[ SECRET POST #2285 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2285 ⌋

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

01.


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02.
[NCIS]


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03.


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04.
[Kirk Cameron]


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05.
[Lindsay Lohan, Sean Penn, Sean Bean]


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06.


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07.
[MCU/Marvel movies - NOT the comics]


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08.


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09.


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[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]













10. [SPOILERS for Spartacus War of the Damned]



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11. [SPOILERS for Dangan Ronpa]



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12. [SPOILERS for The Walking Dead]



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13. [SPOILERS for House MD]



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[ ----- TRIGGERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]














14. [WARNING for rape]



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15. [WARNING for abuse]

[the beatles]





















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #326.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://anonmgur.com/up/cfa61d8526b310bb93973b989e79e57f.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

it happens to ma all the time too.i try to use a spelling check thingy.

also,i've noticed that words tend to disappear if you copy/paste,but i'm not sure why.

[(Anonymous)]

me*

and this is why i use it.

[(Anonymous)]

Problem with spellcheckers is that they won't catch words that are correctly-spelled-as-the-wrong-word (as in your comment, "ma" for "me"), and many fantasy/scifi/Japanese fandoms will have lots of words or names that aren't in the spellchecker's dictionary, which it will complain about.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I feel guilty now.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you tried printing it out? That's the best way of catching typos/errors, IMO. Also, I have a dummy LJ account where I post drafts to recreate the catch-typos-only-after-posting effect, but without the actual posting.


But then, betas miss things too, they're not perfect either. And if I had so much bad luck with betas I would stay as far away from them as possible, too. D:

[(Anonymous)]

It's always a roll of the dice. :/ On one hand, you can just ask a fandom friend, but then you either risk them going for being nice rather than critical, or because you're friends they just assume it's okay if they don't get the story back to you for five months. Betas from sites at least don't pose that problem, but because they don't know you, they're less likely to feel bad about disappearing. I just ask for more than one beta and see what happens.

I think everyone needs a beta, though. Even famous writers have editors, except Anne Rice.

[(Anonymous)]

Also, I have a dummy LJ account where I post drafts to recreate the catch-typos-only-after-posting effect, but without the actual posting

same here!

I was a shitty beta once

[(Anonymous)]

Ironically, I did that once, even though I hated it when people did it to me. And I believe people NEED betas because of the problems you listed. I bet the same thing happened to Shakespeare. No, I'm serious. Writers need feedback first.

Just a tip that's hopefully welcome - make sure your beta knows what they're getting into. I think what happened with me and possibly with others is that they don't realize how long it's going to be, or that there's things they're not comfortable reading, that sort of thing.

Of course, the biggest thing is that betas need to be honest, and unfortunately a lot of them end up finding it easier to disappear than to say "sorry, other things came up." :/

[reijamira]

This happens to me all the time. I think you're just too familiar with your own text, so that you simply don't notice these mistakes, or you correct them automatically when you read.

Btw, I'm sorry your betas weren't reliable.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, six betas dropping you sounds like a really high number, and now I'm wondering what you write. This will probably bother me for a while. :/

Other than that: finish writing something, sit on it for a few days without looking at it, then re-read it. You'd be amazed how much of a difference even 24 hours makes in your ability to spot typos in your own works.

[quantumreality]

Do you use Word at all? If so, before you save, hit F7 for a spell and grammar check. That'll at least give you first line of defence before you send to a beta.

[silverr]

It happens, but unless you've submitted your story to a print publisher (or posted as a nonny fill), it's easy to slip in and fix what the Typo Gnomes have messed with.

As for being stranded by your betas - I don't know what to say. I've been lucky enough to have only one dud over the years. Some are speedy, some aren't. Some like digging into a story early, some just like giving the final polish. As long as there's clear communication on both sides about what's to be done and when, it usually works out.

(I always warn my betas ahead of time that something's coming, and give them the content, the approximate length, where it is in the life cycle, and what type of feedback I'm looking for (e.g., SPaG, Plot holes, scene flow), so it's easier for them to back out of they don't have time or interest in what I'd be sending them.)

