Yes, I've seen several fics that I'm sure are written by folks who are writing in a second language. I applaud them for their courage; but they must have a beta whose first language is English, preferably American. Not because American is better, but because America is the origin of the Brian/Justin story.
Yes. And agree totally about the American thing. It was my biggest challenge when I first started writing. I could set my spell check to American spelling but it took a long while to learn to avoid things like using "lift" instead of "elevator". An American beta at that stage would have been really helpful.
When I find those types of errors, I close the story and look for something else to read. I haven't written a fanfiction in years, but with all the applications available, such as Grammarly and others, there is help available for writers who struggle with finding a good beta reader.
Were there any positives to the story? If so, gently point out that there are some grammar issues with the piece, and then end the comment with whatever positives you pulled from it. No one is doing this author a service by ignoring his/her chance to improve in favor of sparing their feelings. I always appreciate a head's up from readers if I've screwed up, so long as it is polite and balanced.
I'm not sure that I got far enough into the story to determine if there were real positives. Aside from the errors, it seemed jerky and disconnected to me, but there were lots of positive comments so someone must have liked it.
But to be honest it wasn't entirely fair of me to pick on this particular story, it just turned out to be a really good illustration of what I'd been moaning about the day before. There are so many around that are equally badly written. I think I'll probably just move on and try to forget it ever happened. Although I have noted the author's name so that I don't even try to read any more of their stories.
ITA with you on all of this. A few years ago I lost one of my authors because I asked her not to post without me betaing first. Her work was full of errors and it drove me nuts that she posted without it being correct. It was another fandom and I haven't heard from her since. I've offered my services to a few people here who haven't been offended by my pointing out things that need to be edited. I believe you need to be thick skinned to write and able to take some cons crit. See you in February.
Thanks, J. I never mind people pointing out grammar errors etc (you know more than most that I make them regularly). But some writers either go up in arms or just shrug it off as if it doesn't matter. Drives me crazy.
And yes, looking forward to Feb. Reviews have been great.
I'm sitting here at the moment watching the very first ep of Quantum Leap. Or I was, it's just finished. Really loved that show.
Did you have a good visit to Melb? I didn't get up to Sydney, went to stay with friends up the bush instead. Good to be back home to a real keyboard.
I've seen the show already in Sydney last year which is why I wanted to see it again. Had a great time in Melbourne. Spent NYE with David and his friends at their new apartment. Drank far too much champagne and watched the fireworks in the park across the road. David cooked dinner for us. Always good. See you soon.
I feel your pain, Wren. I've often ranted (mostly to myself) about the lack of proper editing in fanfic. The number of times I've started to read a story that had not one, but TWO beta readers listed, and was still full of spelling and grammar mistakes... yikes. I mean, really. I get that it's free, and some writers are younger and/or newer to writing, but most fandoms are full of talented people who would gladly beta a fic and actually improve the quality. It's frustrating, especially when the author actually has good ideas and interesting characterizations. The verb tense errors drive me up the wall. It's not surprising, though, considering how many people don't even use past perfect tense correctly when speaking, let alone writing. Phrases such as "He had went" and "She had sang" are like nails on a chalkboard to me. Ugh.
Your last line just reminded me of another of my absolute pet peeves - "could of". To make that mistake indicates an absolute lack of any understanding of basic grammar.
I understand that errors happen. Mine happen in the post-beta, post read through tinkering stage. I'll decide to change a sentence structure, and miss something, so I have repeated words, or words appearing apparently randomly because I've neglected to delete them.
But the preponderance of errors in some fics tell you that this isn't the problem. Drives me nuts. I'm just glad I'm not the only one.
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We are lucky to have you, Wren!
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Some of them clearly don't even use spell check. I don't understand why.
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But to be honest it wasn't entirely fair of me to pick on this particular story, it just turned out to be a really good illustration of what I'd been moaning about the day before. There are so many around that are equally badly written. I think I'll probably just move on and try to forget it ever happened. Although I have noted the author's name so that I don't even try to read any more of their stories.
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And yes, looking forward to Feb. Reviews have been great.
I'm sitting here at the moment watching the very first ep of Quantum Leap. Or I was, it's just finished. Really loved that show.
Did you have a good visit to Melb? I didn't get up to Sydney, went to stay with friends up the bush instead. Good to be back home to a real keyboard.
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I understand that errors happen. Mine happen in the post-beta, post read through tinkering stage. I'll decide to change a sentence structure, and miss something, so I have repeated words, or words appearing apparently randomly because I've neglected to delete them.
But the preponderance of errors in some fics tell you that this isn't the problem. Drives me nuts. I'm just glad I'm not the only one.
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