Steve alone

[mcparrot]

Hi folks. I have a 30,000 word story looking for a beta reader with an emphasis on Americanisms. The story is complete. It was being written for a Big Bang that seems to have died. I'd like to get it wrapped up so I can post it somewhere else.

Title: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts.
Rating: NC17
Characters: Steve, OCs
Summary: Steve must rebuild

Comments

[t_verano]

I've Britpicked for fics in the TS fandom before -- I don't know if there's any difference in "Hawaiian"-American as opposed to "Mainland"-American, though, and I'm definitely a Mainlander (unfortunately :-)), so I couldn't watch for things that might be said differently by someone who's grown up in Hawaii.

If you want more of a beta than Britpicking and keeping an eye out for typos, I'm not sure how useful I could be. I do best at micro level (noticing if words are repeated nearby in a way that might snag attention but doesn't seem to be deliberately chosen repetition, continuity, staying in POV, etc.). Big stuff, like plot points and balance and flow, I find much harder to have any useful perspective on. (Plus I'm way, way slower with that kind of beta.) Also, I'm not exactly Grammar Police material -- most basic punctuation and grammar issues I can catch, but as far as Advanced Studies go, I tend to rely on instinct. Which is sometimes right, and sometimes wrong, no matter how desperately I Google... :-))

Anyway, I don't know whether a beta that focuses just on making sure things are "American" and keeps an eye out for typos would be helpful, but I'd be glad to give it a shot for you. (As a reader I always deeply appreciate it when Americanisms and Briticisms are filtered to match the POV/canon. It keeps me much more in the story.) Unless RL throws things at me, that kind of narrow-focus beta I could probably do reasonably quickly -- but it still might be a week or so, depending on the way life goes.

Thank you

[mcparrot]

Thank you so much, that sounds exactly the type of beta I'm after. I'm an editor in real life. I can string my words together just fine - although typos still catch me out as they do for everyone.

So typos, obvious grammar nits (because they happen to me too) and Americanisms. I'm in NZ and we write UK English with our own colonial twist, so there will probably be plenty. I'm also not good on commas in the heat of the moment and then when it's my own work I don't see the problems on read through either.

I'm just finishing a final polish and can get it to you in the next couple of days.

Do you use Word and track changes or would you prefer Open Office?

My email is soaringnz (at) mccawmedia.co.nz. Flick me a line and then I'll have your email to send it to.

Many thanks.

Re: Thank you

[t_verano]

You're very welcome!

I use Word 2007 (although I also have Open Office -- not a very recent version).

I can use Track Changes if you like, or just highlight anything I might have a question about, and explain why / suggest American alternatives, etc. immediately beneath the paragraph in question in an indented block. I've used that "highlight/indent/explain" homegrown method more than Track Changes in the past -- mostly because if there's something I'm not sure about, I usually like to say *why* I'm not sure about it (so you can have more info to work with when you're deciding whether to make a possible change). And adding an explanation to a potential change can sometimes end up looking pretty cluttered in Track Changes and can also make the whole Accept/Reject Changes thing not be as much... ah, fun? as usual :-) for some folks. But I'm game either way!

I'll send you off an email in a few minutes. Looking forward to receiving the story whenever you're ready to shoot it my way. :-)

[t_verano]

Heh, you get my answer to this doubled, apparently, since I thought it didn't go through (sneaky LJ), and sent it off to you via email. Sorry!

*rolls eyes at LJ*