[(Anonymous)]

Ooh.. I hate that finding errors right after you post thing.

Like you, I check my work forwards, backwards, sideways etc. I will leave it a month or even longer after finishing the first draft before looking over it with fresh eyes. I even print it out to look over as well, but there is always at least one spelling or grammar error, or a wrong or missing word. It's infuriating!

[lady_songsmith]

Sometimes I think things really DO get lost in the posting. I've had the after-posting effect happen, and gone back to my draft with a list of errors to fix, only to end up staring at a line where the 'missing word' really IS there.

So, it's probably about 95% the posting effect, 5% gremlins.

[forgottenjester]

I've had mixed results with betas. I've had them fall off the face of the Earth and I've had some who were fantastic and super awesome. My problem with betas is that I just hate asking someone over the internet who I don't know to do that for me. I feel so indebted to them and weirdly like I'm using them. Hence, I tend not to write a lot of fic.

The thing is, even if you have a beta, things will be missed. It happens. Always. You just learn to either edit it or let it pass.

[gamma_orionis]

This happens to me even if I use betas :P I swear that the uploading process on sites actually inserts typos xD (that's my belief, at least!)

[(Anonymous)]

Computers eat words. And letters. I've had half the quotation marks from a story disappear nearly a decade after I posted it (curse you, ffn!). Quotes I know were there, because I co-wrote the story with a friend who simply doesn't make that kind of mistake, and certainly wouldn't make it that frequently.

One of my favorite writers says quite openly that she proofread herself and invites minor corrections in the comments. Works okay.

[(Anonymous)]

Read your work backwards.

I don't mean literally read it backwards. I mean start by reading the last sentence and move backward from there. When we read in the correct order, we tend to get caught up in the "flow" and skim over errors. A very simple order-fucking move can make errors jump out at you.

[dimestoresaint]

I can't even find a beta. Probably because my fandom (SVU) is tiny, but I'm working on a big bang and can't find anyone to look it over. I'm convinced that when I finally post it, it'll be riddled with tiny but annoying errors that could have been caught by a second pair of eyes.

[orangescones]

Try changing the names and then having an irl person/friend look it over? Or contact betas via a beta volunteer post. I've found some betas through tumblr just by tagging a ship name too. Oh and if you also read fic, try to see if there are any betas you see credited that look like they are consistent/reliable.

Also, I like beta-ing, but sometimes when I beta, the author puts up their work without changing the stuff I told them to change (like typos, errors with dialogue tags) but still credits me... and it just makes me really embarrassed and not want to beta anymore, lol.

How late is too late?

[(Anonymous)]

Someone sent me some stuff to beta four months ago and I still haven't got back to them. Is it too late to send back comments now?

I had beta'd, like, 15 chapters of something for them and then they sent me like 25 more and it's centered around a pairing and a character that I am really not a fan of, and I got through about half of it and then I started working full time, and no more free time, and I keep meaning to get through the rest of it but I haven't had a chance. Is it too late to send something back now? Am I a terrible heel?

[mistressofmuses]

I disappeared on an LJ friend who was having me beta for her a few years ago, and I still feel bad about it. :/

Someone else mentioned above something I agree with: definitely let your beta know what your story will entail, in terms of length as well as content. The fic I was helping her with was very long, and I loved it so I wanted to do a super-perfect job... which led to putting it off because reading and going over a several-thousand word chapter was more than I had time for... and then after a few weeks had passed I felt too guilty to even try. Make sure you communicate pretty well if them, if possible, just so everyone is expecting the same things.

I'm sorry you had lousy experiences with your betas, though, and I completely sympathize with your frustration regarding the "missed error" thing.

Read it Aloud

[(Anonymous)]

Are you reading it in your head? Try reading it aloud. If you just read it in your head, your brain will automatically fix stuff for you and you won't even notice what was wrong or that it happened. If you read it aloud, you're more likely to literally stumble on the errors and fix them.

[cassandraoftroy]

Read the fic out loud to yourself. I find it's a lot easier to catch SPaG errors that way.

Edit: Aaaand let that be a lesson to me to always refresh the page before commenting, because the person directly above me said the same thing. -_-