Being a Good Beta

[zevie]

Uh-oh. Them's fightin' words, Tens. Let the games begin, haha.

'Kay, so, I've another thought, and as usual, I'm going to open my big fat internet mouth.

I'm wondering if (maybe in the same place as posting beta readers) there should or could be a place where if you NEED a beta and don't have a connection to recommend you, you could post a request and maybe an overview of your story or some stats and post a link to a sample of some other stuff on FFN for reference? Is this redundant? Maybe it is, lol. It's totally hypothetical as well (at the moment anyway) as I have nothing that I'm writing that anyone would beta, and am not sure if anyone would actually need this service.

Alright. That was useless. Maybe I should just ask...for all of you who HAVE a beta, how did you get in touch with them? FFN has PMs, so did you just pick an author you like and ask them? Or, are they mostly friends? A couple of you have sort of answered this already in posts, I'm just wondering about what the usual circumstances are, if there are any. What can I say, I'm fascinated by this beta thing.

[Tensleep]

Zevie, you are so my favorite person! We definitely share a similar sense of humor.

I like this idea of advertising for a beta. Tell you what, if you need one or want to be one just start a new thread here on the subject or in the Other Randomness section. I think it's an awesome way to help other writers out and help yourself out.

I know some people - like myself - leave notes on stuff on their bio pages on ff.net, so going there is a start. From there I would go to a review or PM and see where it goes from there.

Good luck and See ya in the funny papers!!!

Tens

[zevie]

YAY! I actually did a little dance, which hurt, as I am vastly uncoordinated and I think I may have cracked a rib. Ow.

Still. Humour rules all.

I'm definitely going to do my research on possible beta's for the future - you can all look forward to an annoying post from me later on begging for one and maybe being one. I apologise in advance, many times.

[latch22]

This has been a stagnant topic for two months, but I haven't gotten my two cents in just yet, and we all know how important my opinion is. Hehe...

Anyway, I feel that the first thing a beta needs is to be able to recognize the difference between helping a story with true potential to become even better and turning the story into your own. When I edit for someone, I'm always sure never to infringe upon style. I'll mention something that doesn't seem to be working, but I won't change something just because it's not working for me.

A beta needs to be open to discuss things with the writer that they beta for. Communication is very important.

I used to do a lot of editing simply because I like editing, but then I lost interest, and so now I only beta if I feel that the story in question has genuine potential, or if it just needs a little help--and I have to like the story.

And you don't really need to hear my ramblings, so cheers!

[astiosis]

Wow, I actually never thought about it that way. I always wanted to say that if someone wanted me to beta-read for them, then you're going to HAVE to expect criticism unless your really seem to be just that good (which, unfortunately has happened to me).

As for me, I've been offered to be a beta-reader twice but I felt that the pressure and time consumption was going to be too much for me to be a good beta. It's actually because of fanfiction that I got a 42 E in Chemistry in my progress report (I lost a lab worth 30 points and she won't take late work any more, so I was screwed. But I ended up with an 86 B by the end of that quarter.) And I never had a beta-reader before so I guess I wouldn't know period.