WIP challenge - day 5 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

We're embarking on week 2 of the June challenge. How's it going?

Poll #7192 WIP challenge day 5 check-in!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

View Respondents

What did you do today, fic-wise?

View Answers

Write
7 (70.0%)

Edit
2 (20.0%)

Send fic to beta
2 (20.0%)

Research
1 (10.0%)

Procrastinate
2 (20.0%)

Post a fic!!!
1 (10.0%)

Something else I will describe in comments
4 (40.0%)

And how are you feeling about your fic?

View Answers

FANTASTIC
1 (10.0%)

It's getting there
7 (70.0%)

Eh
2 (20.0%)

I'm doomed
0 (0.0%)

Tell us about your fic in 3 words or less!

View Answers

And for a discussion topic: let's talk about betas! Do you use them? Always? Sometimes? Never? Why or why not? Do you beta for other people (& do you think that affects what you want out of your own betas)? If you use betas, what do you find useful in the types of feedback you might get?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I wrote about 850 words for a fic_promptly prompt -- it's not in any shape to be posted yet, not even close, but we'll see. The "something else" I did today was get an Evernote account & save some prompts from the comm in there. I mostly got the account to save in other snippets of things (I could, after all, just put the prompts in Delicious) but that's what I ended up using it for first.

I don't always use betas, but I use them most of the time! If it's a short fic (say, under 500 words) I don't tend to. Everything else I really like to have someone look over -- even if it's not an official beta, just to have someone read it & see if anything jumps out at them. I do think getting my stuff betaed has been immensely useful to me: I get comments on everything from words I overuse (which I am great at finding in other people's fic, not so much my own) to logistical quirks in the story or things that just don't make sense (in my head, Characters A & B went from one room of the house to another, but oops, I forgot to mention that they're now in the kitchen so it looks weird when they turn on the sink, or whatever).

I beta for other people when I can (spag betas or, more rarely, canon-compliant betas -- more rarely b/c I am a small fandom person) & I think it's useful for me in terms of thinking more about what works in a story & why. Because if I don't like a line someone's written, I have to explain to them why!

[sasha_feather]

Mine's probably too sappy too!

I always use betas. I love them; they always catch things I don't see. I also beta for other people.

It's good to be writing again. My story is for kink_bingo. I'm not sure how well it's fitting the square, but oh well, I'm trying, and that's something!

[littlebutfierce]

I approve of extreme sappiness!! Do you remember that discussion going on a while ago about id-fic, & some people seemed v. ashamed of having written it & others were like, "screw it, it grabs me -- & other people -- for a reason"? I like the sappy. It's cathartic, ha.

& yay for writing again!! I've seen a lot of kink_bingo people already wondering if what they're writing fits the square, so at least you have good company... & even if it ends up not fitting the square, well, you're writing, hooray!!!

[linaewen]

I'm procrastinating something fierce today, which is too bad, because I almost feel like I could finish Fic A if I'd settle down and concentrate on it. The sooner I do that, the less chance it has of growing into a WIP -- which would defeat the purpose of the challenge it's for. ;-) I also can't concentrate on Fic B until Fic A is out of the way.

I used to use a beta more often than I do now. But I am involved in copy editing in RL so I am confident in editing my own stuff. I will run it by a couple of people to be sure I didn't miss anything -- checking for spelling or formatting errors -- and they often find one or two oddities, but other than that, I beta for myself. I have beta'd for other people from time to time, usually people I know well.

Okay, now that I've confessed publicly to procrastinating, I shall stop doing it and set to work on Fic A. There's still time to pull this off...

[linaewen]

After dispensing with the procrastinating, I managed to eke out ~750 words and advance the story past a sticky spot, whoo hoo! \o/

[littlebutfierce]

Yaaaay for moving past the procrastination! 750 words is awesome, & particularly when you're nearing the end of a fic, counts for an awful lot!!

That's fantastic that you're able to use work skills for your fic. :) I used to do copyediting/proofing, but still found it difficult to do my own stuff past a certain point (& now I haven't done that stuff in ages so I feel like my brain has forgotten how to pick up all that kind of thing, eep).

[lexicalcrow]

Wrote ~1000 words, changed the structure of the fic so it's now one piece, not split into three, and spent half an hour writing down outline/planning notes at 2am after a bout of ínspiration. I finally have some idea of where this is going.

Possibly didn't do myself a favour in giving myself a ~60 year period to write about, but not everything's summarised. XD This is mostly because it's trans* fic, and it's about transitioning, and I just couldn't find an 'end point' so I just kept going. Cos I don't know if transitioning even has anything like an 'end point'. Stages, maybe, but an end point? IDK. Anyway. At least that's sorted. So now I can spend the day writing because I know what I'm doing now. :D

I use betas occasionally. Always for big bangs, and occasionally when I need someone to read over my work and tell me wtf's wrong with it and how I can change it. Useful for fics I'm stuck on. What feedback I want depends on whether I'm needing a full-blown revision, or just 'read over this and make sure there are no glaring errors' sort of thing. If it's a full revision, I'd expect more detailed notes, esp. on plot and such, than a 'read over'. But it's something I work out each time, so I mention what sort of critique I'm looking for.

