this is strange and uncomfortable and also, stop now

[seperis]

I feel very mea culpa because I have never really understood the entire anti-adverb thing in fic. Until now, because instead of reading an otherwise really interesting fic, I get distracted counting how many times the word 'softly' is used. And soft. And all variations of that word there are

Comments

[traveller]

well, the thing is, everyone gets something different out of posting fic, and everyone writes for their own reasons; because of that, not everyone is as concerned with, for lack of a better term, craft, as others are. the technical details are less important, to some people, than getting the idea across, or perhaps just getting the idea ought of one's head and into another medium. some people write for comments, some people write for themselves, some people write because they'd chew their own arm off if they couldn't. whatever the reasons, I think we all want to be thought of as 'good' but what our relative definitions of 'good' are may vary. all this to say, depending on those many factors, one might have a different idea of what a beta should do and be, of what place that person should occupy in the process. I don't know that I'm willing to say that there's a right or wrong definition.

but.

I think that there's a generally accepted definition, and that is that a beta is not an editor, but zie is the person who makes sure one's work is legible, understandable and reasonably grammatically accurate.

because the point of sharing one's writing -- no matter the impetus for its creation -- is to communicate, and so I'd say that the only work that's a failure is that which fails to communicate. work that's hard to read, for whatever reason, fails to communicate.

blah blah blah, this is a subject on which I've taken a lot of positions over the years, but I think this is the one I'm most comfortable.

and! the 47 is meaningless, I was just making fun of keysmashing. :)