WIP Challenge: March 12 check-in

[roane]

Ohhh, it's Monday. Again. So how are things going today?

• Writing
• Editing
• Planning
• Researching
• Posting
• Thinking/resting/to hell with it today

Discussion:

What kind of a relationship do you have with your betas, if you have them? What do you look for in a beta, and what do you hope to be as a beta?

Comments

[crowdog66]

I wrote and posted the second chapter of "Sway" (Garak/Bashir, 1920's AU), plus an additional ~900 words of the third chapter.

I don't use betas as a rule, but when I beta myself (which is rarely) I try to catch spelling and grammatical errors as well as any OOC-ness that might creep into the fic I'm reading.

[enemytosleep]

Yuujinchou Exchange Bonus Treat #2 (due Mar 24): 260 new words. Pretty much done with the first draft. Need to flesh out one scene a little more, then read through and clean things up before passing to a beta. Current word count: 1,598

Help_Japan (due 18 years ago - 750 word min): No new words. I promise to give this love after the Yuujinchou exchange stops eating my brain. O.o Current word count: 3,666

I also returned the first edited chapter to my buddy. Two more to go!

And on that note ... my main beta and I met on an anon kink meme by filling the same prompt. Nearly three years later, we still talk everyday and have flown across the Atlantic to visit each other. We also have several co-written pieces and a large post-manga universe that we play in. :D

I have other betas I use as back up or in addition to my main beta depending on the situation (is she busy? does she not know the fandom I'm writing this time? do I need an outside opinion as our tastes are so similar?). Most of these are other buddies on my flist, though I've also asked people in fandom communities to help out when my buddies are unfamiliar with the source material.

When I ask people to read, I love to get notes on everything from sentence structure to plot development and characterization. My main beta is a very strong writer and is superb at picking apart plot, so I've lucked out in finding her. She beats my stuff to hell. ♥ Before meeting her, I would concentrate more on characterization and plot when asking for a beta. I know my grammar skills are decent, so while there are always instances where a phrase could be more clear or concise (or whatever), I would worry more about finding someone with good knowledge of the source material.

When I beta for my beta, I mark up everything from spelling and phrasing to story progression and characterization. Also, as she's a Brit writing in what's a primarily American fandom, I mark things so that they sound more American/familiar to readers (I do this at her request). I beat her stuff to hell like she does for me. ♥ When I edit for other people, I usually ask what they want me to focus on. If they're more worried about grammar, I'll make most of my note on that. If they're worried about character voice, I'll make most of my notes on that. If they want the works, I'll make notes on anything and everything.

[roane]

That's AWESOME, about your beta. I seem to have stumbled on to a good one for Sherlock. Her comments help improve stuff a LOT. It's been great. I definitely want someone who'll give me a thorough beating edit, but I want to make sure I trust them to do it, you know? So far, so good. :)

[enemytosleep]

I hope you have found your bob_fish. :3

[insignia]

Today's progress on "Kagaku-Oh!" (AKA the Yu-Gi-Oh fic that ate my brain): another 700 words, more plotting, and I'm starting to get a grip on the main conflict. :D

[lilly_c]

I wrote a dark fic that will never see the outside of my notebook. There's too much going on in RL just now so writing it helped a bit.

Haven't looked at anything else fic wise tonight though as I've spent part of the night reading a book (The Dyslexic Advantage) and the last couple hours reading the #ididnotreport tags on twitter (possible triggering but good).

I don't really use betas very often. I used to have a couple of people I could get hold of as and when I needed something looking over but they were very fandom specific. When I'm looking for a beta I tend to ask for grammar, flow and anything that looks inaccurate in terms of the overall timeline of the fic. I don't actually beta as I'm dyslexic and sometimes it's hard enough to edit my own fics, never mind anyone else's but I would try doing beta for someone just to see how it goes and how good/bad I am at picking up on things.

[roane]

I realized that I wrote something like 5,000 words this weekend! Most of that was fic, but about 1,500 of it was homework. So I think my brain's a little wrung out tonight. I am sort of poking at something new though. Something that I should really put off until I start my big bang, but.... it's so shiny!

[bay_alexison]

Yesterday and tonight wrote a bit of my god_tier Homestuck fic. I'm sorta stuck where I want to take the story next, so I need to mull over that. I also was able to talk to Beta A over about my Big Bang and she said she'll get Chapters Six and Seven ready by Thursday. Hopefully she does so that I can get at least those two chapters polished and then post my Big Bang. Now I want Thursday to come already. XD

I have many friends as my betas as I tend to let anyone look at my fic if I know they're free. I have a few that are good with description, some great with grammar and dialogue, and others with characterization and plot. For my Big Bang Beta A is very great with characterization and if the plot makes sense while Beta B is awesome with any details I had left off and word/speech phrasing. When I beta I'm pretty good with looking over sentence flow and plot, otherwise I'm not that great as one haha. I hope most to be great pinpointing characterization.

[riceishere]

Got new words on WIP! Around a 1,000 and I think I'm going to roll out more later if I have time :) Totally makes up for the weekend where I slacked off.

I don't really have a beta but I do have RL friends who'll gladly proofread my stuff sometimes when they're free. It's just that it's hard finding someone who is both 1.) as enthusiastic as I am in a specific fandom (I usually jump from one thing or another), and 2.) who loves picking apart writing and talking about writing. I tend to only get across one or the other (i.e., a friend who I could squee with but who is not interested in fanfic or writing, and another friend who's really good at the grammar stuff but doesn't have exposure to canon). I kinda envy those who get across a beta who can be both.

[psyco_chick32]

I have had the worst beginning of the month >.<;;
BUT yesterday I managed to write and post a 300-word drabble! This is a million times better than the nothing I've been writing lately, so I'm pleased.

OMG My beta <3 We met betaing for the same author, and she's now one of my best friends IRL. We share a love of hockey and she's come to visit me twice, and is coming to help me move next month. I trust her with everything and anything.

As a beta, I've been called "mean" and "cruel" and "heartless." But yet three authors still love my habit of tearing into a work for every little thing, from grammar/punctuation/spelling to characterization to even keeping one author from straying too far from his set storyline (and reminding him where he left off, LOL). I've also become relationship therapist to one, so...

It's fun to be a beta :D