Beta Bio: general description as a beta reader
I'm a fairly gentle beta-reader, all things considered. I mostly point out punctuation, spelling, grammar awkwardness, OOC-ness, and portions of text which don't feel right or make no sense. I'll also give you notes on what I thought worked and didn't, as well as any other thoughts on it I might have. (Like a good review/concrit should.) If you need advice on how to speed up or slow down portions, I can do that too. You may also ask me on how I think a story should progress and, if you started out with an idea, but have no way to continue the action I will suggest ideas.
Keep in mind that when I give you advice, you don't have to follow it, especially if it goes against what you have planned. I can be a bit pushy directing you to write how I would, so just tell me if you don't think that will work. I do however fully believe in people learning from the mistakes they've made, so aside from punctuation and spelling, I'll only make suggestions on how you can solve awkward grammar, etc. |
My Strengths: beta, writing, or reading strengths
As I said before, I'm good at punctuation, spelling, grammar awkwardness, OOC identification and pointing out portions of text that don't feel right or don't make sense.
Punctuation and spelling are fairly straightforward. Grammar awkwardness is not the same as being a grammar Nazi. I don't care whether its "who" or "whom" just as long as I can quickly derive meaning from it. I am a bit of a human thesaurus, so if there's a word which doesn't quite suit the context, I'll make suggestions on that.
To check on OOC-ness, I need to be familiar with the series. However, there's a bit of leeway here, especially if your view on a character is different to mine.
Some other talents of mine include being a culture checker. While I am best at a British/Australian/New Zealand culture, I do have a good knowledge of Asian cultures, particularly Chinese and Japanese. I also know a bit of historical culture, mostly on Victorian England, European WW2 era history and 15th-16th century English culture.
Yes, this means I will tell you off if you say 'ninjas', have someone from the Tudor era bathe more than twice a week or make someone ask for the 'jelly' or 'preserve' when you really mean 'jam'. |
My Weaknesses: beta, writing, or reading weaknesses
I use British English spelling and punctuation for the most part. I will try to leave American variations intact but I'm not entirely certain of some conventions, so if it's "a bit odd, makes sense, but is a bit odd" I will leave it alone.
I sometimes don't mention very minor things that I consider inconsequential. You would probably be better getting another set of eyes and fingers if you want someone that thorough. I'm also not that good at picking out plot holes, especially if it's been a while between reading things.
I can be a bit pushy about you 'following' my style as I mentioned in my beta-bio. If this annoys you, just tell me I'm doing so and I'll do my best to rein it in. (However, this will reduce my suggestions on how something could be solved or go.)
Additionally, I may be a bit rusty in some fandoms in regards to detail and/or events. This primarily applies to book fandoms, especially Discworld, where I haven't read all the books or haven't read them in a LONG time.
My memory for details/events isn't all that great in general, so please check I've read/viewed something recently/have it to hand if you are wanting to do something detail reliant. |
Preferred: types of entries I prefer over others
Please refer to my preferred genres for a general idea of what I prefer to beta over others.
Otherwise, general kinds of stuff, humour, crack, missing episode, slice of life - gentle kinds of stuff. I can handle mixed varieties, like a plot based romance. Also, feel free to give me kind of abstract things to read over, even though I may end up going @_@ at you if something is really weird. Crossovers are fine too, in fact I love coming up with ways you can tie two series together.
I prefer short and medium length stories over long, epic ones. This means drabbles, ficlets, one shots, two shots and series under 50k words.
In terms of pairings, I'm absolutely fine with slash, femmeslash, het, gen and EVEN threesomes/moresomes. You're welcome to throw just about anything at me. I will protest a bit if you insist on pairing everyone up in a fandom which has no canon pairings though. |
Would Rather Not: types of entries I do not want to beta for
I'm not great with plot heavy stuff, nor the overly sappy or gory. Or the particularly long as I may get bored with it if I have to hold your hand the entire way through. (However, if you only need me to get over the first five or so chapters throughly until you get into the swing of things and then only need spelling and grammar checked for the rest, that's fine.)
I also don't do epics. See my preferences as to the limits of what I will read over.
Also, for some series, I will not beta certain characterisations of pairings. If you INSIST on characterising a certain pairing as 'strong top/seme and weak bottom/uke' and that they can't manage without each other, I will have to refuse to beta your fic. This mostly applies to xxxHOLiC and Torchwood fic.
I am NOT a plot generator for you. I will not accept requests to 'help you with a fic, as I have no ideas'. I will only help you with ideas if you are utterly stuck on a story I am already beta reading for you. (Or, you know, it's a crossover fic which I think is an absolutely epic one.) |
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