Beta dependency?
Over the years I've become more and more dependent on my betas.
Not only do betas look over my final draft, but these days we collaborate from the very beginning. I now ask beta readers to beta my outline, help solve story problems in chat, bounce around new directions, characterization, plot holes, you name it. In big projects like Out Of Bounds and Dragonlord I've had help from multiple betas and even polled the group (especially toward the end when I'm at a low creative ebb) to get a feel for where I should go next. I often rely on betas to cheer me up, boost my spirits when my enthusiasm trickles off, as I inevitably lose the spark of that original story unless I get to write full-time, without distractions.
Betaing is a very hard job. It's not the same as editing, which is hard, but has a different M.O. And sometimes, betas work much like editors. It depends on the writer.
When you're so intimately involved from the beginning, it takes availability, a love for the work in progress, a willingness to give up control of that work (your writer may or may not listen), tact, and sensitivity.
There also has to be a good relationship between the beta and writer, good communication, and a foundation of trust. The beta has to build up a "bank account" of trust for those moments when the writer is stubbornly pursuing a course that is just, no. Where you have to sit your writer down and say "I know you want character A to do X, but I'm not buying it." Editors have that authority automatically -- in a sense the writer works for the editor -- but betas don't. Sometimes that trust is built on your own history as a writer; the person you're betaing knows you're good. Sometimes that trust is from a long line of kindnesses. (Sometimes it's both.)
Betas are how fandom produces so much polished work, so quickly. We churn out in six months novels as polished as those that take years to produce in the pro world. The fastest, most polished have a list of betas as long as your arm. The process in professional writing is wasteful, writing a massive work and then handing the result over to an editor who then throws away months and years of work. In fandom, the beta is involved intimately from the beginning. Working in concert, the beta and writer help shape the novel as it grows. Editing is done in small pieces on the fly, so by the time the actual novel is assembled, it only needs small tweaks.
The beta reader is both more and less than an editor. The beta often does more, in more closely involved and invested than a traditional editor. But the power relationship is reversed. An editor has the final say. In a beta-writer relationship, the writer has the final say.
Being a beta is rewarding. We've all had that feeling while reading a fic, that wince of "oh, dear, this could have been so much better if only they hadn't...." A beta not only gets to read a much-anticipated story long before the rest of fandom (yay!), they can prevent a whole host of problems. And the betas get the satisfaction of writing without having to do the actual writing. Depending on their role, they help direct the symphony so-to-speak. I've even had authors (hi, [Unknown LJ tag]) who've taken bits and suggestions and scenes I've whipped up, and incorporated them directly into their stories. Every time I've helped a lot on a story, even when not all my suggestions are used, I feel a sense of proprietary pride and reflected glory. The better the story does, the happier I am. If the story doesn't go well, because the writer had the final say, I'm absolved of any blame. So it's win-win.
I rarely beta, however, because I'm not the kind of beta I would want. I'm too slow to respond, too harsh, too directive, not enough cheerleading and squee.
My reliance on betas has resulted in a process that, one, gets a lot of writing done, fast, and two, makes it difficult for me to write original fiction, where I don't have betas.
I have two projects in progress, and I've found it hard to keep going without that constant interaction. I start Nano in November, so I"m kind of wondering what to do about this.
Also posted at http://icarus.dreamwidth.org, comment wherever you please.
Not only do betas look over my final draft, but these days we collaborate from the very beginning. I now ask beta readers to beta my outline, help solve story problems in chat, bounce around new directions, characterization, plot holes, you name it. In big projects like Out Of Bounds and Dragonlord I've had help from multiple betas and even polled the group (especially toward the end when I'm at a low creative ebb) to get a feel for where I should go next. I often rely on betas to cheer me up, boost my spirits when my enthusiasm trickles off, as I inevitably lose the spark of that original story unless I get to write full-time, without distractions.
Betaing is a very hard job. It's not the same as editing, which is hard, but has a different M.O. And sometimes, betas work much like editors. It depends on the writer.
When you're so intimately involved from the beginning, it takes availability, a love for the work in progress, a willingness to give up control of that work (your writer may or may not listen), tact, and sensitivity.
There also has to be a good relationship between the beta and writer, good communication, and a foundation of trust. The beta has to build up a "bank account" of trust for those moments when the writer is stubbornly pursuing a course that is just, no. Where you have to sit your writer down and say "I know you want character A to do X, but I'm not buying it." Editors have that authority automatically -- in a sense the writer works for the editor -- but betas don't. Sometimes that trust is built on your own history as a writer; the person you're betaing knows you're good. Sometimes that trust is from a long line of kindnesses. (Sometimes it's both.)
Betas are how fandom produces so much polished work, so quickly. We churn out in six months novels as polished as those that take years to produce in the pro world. The fastest, most polished have a list of betas as long as your arm. The process in professional writing is wasteful, writing a massive work and then handing the result over to an editor who then throws away months and years of work. In fandom, the beta is involved intimately from the beginning. Working in concert, the beta and writer help shape the novel as it grows. Editing is done in small pieces on the fly, so by the time the actual novel is assembled, it only needs small tweaks.
The beta reader is both more and less than an editor. The beta often does more, in more closely involved and invested than a traditional editor. But the power relationship is reversed. An editor has the final say. In a beta-writer relationship, the writer has the final say.
Being a beta is rewarding. We've all had that feeling while reading a fic, that wince of "oh, dear, this could have been so much better if only they hadn't...." A beta not only gets to read a much-anticipated story long before the rest of fandom (yay!), they can prevent a whole host of problems. And the betas get the satisfaction of writing without having to do the actual writing. Depending on their role, they help direct the symphony so-to-speak. I've even had authors (hi, [Unknown LJ tag]) who've taken bits and suggestions and scenes I've whipped up, and incorporated them directly into their stories. Every time I've helped a lot on a story, even when not all my suggestions are used, I feel a sense of proprietary pride and reflected glory. The better the story does, the happier I am. If the story doesn't go well, because the writer had the final say, I'm absolved of any blame. So it's win-win.
I rarely beta, however, because I'm not the kind of beta I would want. I'm too slow to respond, too harsh, too directive, not enough cheerleading and squee.
My reliance on betas has resulted in a process that, one, gets a lot of writing done, fast, and two, makes it difficult for me to write original fiction, where I don't have betas.
I have two projects in progress, and I've found it hard to keep going without that constant interaction. I start Nano in November, so I"m kind of wondering what to do about this.
Also posted at http://icarus.dreamwidth.org, comment wherever you please.