Check-In – Day 23

[samuraiter]

My apologies for missing yesterday. Too many hours on the job makes me faceplant into my bed. But I have rested! And so, that being said, what have you been doing today?

— Thinking. Maybe a little, maybe a lot.
— Writing.
— Outlining, planning, and / or prewriting.
— Researching and / or revisiting canon.
— Editing.
— Sending things to the beta.
— Posting!
— Relaxing, taking a break, etc.
— Other stuff-ing. Look at the comments.

Question: How many beta readers do you like to use when putting a story through its paces?

Comments

[autobotscoutriella]

I wrote today! It was a good feeling after two days of coming home from work and crashing.

I don't actually have any formal beta readers at the moment, in the sense of "someone who will read my entire story and provide editing suggestions"--generally, when it comes to spelling, grammar, and plot points, I'm a lot harder on myself than other people are. (And I try to write long WIPs at least a few chapters in advance, preferably the whole story, so that I can do a couple thorough edits before posting.) A RL friend of mine from college is my sounding board for shiny new plot ideas and the occasional "what if I did THIS THING, is it heartwrenching or corny" scenario; another friend has very kindly served as a sensitivity reader for specific topics that they're an expert on, but as of right now none of those have been the focus for more than a chapter or two. I think I'm usually the only one who reads my entire story through from beginning to end before it gets posted.

[linaewen]

After taking a break for relaxing and traveling on the weekend, I'm struggling to get back into any kind of a writing mode. This month is turning into a bad one as far as writing production goes, hope I can turn it around in this last week!

I used to use beta readers, but now I just take care of all the editing and beta reading myself. If I truly need another set of eyes to look at something, I get my son to read it (he also writes, and gives good advice when I seek it).

[justanorthernlight]

I did not write, I've been having another bout of "my prose is bad, why should I even work on it?" brainweasals.

I don't have a beta reader. My fandoms are pretty small and I'm really shy about asking, and no one has offered the few occasions I've put up a post asking for one. (And not many people in the fandom are looking for one either, so I can't really offer to reciprocate.)