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

[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