People who know good tips and tricks for best writing practise can post comments here to help other writers whether they wish to beta or not.

Here's one, based on a recent experience: NEVER resort to shmaltz or syrupy sentimentalism when attempting to make a character sympathetic. It makes your character and your story look false by reminding us that we are reading fiction. By making a character behave in a realistic way, we make him/her more lovable because he/she is easier to relate to. E.g. when depicting children, remember that they tend to wet the bed, throw tantrums and get messy in a variety of ways, some of which are pretty gross. Basically, imperfect characters are more lovable than perfect ones because nobody is perfect!

Sentimentalising characters and situations also robs your story of the depth it could have. Thankfully, none of my usual contributors have this problem, but I have seen it in stories by other writers.

John: *Sigh* My friend, Britt would like a beta please. One through PM. She has asked several times, but no one has gotten back to her, and she is restless. She doesn't want to sound like she begging. She is to egotistic for that.

Britt: *smacks John upside the head* Am not, and your spelling sucks. No, I don't want to beg but please will someone help me?

Oh, the story is, "Aelfwyn, Rider of Rohan."

Frodo

yes. sending a PM your way...

Okay... This is me offering my concritting services. I'm not the most experienced concritter on this forum by a long shot, but I'm happy to concrit on the following:

-basic grammar

-characterisation for OCs and familiar fandoms

-avoiding the dreaded Sue

-avoiding the zebra-fic

-avoiding cliches in prose and to a lesser extent plots

I can concrit on other stuff, but that's what I mostly focus on in concrit.

I'm familiar (but not limited to) the following fandoms:

-Lord of the Rings (basic canon only, I'm not so familiar with more complicated things)

-Harry Potter

-Buffy the Vampire Slayer (up to and including Season 4)

-Moulin Rouge

-Chicago

-Les Miserables (book and musical)

-Firefly/Serenity

Somewhat familiar:

-Doctor Who

-Star Wars

-Angel (Season 1 only)

-Phantom of the Opera (film and book)

-Life On Mars (Season 1 only)

-Dickens (haven't read all books)

-Shakespeare (haven't read/seen all plays)

-Fairytales

Phew!

Edit: changed and added more to my fandom list

Titter! One for the Fireplace dictionary, I think...

I can beta harry potter, along with numerous other things.

I prefer doing it by email, so PM me if you need me.

Title: Charming the Snake

Chapter: 1

Story URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3971087/1/

Author URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1120173/

--------------------

Thank you so much!

I really really appreciate all the help!

I mean it. Thanks a ton! I'll use the tips!

Sarah

If anyone else can help this writer out, you will find that your efforts are not wasted. Mine weren't. :D

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF FAN FICTION WRITERS By Twila Starla, taken off of Instant Coffee's profile, which was taken off of Mary Grayson's Little Robin's profile, which was taken off of AIT98's profile (thanks to all them!), paraphrased:

1. There is no limit to what can happen in life, just as the possibilities are endless in what can occur in a story.

2. Speaking on character - flaws rock! A character that can kick butt AND get their butt kicked is (Insert adjective here) It's a character everyone will love because they can relate to it. NEVER create a character that no one can relate to, at the least, on an emotional level. You WILL get flamed and I WON'T be horrible enough to not sign in, like many other flamers out there. (BTW - if flamers can't sign in and state their opinion, chances are they're too scared of your retaliation and weren't worth listening to.)

3. Stand out. Why take an idea already formed when you have the power to create a situation not yet inferred? Take advantage of the possibilities your mind can produce, and make something out of it.

4. Detail is the reader's way of seeing what you wish to depict. Why express what your characters are feeling with _ and @_@, etc.? There is no harm in spoon feeding your audience with imagery.

5. Plagiarism does not make you a better writer. It makes you an imbecile for discrediting another person's work, and a writer whose passion is not to be taken seriously any longer.

6. Never be afraid to start over! There are many instances in which something will not work right the first time. If so, why keep things that way? After all, if you do not like what you wrote, yet insist on keeping things so, chances are your readers will not like what you wrote, as well, and may question your ability and talent as an author.

