[ SECRET POST #2791 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2791 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 058 secrets from Secret Submission Post #399.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

02. http://i.imgur.com/PdH22bT.png

[(Anonymous)]

My mind went straight to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvn0WTrjAs

I'm sorry.

[(Anonymous)]

Me neither. Well, once, when it was required. I'm just... really uncomfortable asking people for stuff, and I have trouble maintaining online relationships.

I'm a good enough copy editor I think I get away with it pretty well, but there are probably a few really odd plot twists and dropped threads in some of my stuff that could have been avoided if I'd talked the whole thing over with someone beforehand.

[dreemyweird]

Neither have I. My fandoms are all so obscure and I'm such a loner that I could never find a beta when I needed one.

Not that it's bad, per se, I don't think. But it tends make one's creative process that much harder, because you have to discover everything that's wrong with your writing without anyone's help.

eta: oh, btw, A++ choice of picture.

[sparklywalls]

I've read fic where the writer said "this didn't have a beta" and have thought, wow...I'd never know! But equally I've seen "no beta" and you can definitely tell it needed a fresh pair of eyes to look over it but that's what concrit in the reviews is for. I once got told in a review on a fic I hadn't passed on to anyone that I should consider a beta to catch the odd typo/etc but it was done in such a pleasant way that I didn't mind. IMO as long as you can handle it if anyone does criticise something that a beta may or may not have picked up, keep doing what you wanna do.

[illiadandoddity]

I have. Once it got me one of my best fandom friends, and once it landed me with a guy who kept pressuring me to rewrite my fic the way HE wanted so much that I just abandoned the fic.

So, yeah, there's a whole range there.

[intrigueing]

I feel like I should know what the logic behind the picture choice is, and that when someone explains it to me I'll be facepalming because it was so obvious, but....I don't get it. Someone explain it to me? :(

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't either.

[anonymous4]

Neither have I, OP, though I obsessively re-read, edit, rehash, re-edit... again and again, and then I may tweak the thing after it's posted as well, so I always say that I beta my own work.

I write (non-fiction) for a living, and I've had far too many clients/bosses/client's or boss's wives -- it's always been a wife, for some reason -- step in at the last minute and turn my clear prose into gibberish, so I prefer not to ask anyone to beta something I do for fun. Besides, for me it's really important that if there is something wrong with a story, I work out what it is and how to solve it. I think I learn more that way.

[ex_mek82]

I've had an... interesting history with betas.

My first experience was from a fandom yay long ago (that shall remain nameless), and I was a petulant teenager with lots of... issues. Long and short of it is that a really respected-at-the-time writer in this fandom graciously offered to beta my work. I don't know what precipitated everything -I think it was them trying to make sense of the admittedly-in-hindsight asinine plot-, but when all was said and done, I got really torqued and told them off. It was also around the time I was moving on to a newer fandom, but looking back on it, I felt really awful about the whole thing and decided I didn't want to do that to another beta again.

A few years later, a friend offered to beta one of my stories for me, and they ended up helping me with at least 2-3 short, done-in-one stories. They ended up being some of my strongest works, I felt, because not only did my friend help with grammatical/POV fixes, they also helped with placement and dialogue so the characters felt more IC. Needless to say, that was a really great experience and it improved my perception of working with a beta.

I've kinda sorta written some stuff for subsequent fandoms, but I haven't looked for a beta in those, because no one I know is into the fandoms I'm involved in (Old Republic, mostly. I briefly wrote Green Lantern fan fic before I quit that fandom) and I'd rather deal with someone I know who "gets" my writing style so I don't make the same mistake I did in the first example again. =/ But tbh, I don't think betas are a bad thing and can be very helpful and awesome, provided you're working with someone who knows -or has a good idea- of the story you're trying to tell without them trying to change it to suit their vision. Or something like that. Eh.

[(Anonymous)]

I've never used on, either. I find it absolutely terrifying to present my stuff to one person, but I'm (not okay exactly, but less intimidated) to send it out to the world at large.

