On Writing Fanfic - Love Your Beta

[tsukinofaerii]

This is a skip ahead in the scheduled posting. Sorry for any confusion! Next week will cover Shipping, but this week some things came together, and I think that it's important to talk about Beta Reading. (This is hard to put into a Tony/Steve context, so most of this is very general.)

Note: Adult content behind the cuts!

I've said it over and

Comments

[muccamukk]

I was wondering how you were going to do that coding.

I would say that my style is more technical here because that's what I felt this story needed. I have also been known to rip blocking/tone/structure/canon/voice apart.

I think this is pretty comprehensive for technical beta work, though I would point out two some things that aren't covered here.

Copy editors: I have people that I go to because I have bad copy. They fix the grammar and sentence stuff, the mechanics of it, but not much else. You mention them above, but I think you underemphasis their importance, especially for a lot of people in fandom who don't speak English as a first language.

Betas for specific issues: When I was writing Constructs in Progress I asked someone about the horse stuff. If I'd had more time on the deadline, I would probably have asked her to beta the horse sections specifically

[tsukinofaerii]

Copy editors: I have people that I go to because I have bad copy. They fix the grammar and sentence stuff, the mechanics of it, but not much else. You mention them above, but I think you underemphasis their importance, especially for a lot of people in fandom who don't speak English as a first language.

Copy editors are definitely important, and I completely didn't mean to give the impression that they weren't. I just think that they're different from a beta, and that it's an important distinction to make. Of course, a beta can (and often does) work on the mechanics too. I just wanted to emphasize that distinction. I've had the experience of agreeing to beta a fic I normally wouldn't read, and then being told to "just look for typos", which I wouldn't have signed up for because I'm pretty terrible about noticing typos/misspellings/grammar. (As evidenced by a place where I wandered away mid-sentence.)

I should have spent more time on specialist betas. They completely slipped my mind; probably because they are specialized. But they

[muccamukk]

It never even occurred to me that this could be considered beta work.
Well, I'd call the difference there. 1) If I :( at Valtyr on gchat a lot, and zie points out thinks I could do, that's one thing. And I sometimes mention and sometimes not. 2) If I send Valtyr the gdoc, with a note that says "this is broken, make it go," and then we brainstorm on gchat as to how to make the ending work (without hir making notes), I totally call it beta work.

[tsukinofaerii]

It's generally more 1 than 2. I will :( and tell her that, for example, I Have No Thinky Thoughts Today. Then she will say Write Something. And I will reply that Girl Steve Would Like To Learn to Dance, Maybe. And then she will ask if Tony is going to teach her, to which I will say Of Course. And then I will remember to mention Girl Steve's Issues With Regards To Pretty Dresses (she wants, but does not feel like she can has, and has a sad as a result). Then we started riffing on how Tony Will Make Her Feel Pretty.

And then everything explodes and, somehow, there is 1000 words of fic.

This example of the Blame Valtyr Culture may or may not have happened yesterday. ¬.¬

I would definitely classify #2 as beta, since that's saying, "Plot doesn't work HALP" and letting someone poke it with a stick.

Edited because: Really, self? It's fic? (headdesk)

[caer_swan]

Man, after reading this I feel like I've failed you in a way. <3

[tsukinofaerii]

♥ Nope, you gave me exactly what I wanted: a specialist beta. :D (hugs)

[ferchu]

Ohhh... This is so interesting. I've always been sort of really curious about what a beta reader does. I mean, I know they help make the story better but I've always wanted to know exactly how they did it. And now you posted actual examples ^_^
Thank you for this. Even though I'm not a writer and can't actually use the advice I still love that you are writing it.

[tsukinofaerii]

Every beta is different, which is kind of awesome, because you start to get a feel for what sort of beta a fic needs most. (cuddles her Beta Pool)

♥

[dieewigenacht]

Now I'm a self-conscious Beta.

[illuminatius]

A Q to the teach: is contacting two betas to beta your fic bad betaquette? Part of me wants to, part of me cowers in fear.

When I look at those short stories (which are great, lawl at Steve knowing so very little about sex (despite probably being great at it)), I see the kind of feedback I want. Especially the green; girl, why you say no? ._.

Holy crap I need to cut back on the Moesha, Kim's personaly is rubbing off on me.

Why is this not a college/university course?

[tsukinofaerii]

A Q to the teach: is contacting two betas to beta your fic bad betaquette? Part of me wants to, part of me cowers in fear.

I just had a flashback to high school Japanese classes. Sensei, shitsumon ga arimasu!Asking for a second beta isn't rude, IMO. Part of beta work is providing an outside, objective opinion on a piece, and sometimes that calls for two people. This would especially crop up if you have specific needs, and the one beta isn't equipped to assist. For myself, anyone needing a copy editor would probably do better to have a dedicated spelling/grammar person for that, because I'm horrible at spotting it. Or sometimes a plot is delicate, and you want to be extra sure that it's coming out right. Some people just prefer multiple betas. Whatever works, really

[illuminatius]

Asking for a second beta isn't rude, IMO.

Yeah. I wouls see as getting a second opinion. But I am mainly afraid of one of the betas going "what, isn't my/his/her feedback good enough for you? Huh? HUH?!"

I stumbled upon beta reading last year in one of my English courses, so I know it exists in some capacity; I was talking about this and every other one of your metas (imagine your professor lecturing you about the importance of OTP's. lawl on a stick).

Also, is that Hero Squad Cap sleeping with a nightcap over his cowl? D'awwwh.

Yes it is! It was so adorable and hilarious that I had to use it. He even sounds slighly patriotic when snoring. SHS Cap is awesome. "Karaoke is oki-doki!" (Then again, all SHS characters are hilarious in one way or another. Three valkyrie maids! \m/)

[tsukinofaerii]

Yeah. I wouls see as getting a second opinion. But I am mainly afraid of one of the betas going "what, isn't my/his/her feedback good enough for you? Huh? HUH?!"

That's what we in the field call "a Jerk". They're surprisingly common in the wild, and catching one really isn't worth the trouble it causes. They don't domesticate well.

Well, There's always Henry Jenkins? :D

I need to get the Superhero Squad on DVD. (eyes Amazon) I heard it might be up for preorder... Hm.