Beta Bio: general description as a beta reader
In reply to a rather nasty situation I recently became involved in: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A "BETA" AND AN "EDITOR!"
A beta gives you feedback over a piece as a whole: "You did this right, but the plot's funky," etc. They comment on characterization, plot, reader-friendly issues, and the overall aesthetic value of a work.
An EDITOR gets down and dirty with your story. They tell you EXACTLY what's wrong in EVERY sentence, down to the letter, and are more concerned with spelling, punctuation, grammar, and formatting than they are with the story as a story-telling/entertainment media.
I CAN BE BOTH A BETA AND AN EDITOR, BUT PLEASE SPECIFY *WHICH* JOB (or both jobs, if you'd like) YOU WANT ME TO PERFORM!!!
Now on with the actual "about me" part. I'm a nice person by nature, but won't sugarcoat my beta/editing work.
As a beat, I will tell you what you've done wrong so you can avoid it in future chapters, but I will also tell you what you've done right so you'll know to do it again. Beta work is more genral than editing work; you'll get more overall comments than specific detail-fixers.
As an editor, I'll check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, word order, word flow, plot logic, plot flow, OOCness, and obvious breaches of canon (unless it's an AU story, of course).
I'll beta/edit for anyone, though newbie's be warned that I won't go easy on you for being inexperienced.
Sarcasm is my language. Learn to speak it, please. |
My Strengths: beta, writing, or reading strengths
I'm good at spelling by hand/memory and am the proud owner of decent spell-check software (for backup purposes, you understand). I also own an unabridged dictionary that comes in handy quite often.
I'm good at fixing wordiness, if you'll let me (see the "my weaknesses" section for more info on my over-correcting tendencies).
As an added bonus, I can tell the difference between "their," "they're," "there," and the like, a skill I thought commonplace until I read some of the stories on this website.
I have a good handle on grammar and love critiquing plot-logic.
I am also willing to turn your Mary Sues into respectable OCs, though I will UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES go easy on you. An MS is an MS is an MS. No exceptions. |
My Weaknesses: beta, writing, or reading weaknesses
I tend to miss little things like typos, etc.
I also tend to over-correct stuff. Like instead of saying "Hey, dude, this sentence is really wordy," I'll tell the writer just HOW to fix it (i.e: "move that word to HERE, add in the word "and," paint a picture of a poodle over the last word, and… perfect!") , which can put a damper on the writer's creativity if they let succumb to my control-freakish ways.
I have little tolerance for stupidity, and can get impatient when trying to explain things. |
Preferred: types of entries I prefer over others
I love continuation stories! (AKA: "What happens to your favorite character AFTER the canon storyline ends?")
And as for genres, I love action, suspense, sci-fi, supernatural, horror, romance...
...
So I guess pretty much everything in genres, then, huh?
I like stories with OCs, as long as they DO NOT get center stage the whole time (no ignoring the canon cast, okay!). Too many OCs turns FANfiction into pure ORIGINAL fiction. |
Would Rather Not: types of entries I do not want to beta for
Not My Cup O' Tea... Hm, what should I put here? Ah, here we go: CANON RAPE and MARY SUE.
Rape the canon, and I'll rape your chapters with a beta-spork of DOOM!
I don't like Mary Sues.
NOTE: Mary Sues are NOT the same thing as OCs (original characters). Mary Sues are your "stronger than the main character," "prettier than everyone," "tragic past," "get-the-guy/girl," "self-inserts" that do little more than live out the author's fantasies.
NOTE #2: I can help you turn your Mary Sue into a respectable OC, but only if you're willing to give up your MS's special abilities and rainbow eyes without a fight. Try me at your own risk.
I hate overly defensive, pompous, and self righteous people with a passion, so if you come across to me as one of those expect your beta results to come back less sweet than sour... |
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