[(Anonymous)]

Same. I'm completely confident with my grammar and I'm just writing for myself so it doesn't really matter to me if I have a few mistakes or typos. If they are pointed out to me I'd gladly fix them though.

[silvereriena]

I've never had a beta either. Granted, I haven't written fic in a loooong time and I would always re-read and re-edit my own stuff to pieces. I think it'd be great to have one, provided they work well with you.

[(Anonymous)]

This is why your zoology section is full of errors, Aristotle.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't get why this is necessarily a secret, given a lot of writers don't use betas.

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't either. Mostly because I usually only write porn one-shots. It's not such serious business for me.

[(Anonymous)]

Nothing wrong with that. If you are your own editor, you're good: most of my very favorite authors do not use betas, probably because they do not need any help with their grammar, punctuation, formatting etc.

And when it comes to character, dialog and storytelling, some writers seem to benefit from a team approach, whereas for others writing is a very personal experience and no criticism, positive or not, is helpful in their creative process.

I don't think there's a wrong approach to fan fiction writing, except when one's lack of beta readers is reflective of a combination of:
1) an uncertain grasp of spelling, etymology, punctuation or the English language as a whole AND
2) a complete unwillingness to accept help or criticism, no matter how well-intentioned

Less tragic, but somehow even more problematic:
3) no understanding of storytelling, characterization or dramatic tension

If neither of these three problems apply to you, you do not need a beta. You may want to occasionally re-read yourself to avoid some obvious typos you may have missed or add in a joke at the appropriate moment, but apart from that... A lot of excellent writers manage very well without betas.

Note: if you suffer from 1) or 3), then I would recommend a beta, but really, it's up to you. And 2), by itself, is not sufficient reason to get a beta, especially not for fan fiction when there is no money at stake, so what is the worse that can happen? You get fewer readers? Or more? One survives such things easily! No worries.

[darkmanifest]

I've had a couple of good ones over time, couple of crappy ones, but they all move on eventually. As much as I'd like one now, I'd rather direct energy towards actually writing anything at all than finding one.

[(Anonymous)]

I use a beta when the rules of the fest or challenge say I have to use one. If I'm just posting something for my own enjoyment, I might or might not have someone look over my fic for me.

It's frustrating when a beta doesn't know who the Axis powers were when she's beta reading your fic set in WWII. Or when you use the word "pistoning" and your beta tells you it's not a word and perhaps you mean "pistoling".

[dysmaid]

The image made me laugh - nice choice!

I've never used a beta, either, because I feel like I'd have to have most or all of my story drafted before sending to someone, and on the very rare occasions that I write something longer than a one-shot I just update as I go rather than wait until I have it finished to start posting. Anyway, there's no shame in it! Just roll with whatever process is the most rewarding for you.

[(Anonymous)]

i used to think this way till i got my stuff beta'd which gave not only me a massive confidence boost (idk either). now i wouldn't have it any other way.

and in fact, i'm trying to keep the circle alive by betaing my friends fics if they need one. c:

[dazzledfirestar]

Definitely nothing wrong with that. I think (and it seems like many people here agree) it all depends on whether you can find someone who you mesh with and you can communicate easily with. I only have two friends I will ask to beta for me and that's because I know they get how the process is for me and we've worked out ahead of time what I need them to look for/check...

Basically it's all about communication and sometimes, when that doesn't work, you can be better off on your own.

[(Anonymous)]

I write/copy-edit professionally and have always had a much better knowledge of grammar than most people in my various fandoms so I don't bother either, though I'll usually pretend I did for fests.

[(Anonymous)]

Me neither. After I finish a fic, I'll let it sit for a couple days and then I'll go back and re-read it myself. Grad school and the last two years of undergrad were so essay-intensive I never had time to get anyone to look it over for me before they were due, so I got pretty good at being my own proof reader/editor.

[(Anonymous)]

Humblebrag? I don't understand this secret.