Or what's a beta for? And, is there a beta in your meta?

[red_satin_doll]

ETA 08/02/13: comlodge just re-stated the point in the convo thread below that I was attempting to make re: beta-readers and meta and did so better and far more concisely than I could ever hope to. I bow to her awesomeness.

I just noticed one more empty "pending" slot in the Beta catagory at the Running With Scissors Awards,  which seems odd to me.

Comments

[red_satin_doll]

I just haven't found someone that I trust that much I guess

That's definitely a key issue, and the trust goes both ways of course. It's extremely difficult to find. (And being friends in other areas doesn't guarantee a good author-beta partnership.)

Which means my poor Beta would have to be a English giant.

Heh. I tell authors who want me to beta that I am NOT Grammar Queen. ("I before E except after C" is about the extent of it.) I'm always straight-up with what I can and can't do. I'm all for originality of style, poetic forms in prose, etc as long as I understand what the author is trying to convey. Does the style contribute to or impede the story? Which gets back to, what do you want a beta to give you or look for? that's a negotiation between the two people involved.

I will write paragraphs at a time just because I though up a cool line. I am very chaotic when it comes to writing. So my Beta would need to be able to deal with me being all over the place 90% of the time.

Are you me? ;-) this is why I always carry notebooks - and why most of what I write goes unfinished. Nifty idea - and then I loose the energy and interest. I should probably write more drabbles. (I tried long-form, multichapter fic once - ate up years of my life and was a complete disaster.)

[darkgoddessgege]

Are you me? ;-) this is why I always carry notebooks - and why most of what I write goes unfinished. Nifty idea - and then I loose the energy and interest. I should probably write more drabbles.

LOL, I do this all the time. As for writing fan fic...if you notice the only stuff I write are about 100 words...I did try a 500 word one recently. :)

[red_satin_doll]

That should have been spelled "LOSE the energy" of course *ahem*

I haven't read your fics yet *note to self* - I'll have to amend that. My one fic in this fandom is about 640 words and for me is really short and spare. (Compared to any one of my replies in a convo thread.) But I didn't even count the number until about three weeks ago, and I wrote it half a year ago.

I HATE counting words. I'd be the person who tries to write a drabble and comes in at 105 works then racks my brain as to which five to cut.

As to losing interest in a fic - the minute I know the ending in my head (not of a drabble but a longer story esp something that might be multi-chapter) I immediately loose all interest. It's suddenly "done" in my head and I mentally walk away. Definitely lack of discipline.