yet, so I cannot tell.

2-3 weeks is pretty much the average. Well, depends on the story length. I had people who sent me back my 20K fic within the day. But I think quality work requires time and if I don't know the person and don't see *enough* red in the doc then I'll start suspecting that they either just skimmed it or that their grammar isn't much better than mine either. Yes, I know it's not a nice thing to think like that but I can't help it. :P

[hapendfro]

Just fininshed first-pass, lol, run through. I like the debth of attention you pay to the betaing you do, both from what you have to say here, and the reality, having been on the receiving end of some of your beta jobs

[house_illrepute]

I should have had a beta on the first draft of this.

thank gawd for the edit button, yeah? ;-)

[spuriouslyth]

Oh my, you put a lot of work into Beta-ing! Red font is my worst nightmare :(

Torchwood was dire, huh? It was excatly the same as last weeks only it was scientists instead of meat-farmers.

[house_illrepute]

Red font is my worst nightmare :(

awww but it shouldn't be... it's one-step closer to never seeing it again. ;-)

or summat like that.

Torchwood was dire, huh? It was excatly the same as last weeks only it was scientists instead of meat-farmers.

i DL'd both ep05 & 06, but only managed to watch 05. I liked it. I had some issues (par usual), but i thought it loads better than the other eps.

but i've heard from others that the Doctor episode was shit.

~shrug~

[pir8fancier]

Jesus, how did I miss this? This is why I have to trim my flist. I miss the important stuff while skimming through blather on what someone ate for breakfast. Fabulous post. You might want to send this to every person who asks you to beta so that they know the level of commitment you're making. I think it important that people realize how much effort you are putting into this. That might ward off those people looking for praise not critical review. I very much appreciate the time and care you take with my fiction. I think out of, say, 50 comments, I might not implement, um, one. Maybe. Because you have the gift of seeing where the author wants to go, ofering a fix, but not hammering home your own vision of where it should go. A real gift, let me tell you.