7. Smugness does NOT work in the writing field. Take the initiative to review another story that may interest you, and chances are, you will be repaid just the same. ALL stories are review-worthy.

8. The summaries and titles of a story are just as important as the story itself. It is the reader's first impression of what they are about to read. Often I find myself reading summaries and then reading the story to find it enchanting, and worthy of my favourites' list.

9. Do not write for reviews, for if you do not write for the enjoyment and experience of writing, then you are writing for a lost cause.

10. Lastly: Writing is an art; treat it as such. There is no shortcut to producing the best type of art imaginable. There is only producing the best type of art imaginable with one's heart, soul, and imagination.

I found this yesterday while looking up google to find a grammar site. I don't always have my grammar on straight, and if I'm going to beta for someone, I need to make sure the advice I give is correct, as I've been caught out before.

I am not able to beta spelling and grammar, at least not in English. I see the most glaring mistakes, but ... Not my native language.

Still I think I would like to, and be able to, give some help on other things if anyone would want. I know Tolkien's legendarium pretty well and can beta canon-issues there. I can also give good feed-back on most aspects on a story (apart from grammar and spelling) and are usually quite detailed, though I often tend to give feed-back by asking questions. I am quite good with rythym and poetry though I realice that is a very small part of fan-fiction. Still, if you want to incorporate poetry (in any form) in your stories, I can help with that.

I'm mostly into Tolkien, though I know some other fandoms.

Sorry about double posting, but I thought this would probably belong in this tread.

Most here have probably heard about show vs tell in writing, and I came to think about some things I learned about when taking a stroy-telling work-shoop. Because it is easy to say that we need to use more show and less tell, but how? What is it that makes us show the story rather than tell it? How can we train it? This is where my story-telling ecxperience comes into the picture.

In oral story-telling much weight is put upon images. That is the baisc tool for learing a story and starting to work on it towards a preformance; visualication. Often in the form of drawing pictures, but that is all about the story-teller getting an image of the story she wants to tell. Then the real art is to give those pictures to the audience, or rather to create images in their minds. And in that work, language is one of the chief tools. And in working with the language, story-telling and writing is not that far from each other. And so I hope this theory on the use of langugae in story-telling can also be of help inwriting.

There are three types of language we talk about in story-telling; the language of action, the language of description and the language of feeling. Each of these have their uses, their strenghts and weaknesses and they can be used to create different moods and pace in a story.

The language of action is simply that which describe actions; what happens. The sentences are often short and cut to the bone, the main interest is what happenes next, and it is the language that tells us the story, if you like. If you use too much telling, chances are you are lamost soely using the language of action in your writing. But there is more to it than that; the language of action can be used to speed up the story, make it move along at great speed. It can be quite powerfull when used effectiently.

The language of description is just that: it describes. You use it to paint a picture of words for your readers, it is what makes us experience the story - seeing, hearing, tasting the places where the story is set. Description is what helps you show what happens rather than just telling about it. It pauses the story, though, and can make it slow-moving. Still it is what gives life to the story. With it the senses are engaded: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

The language of feeling is the hardest to use in a good way. It is what shows us how the characters feels; if they are sad, happy, angry, nausious etc. Not using any language of feeling will make the characters harder to relate to, but it is very easy to over-do it. And then you fall into telling, and sometimes even worse: you don't just tell the readers how the character feels, but how they should feel about the events you describe. You start preaching to them, and then they will loose interest. So the language of feeling should be used with caution. Often a description will work better in conveying the feeling.

This way of identifying the way different ways of using the language works, have at least helped me in my story-telling, and hopefully in what little writing I have done. Knowing about them gives you the option of training yourself in how to use them, and in practicing you can find you how they work. Of course the practice-part is different for oral stroy-telling and writing: in oral telling the words disapear as we speak them and we are free to use completly different ones the next time. Writing can be a bit more work in that regard: you have to rewrite, perhaps several times. But it can be a very good practice to deside to write a scene several times using the different languages. Then it also (most times) beckomes clear what is suited for that particular part of the stroy.

