[ SECRET POST #3208 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3208 ⌋

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

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08. http://i.imgur.com/DoPvl3t.jpg
[linked for porn (gay, live action)]


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12.
[Amanda Palmer]


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13.
[Love and Lies (Koi to Uso)]


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14.
[Steven Universe]


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15. [SPOILERS for Aldnoah.Zero]



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16. [SPOILERS for Quantum Vibe]



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17. [SPOILERS for Tales of Hearts R]



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18. [WARNING for child sexual abuse, incest]



























Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #458.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

As an occasional beta, the first words out of my mouth before taking on a new writer is: "What level of beta do you want?" Some people only want spelling, punctuation and grammar checked. Others want you to check continuity. It is very rarely that writers, especially newer writers, want you to go through and tell them 'what's wrong' about their fic.

As a writer, I only want that last level of beta from someone I know fairly well... it's a very short list that I will accept writing guidance from. Does that mean I'm insecure about my writing? Damnrightyoubetcha. *nods* It's also because I have had someone try to beta 'my' fic right into being, basically, 'their' fic. We had two different visions.

[iambecomebees]

I think this is something all people who want to beta should read/know before offering their services, but sadly don't.

[dani_phantasma]

"It's also because I have had someone try to beta 'my' fic right into being, basically, 'their' fic. We had two different visions."

I had that happen to me to. I asked them about advice for the time period it was set in and when I told them about my plot, they immediately declared that it was a bad plot and convinced me to write something that wasn't what I wanted to write at all.

The kicker was that I wasn't even asking them to beta the whole story, I just wanted advice on one setting related aspect of it.

[(Anonymous)]

This. Some writers aren't very clear when they ask for a beta, so you don't want to go all out on your critique if they're only looking for a human spellchecker. Even writers who think they're prepared for the "what's wrong" level of critique often underestimate how ready they are and it can be a nasty surprise when a beta actually finds some problems.

[(Anonymous)]

It's also because I have had someone try to beta 'my' fic right into being, basically, 'their' fic. We had two different visions.

This, so much. I had a beta who was also sort of a BNF in the small part of the fandom I am in, and she kept insisting my take on the characters and their backstory was wrong, because of "the already established backstory" - i.e HER backstory for them since the characters didn't have much of any on the show. Since I had my own take on the characters backstory which wasn't hers, my fic was wrong and needed rewriting. Also, she wanted to insert her (fairly conservative) politics into my fic and what the characters did and said.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes on all counts.

As a beta, I always start out just doing SPAG, and only if a writer asks do I give critiques on plot, continuity, characterization, etc. My aim is to help make the author's vision shine, even if I don't necessarily agree with it. Ultimately, it's their story.

And I've had the same experience, and seen it happen to writers I admired. Some bow to the wishes of the beta and thusly end up writing only what the beta wants. I actually had a very recent experience where the person who offered to beta for me (and I trusted) just did not. get. what I was going for at all. I finally had to say "thanks, but no thanks" to further betaing.

In fact, I had a moment of thinking maybe this was about me, but the fic isn't for an exchange. Did I have a crisis of writing faith? Yes. Am I working on getting over it? Yes. I've been warming up for NaNoWriMo, and am planning on making that my springboard to get back writing again.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm like that too. I'm pretty confident in my writing really, so what I want from a beta is to let me know if I've missed any glaring typos or if there's something that really seems 'off' or doesn't make sense or whatever. I'm sure it would all be that much better if I had someone take a fine-toothed comb to it, but I'm kind of lazy and this is my hobby. Also grad student, so don't have time for all that anyway.