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Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2013-07-01 06:51 pm
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[ SECRET POST #2372 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2372 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 070 secrets from Secret Submission Post #339.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - 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.
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(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
What is NNF? I figured out the SPaG but this one's got me stumped.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
No Name Fan, I would assume?

SPaG is obviously short for spaghetti ofc (at least that's what I'm assuming and no one is allowed to tell me otherwise)

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes.

And lol. :D

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
No Name Fan. Someone in a fandom that's not known for their fics, unlike Big Name Fans, BNFs.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I go through my fics myself, since I can trust myself to catch the errors I make more than some betas. (Same with people who claim their fics are betaed and yet their fics are filled with SPAG errors and incomplete paragraphs.) And it saves me the trouble of looking for a canon-compliant beta, although it would be nice to have one.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Is A-person the same as L-person from yesterday?
queerwolf: (Default)

[personal profile] queerwolf 2013-07-01 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
If you absolutely can't find another beta, my best advice is to put the fic aside for a few days and then look back through it yourself. It also helps catch mistakes to read it aloud. Good luck.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
not only bnfs have betas though. There's plenty of communities where you can post saying you're looking for a beta, or ff.net has a beta profile that people who want to beta stuff can fill out and other people request them (or at least it did; I haven't checked in a while)

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Still does. I've been debating signing up for it, but tbh I'm not good enough in any of the areas to be of much use. ;)

[personal profile] transcriptanon 2013-07-01 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[Picture is the word "ERRORS" on a sheet of lined paper being erased by a pink eraser.]

I like A. I beta fics for A. A also betas fic for me, but she is absolutely terrible at beta-ing. A's Spelling and Grammar skills are weak, so whenever she beta-es my fic, she points out a bunch of Spelling and Grammar errors that aren't actually grammatically incorrect. She's also bad at beta-ing plot holes and In-Character-ness; just bad at proofreading overall.

I wish I wasn't such a No Name Fan, so I could find someone else to beta my fanfiction.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it would be very rare to have a mutual-beta relationship with someone. It's been my experience that the beta reader is more skilled or knowledgeable than the author, and you can't reverse that. You could always ask their opinion as a member of the target audience you are writing for, but not as a proper beta reader.

(This can change over time, of course. I once started beta reading for a girl who was in high school. I was able to help her a lot, mostly on her confidence levels, and to a lesser degree on her actual writing ability. It's been several years since we first met, and now she has a college degree and a career in publishing, and is a far better writer than I could ever be.)

(Anonymous) 2013-07-01 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, this.

I'm the dedicated beta of an absolutely wonderful writer; I'm a professional editor and copy writer IRL and she's got a job unrelated to writing. We have a great friendship and fic producing relationship. She trusts me and I trust her. But when I write something, I know she's going to be useless to me as a beta. I'll talk to her about story ideas, and maybe ask her to cheerlead me if I need a boost, but I have to range far afield to find a beta for myself. However, she's been a beta for another writer in the past, and part of why I became her beta in the first place was that that original writer tried to beta a fic for her and it was a total disaster.

It's just so rarely reciprocal. I've had good co-writers, but we've agreed to bring in a third for beta. And after a couple decades in fandom, I'm pretty confident when I say that my favorite, best, and finest fandom contributions are as a beta and editor, not as a writer. I'm always looking for someone who wants to collaborate.

Anyway, NNF OP, there are fandom communities dedicated to helping betas and writers find each other. And sometimes you can find a great beta if you sign up for a fest, and there's a beta request post. (That's how me and my writer friend got matched up!) Just keep your eyes open.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
Not necessarily. I have a friend for whom I beta, and who betas for me. We're both competent writers who know how to spell and how grammar works, so SPaG stuff that we catch for one another is mostly just typos. We catch logic hiccups for each other, or point out when a character has drifted a little too far into fanon, or flag the occasional sentence that just isn't working. Even good writers need betas, so two reasonably good writers can perform the service for one another.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, this. I beta for several authors, including my beta, and none of us are perfect. We make different mistakes.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, this. My friend and I are both competent writers and betas and the relationship is completely reciprocal. The only reason it isn't exclusive is that we're both writing constantly and neither one wants to disturb the other's flow, so we usually use each other as beta only if we can't find anyone else we trust.
vickyblueeyez: (Default)

[personal profile] vickyblueeyez 2013-07-01 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
are you on LJ op? there is fandom_betas.livejournal.com and beta_search.livejournal.com. Also find-me-a-beta.livejournal.com
wauwy: (sulu)

[personal profile] wauwy 2013-07-02 06:41 am (UTC)(link)
Is it really so hard to find a beta? I find most writing communities on the internet are crawling with offers. Not to mention family and friends IRL, who I personally have always used.

I don't know, I've never understood this lament. Most people I know can find a beta in a fingersnap if they'd like. Not to say you're lying, but maybe you're not looking in the right places?

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe they are just too embarrassed now to admit A is hopeless at beta, and it would be so obvious to stop using them and use someone else!

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
While I've never had much trouble finding a beta, regardless of what fandom I'm writing for, in my most recent fandom, I made the mistake of taking someone up on their offer to beta for me and now I can't get rid of them. They think they're this awesome beta in general and especially for the particular fandom, and yet they're the worst beta I've ever used. Half the suggestions for grammar and punctuation corrections are just plain wrong (ala turning on grammar check through Microsoft Word) and they never EVER give you any feedback on what's written, good, bad, or indifferent. No suggestions for improvement, no mention of whether characterization is good or a little off or even way off, nothing regarding plot plausibility. Nothing. Not even when you specifically ask for it.

I'd drop them in a heartbeat if it weren't for the butthurt factor and the inevitable tearful whining.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
If they're that bad, just cut ties. Is it really that hard? Jeez.

(Anonymous) 2013-07-02 07:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Thing is, if you *weren't* a NNF (assuming it does stand for 'No Name Fan') and so had more experience then I guess you would have less need for a beta At least on the basis that the more you do these things, the better you get, and it's easier to pick up on mistakes.

So, considering the beta you have isn't doing the job well enough for your liking, and if you believe you need the second opinion (from what I've seen, even the 'best' fan-writers do) then I see nothing wrong in looking for an alternative. Difficult, given you'd have to talk to your current beta if you intended to part company, but certainly not a bad idea under the circumstances.

As others have said, there are beta communities out there, and ff.net has its own service by fandom and genre.
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