I also beta for other people too, and try to match what they want. Sometimes they don't need a full revision, so I just check it for any glaring errors, and spelling/grammar. I work with what they need from me. No point in offering more detailed concrit if that's not what's needed/wanted.

[littlebutfierce]

Go you for writing so much AND changing the structure of the fic -- to me, that sort of reorganization is incredibly daunting (I'll do it, but only when I've exhausted all other options, & only while whining & crying the whole time ;).

I think communicating w/betas is really key -- if you just want a quick glance-over & someone gives you detailed line edits, it can be a good thing but possibly disconcerting... & the reverse (wanting line edits & getting a general "Yeah, this looks fine, I think they're IC") can be really frustrating!

[xpaperplanex]

No writing today, but I did some editing and brainstorming about what's going to come next.

I sometimes use betas and would like to more often, but I hate being put on someone else's schedule. I'm pretty religious about reading and rereading what I've written about a million times, though. As for feedback, I expect spelling/grammar/obvious errors (I accidentally words fairly often) to be pointed out. I also appreciate things like saying "X needs to be expanded on" or "this should be cut out". Stuff like that.

I've never beta'd for anyone... no one's asked me. I'm not very good at offering feedback on stuff, but I would make a decent spelling and grammar beta.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for editing & brainstorming! That's totally necessary too, & isn't it nice to feel like you're making progress even when you're not actually writing new words?

I do get impatient sometimes when waiting to hear back from betas, but... I assume people get impatient w/me as well, heh. Plus I don't have a lot of people I can ask to beta (especially if I want a canon-compliant beta) so I try to be patient, b/c they're doing me a massive favor.

For me rereading my own stuff a million times makes me more likely to miss stuff. ;_; I just start glazing over it after a while. Once I reach the point where I think the fic is ready to post, I try really hard to set it aside for at least a day, maybe even as much as a week, so I can give it at least somewhat of a fresh read-over once before posting.

[xpaperplanex]

It is pretty good to still make progress, even without writing. :)

I try very hard to not get impatient, it's more that I worry about if I'm asking for it back to quickly, or if it takes ages and I don't hear from them, is it okay to email and ask or will I seem pushy? I worry a lot about stuff like that. I also got a little put off betas when I put a call out asking for some, got a bunch of replies, sent off a chapter to one of them, then a couple weeks later they emailed back saying that I should find someone else because they were grounded and weren't allowed to use the computer. My jaw hit the floor and since then I've been rather afraid of deliberately sending my stuff to potential minors.

Yeah, I hear you about missing stuff when rereading yourself. You tend to read what you think is there. I do have someone who reads over chunks as I go, so she catches a lot of the little mistakes. I also found that putting the files on my kindle works really well for proofreading. Something about the paper-like screen helps with catching stuff. And waiting a while and reading it again with fresh eyes definitely helps.

[littlebutfierce]

if it takes ages and I don't hear from them, is it okay to email and ask or will I seem pushy?

Oh yeah, I definitely worry about that a lot too. -_-;;; &... yeah. There are definite issues w/having minors as betas, depending on the fic.

The thing about catching more mistakes on your Kindle makes sense! Sometimes when I'm editing I have to print out the story in order to really be able to work on it -- both in terms of spotting little mistakes & also in terms of being able to see any big structural issues I need to address.

[bay_alexison]

Ack, most of the beginning of June so far I haven't done much writing/editing because I hadn't been feeling too well. Yesterday I was able to get some editing for my first help_japan fic done and made a bit of progress over getting some ideas for my second help_japan fic. Tonight...well, I was planning on finishing it, but I was away from my home for a while and was walking around a lot, so when I came back I was exhausted and was having a huge headache, so I pretty much procrastinated. x_x I'll see if I can get the editing done tomorrow morning before I have to leave the house.

As for betas, at first I never used them as I didn't know anyone who would beta for me. I then managed to make some friends and they're more than willing to beta my works. I would always ask for one because I tend to make grammar mistakes a lot even after looking my work a few times and I'm unsure of myself over certain things. I beta, but mostly on characterization and plot and I tend to be detailed on those.

Okay, now to sign up for the WIP before I go to bed early! x_x

[littlebutfierce]

Awww, I hope you are feeling better soon! :( Yay for getting some editing done anyway. I don't blame you for not going back to the fic after getting a headache -- it's not fun trying to do anything productive when you're in that much pain.

