Beta Bio: general description as a beta reader
I enjoy reading other people's work in order to help them, and the fact that I get to enjoy the story while I'm at it is just another plus. I tend to gloss over the story the first time I read it, and then go through thoroughly a second and sometimes even third time to find thing that can be changed to improve the flow of the story. Though I try not to change the story itself, sometimes I will make a comment like "this part seems a little too dramatic" or "maybe try doing this" to parts of the story, which I think might help. Generally when betareading, I like to focus more on how things sound and flow, though I can get critical of grammar and spelling. Since a story is different in everyone's point of view, my suggestions should be taken as just that, suggestions. The person whose story I'm betareading has the power to overrule my suggestions at any time. |
My Strengths: beta, writing, or reading strengths
I tend to be picky about things like grammar and spelling. Some of the things that bothers me most is misused homophones, and the could've/should've/would've vs. could of/should of/would of. Sometimes I also seem to pick up on things that make the story seem garrulous, or are just unnecessary and obstruct the reader from getting the actual gist of things. Wording is another thing I like to play around with, trying to find the perfect order and choice of words to get the point across in the clearest way. |
My Weaknesses: beta, writing, or reading weaknesses
When writing, I tend to ramble a bit, going on and on and pretty much talking in circles. Sometimes this translates over into betareading, but not always, meaning that I might not notice people who might be rambling too much. Another thing I have trouble with is if there's a large block of text, normally description, I tend to skim over it, which leads to missing important details. And if the story isn't quite as engaging, some of the less interesting parts may be neglected in the forms of betareading because it's just so hard for me to read. |
Preferred: types of entries I prefer over others
I'm generally not too picky about the types of stories. Sometimes it depends on the mood I'm in. My two favorite subjects of stories are actually humor and angst, which is ironic, but I also enjoy a romance every once in a while, as long as it's written well. As for pairings in particular, I'm generally pretty cool with whatever pairings work for the story, but draw the line at the 10 or more year age gap. As long as that particular pairing makes sense in the context of the story, then I'm fine with it, even if it's something that would never happen in canon. |
Would Rather Not: types of entries I do not want to beta for
I generally stay away from horror stories, though I will try one every once in a while and give up on it if it starts creeping me out too much. The thing about romance is when it seems as if the two parties are falling in love too quickly or too perfectly. And then there's the flip side, when there seems to be too much tragedy going on. You can only have a certain degree of bad luck, you know. Also, I tend to stay away from pedophilia, which I consider a 10+ year age gap, as well as slash, since I don't swing that way, but with slash I don't have anything against reading it in general, so I will if I have to or it sounds like a really promising story. In general, I won't refuse anything unless it gets too boring after I start reading it, or it's overly cliche, which is something I can't stand, especially in things like romance. |
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