Thanks for sharing that with us, Ragnelle.

Care to liven up the chat thread? Come on, it's good to chat to you.

I'm available to beta. I'm mainly sussed with:

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern

The Crow (graphic novel, movies but not the series)

White Wolf RPGs (old system, mainly Vampire and Werewolf)

Highlander (first movie, not the series)

I have a passing familiarity with Star Wars, Harry Potter, LotR, Pirates o/t Caribbean so can help there with basic canon but don't quizz me, okay?

I'm in need of a Beta for one of my Godchild/Count Cain fanfics. I need someone very picky and precise, since I tend to be sort of a perfectionist myself. I need someone with the ability to spot OOC-ness, dragging plots, bad grammar, and just those little things that may need a little more "oomph". If there's a way I can have my story beta'd without posting it, that would be my preference.

If anyone would help me out, I'd be extremely grateful. PM's are wide open, so feel free to contact me if interested. Also, if this thread was mainly started for those offering beta services and not requesting them, my apologies.

Thank you. :)

Hello Visa, welcome aboard. Concrit can be either offered or requested here. You may also give pointers for story improvement here.

Not familiar with your fandoms - all I can offer is a spelling and grammar check, if that is helpful.

Hm, I guess some spelling and grammar help would be good. If you spot any major "blah" sections, point those out, too. I know they're hiding in there... just need someone to flush 'em out.

So, I'll take you up on that offer. How would you like to arrange things, as far as getting my story to you?

Have you posted it? If so, tell me the story or link it here. If not, PM it to me.

Alright, I'm gonna PM it to you. I wanted to get it read-over by someone else before I did, so that's why I hesitated to put it up. It's kind of long... about 1,500 words, maybe a bit less. Is that alright?

Send it in two parts. The reason is, the system won't let you send long PMs.

Okay, thanks for informing me. I'll send it over right away. ^^

I am in need of a Beta for my Harry Potter/Wolf's Rain fanfics. English is not my first language so I need someone who can correct bad grammar, plot problems, bad wording.

If anyone is able to help me out, I would be eternally grateful. Message or e-mail me if your interested.

Thank you

Having just asked for reviews on another thread, I feel it's only fair to offer my services as a beta here.

I'll read anything in the LoTR fandom, with the following exceptions:

- No X overs

- If you are asking me to review anything with ANY sexual content, you MUST be over 18. As an adult, I really don't feel comfortable reading children's sexual fantasies.

My strengths are:

Good grammar/spelling

Good canon knowledge

Good understanding of characterisation

Reasonable understanding of plot development

I could be a beta, but I have to write about 4 stories.

Coming up shortly I will need a Beta for my Labyrinth fic. It's my first one, and I think I'll need the extra set of eyes to smooth out the kinks it will surely have. If anyone is up for it, go ahead and PM or email me (either one is fine since I check my email ten times every day...)

I could need someone to review my first story. I uploaded it today. I'm sure I did some mistakes because English isn't my first language and I'd be grateful If somebody could give me advice. It's a Pokemon story about Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

Luna

Hello. =) My name is Sasura. I review anime/manga stories. I am super kind, super friendly, not harsh at all, but can help you, while keeping you happy and giving you motivation. I am bright, bubbly, creative.. yeah. =D I beta read 24/7 and I am always available. I do the following anime/manga stories: Naruto, Full Moon Wo Sagashite, Inuyasha, Tokyo Mew Mew, Bleach, and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and the Pure version. I can't handle M stories, I love K to T. Poems are always heart warming, creativeness is a plus, and if you have SasuxSaku or NaruxHina I might actually enjoy the story hehe, not saying I wont like your story. I just prefer SasuxSaku or some form of romance. I CAN'T HANDLE THE PAIRINGS IN NARUTO: SasuxIno, I believe Sakura is MADE for Sasuke. Yuri and Yaoi are just disgusting so umm yeah. =) PM or email me if you would like me to beta read for you. I am looking forward to working with you.

-Sasura

Oh I do Pokemon too! =)

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