For me, definitely finding the first person to beta for me was the hardest! I mean, it turns out I have friends who are willing to beta for me, but... just getting the courage up to ask someone the first time, eeeeek!!!

[anyssia]

I wrote 300 words! First words in three weeks ;p and you wouldn't believe how hard they were to write: took me more than two hours to get them out ^^;;;

That said, I passed the 7'000 words for this story and I think I'm about done. I'll need to re-read it thoroughly, because I know that I tend to condense too much when I don't feel like writing but force myself anyway.

Betas? Yep, definitively! English isn't my mother tongue, so it's pretty much mandatory for me, but I tend to not bother them when it's for something under 1'000 words.
What I really need is someone to check my grammar obviously, but especially for the plot continuity and to know if my story is making sense to someone else than me ;p

[littlebutfierce]

WOOOHOOOOOO!! Yay for breaking the dry spell w/those 300 words!! It doesn't matter that it took you a long time, you got them out, hooray! May it continue!

I know that I tend to condense too much when I don't feel like writing but force myself anyway.

I do that sometimes, too. On occasion a beta will tell me, "I'd really like to hear this conversation between two people" (instead of me just saying X talked to Y about Z, ahahaha)... it's a good reminder that yeah, I can put in kind of placeholders for scenes when I am just trying to get a rough draft done, but... sometimes I do actually need to go back & expand things.

[anyssia]

^^ Yep, now I have to get the motivation to go over it. It's going to take some time, because it needs a lot of corrections ;p (and I'll probably have to rewrite half of it ^^;;)

[snowynight]

I wrote 300 words! It was the first time in a few days.
I need to continue to do my wip though.

I definite need beta for things over 1000 words. I need grammar check, but especially the plot and whether it makes sense.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for getting those words out!! Especially since you've had a break. (& really, you often write so much per day that I think you definitely deserved a break if you wanted one. ;)

[eien_herrison]

Whoops, I completely dropped off the radar last month *is embarassed* I managed to write out 1,741 words over two fics, and posted a chunk of one of the fics to my fandom forum.

Regarding betas, I'll have to say I never use them now but I did occasionally in the past. I do get on the fly feedback from friends about how a story is progressing, and my main uber-long fic has sections posted on my forum before the chapters go up anywhere else.

I used to beta for people, mainly SPaG and continuity erros/making sure things made sense and, really, when I used betas previously these were the kind of things I wanted feedback on.

[littlebutfierce]

Aw, it happens -- no worries. I'm glad that you were able to write so many words though!! & hooray for posting a chunk of your fic! That's always so satisfying.

[eien_herrison]

Haha, yes, the break was mainly due to work stress and before I knew it it was June.

I was pleased with myself for writing so many words -- one of the fics I worked on is one I've been working on since 2007, and is a long series-based fic. It'd take me forty years to write it plus all its sequels at the rate I'm going, so I certainly need to speed it up/make sure I write something each day.

[littlebutfierce]

I'm super-impressed that you can have a story you love that much, & that you want to tell that much, to keep it going for so long! I think I would've just abandoned it at the first sign of difficulty. ^^;;; So go you!! Hopefully you can keep it going!

[eien_herrison]

Heh, four years is nothing for me: I've got two other stories where I started one in 2001 and one in 2005, and they're still ongoing. I think my main 'problem' is that all these long-term stories have long plots and tons of sub-plots to them (well, that and the fact that my writing keeps improving so I look back on these stories, find them terrible, and start re-writing them).

[jagnikjen]

I wrote a bit on my challenge fic (actually just a chapter) for this month, so I think I'm on schedule.

As for beta readers. I have one main beta reader, though I usually need/want a faster turn around than she can usually provide. I don't use her all the time, though I probably should. And I should probably find a few more, just to have a range of skills and fandoms at my disposal.

I do beta read for this same gal. And would do so for any of my other writerly friends for a fandom with which I am familiar. In my other writing life (aspiring romance author) I am one of three in a critique group.

Useful to me...let's see as far as the basics go, missing words primarily. I rely heavily on MS Word to catch my spelling mistakes and I'm pretty good with grammar and punctuation, so that's not an imperative strong suit in a beta. Story-wise, I like to know if there's any kind of confusion, like logistically in a sex scene or in a plot point or even in the verbiage I've chose to use.

[littlebutfierce]

Hooray for being on track w/your goals for this month!!

It can be hard to find betas who are available, do the kind of beta you need, & are in the same fandom!

I like to know if there's any kind of confusion, like logistically in a sex scene

OMG, I forgot, until I saw your comment, about what the fanfic flamingo had to say about this: I don't have the link handy right now (& if I dive into that Tumblr's archives I won't emerge for a long time, even though I've read them all before, hahaha), but it was something like, "Take off pants 3 times in sex scene. Thank God for betas."