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chaoslynx · 3 years

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Hey, Im glad ur okay and safe! I just wanted to ask if u have any tips on getting beta readers to go over your work?

Hey! I wasn't sure if there's anything specific you were looking for, so I tried to cover everything I've learned about from working with beta readers, including whether you need one, how to find one, and how to work with them once you do. Sorry this got kinda (really?) long.

How-To: Beta Readers!

Do you need a beta reader?

Short answer: No. But it can be helpful and fun!

I'm gonna start by saying that none of my oneshots (with maybe one or two exceptions?) are beta read, and it's definitely not something that you need in fanfiction, imo. (Traditional publishing is a completely different story.) Don't think of it as a big milestone that you have to reach or anything like that, and if you do get a beta reader, don't get stuck thinking that you have to have one forever now. Most of my favorite fanfic authors don't work with beta readers at all.

How do you even get a beta reader?

Good question.

Honestly, the first beta reader I worked with was on my first multi-chapter fic, and she reached out to me first. I had expressed in the author's notes of a oneshot that I was considering writing a multi-chapter fic but was super nervous about it, and she commented offering to beta if I needed extra reassurance. I went through a whole existential crisis of sorts where I had no idea if I wanted to accept or not. She actually ended up working with me on both Feelings and Water!

All of the other beta readers I've had have also been people that I met through the fandom. If you're looking for a beta reader, you could try asking in the author's notes of a fic you post on ao3, or making a Tumblr post. If you have IRL friends who are familiar with the media you're writing for, you could ask them!

Okay, I have my beta reader ... now what?

If you do want to work with a beta reader, and you're able to find someone who you think you'll work well with, here are some tips for how to actually do the thing!

Talk about content warnings. Are there any specific triggers your beta will want to avoid completely? Anything they need to be warned about in advance?

Tell them if there's anything specific you want them to look out for. What are you struggling with? Characterization, dialogue, description, grammar, plot? What's your weak point? Why do you want a beta reader?

Make sure you're both comfortable with you rejecting any of their suggestions. On the beta's end it can be hard to see your suggestion shot down, and on the author's side it can be difficult to trust your own judgement, but usually the final call should be up to the author.

Also, make sure you're both aware that either of you can end the agreement with no hard feelings at any time. There could be a million reasons why it might not work out: real life obligations, scheduling/deadline issues, creative differences, or maybe one of you just decides that you'd rather work on your own. Please do not feel like you're stuck with your beta reader (or that you're stuck with your author) if anything comes up.

Talk about if any issues come up! Would it help your confidence more if they left positive comments, or does it feel like they're not actually helping if they compliment your writing too much? Are they paying too much attention to grammar when you only really wanted help on characterization? And on the beta reader's side, do you prefer if the author replies to your comments? Do you want it to be a back-and-forth communication, or do you want to be Done once you've finished a chapter/fic? Make sure you're in communication about this stuff.

How do we get the info back and forth?

Ah, of course, the actual technical aspect of it. I use Google Drive (for all my writing, not just for beta reading purposes), so I just make the document sharable (turn on "anyone with the link can comment"), send the link to the beta reader over Tumblr messages/Discord/whatever, and then ask them to let me know when they're done looking at a chapter. You can also use Google Drive to share directly with someone's email address and choose whether they can comment, edit, or just view. (I give beta readers comment access, but not edit.)

In the trad pub world, I've mostly seen critique partners use the Track Changes option on Microsoft Word. (I think the option is also compatible with OpenOffice so you don't have to buy MS Office).

You could also just tell each other your thoughts over messages, or whatever works best for you! I'm sure there are a million ways to do it.

For safety reasons (and deadname reasons lmao), please keep in mind what display name your Google Drive or MS Word account is going to show to your critique partner. This goes for both parties.

#writing tips #idk if it's still a thing but google used to not let you make an account without a first and last name #so if it's doing that and you want an account with only a first name #you can just yeet a period into the last name box #so my main email account just shows me as 'Chaos'#or on some screens it'll say 'Chaos .'#that worked a few years ago at least #i also have like 20 different email addresses for different aliases and pen names and shit but maybe that's just me #anyway this got WAY longer than i was planning #i'm so sorry #but hopefully you find something helpful in here?#answers #alternatebananafish #if anyone in bfish wants me to beta read something and i'm not super busy uhhh #i could take a look at a a short-ish oneshot/chapter and see if we work well together?#but honestly i'm pretty picky and harsh as a beta #especially with grammar since that's my strong suit lol #okay i'm seriously gonna stop now #bye

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chaoslynx · 3 years

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O and D for the ask :-)

O. Outline - Do you outline your fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

A bit of both for multi-chapters! I like to have some idea of where I'm going, but I don't always have it planned out all the way to the end when I start. That's part of why I tend to pre-write a few weeks in advance; I want to give myself time to get stuck and unstuck and still post regularly.

Almost zero planning goes into my oneshots. I've written 2k word oneshots that started from just a single line that I wanted to write. My most recent oneshot started with only the lines: "I forgive you." // "You shouldn't."

D. Drama - Do you enjoy writing drama? What's your favorite?

I'm not 100% certain what this is asking, honestly? So if I answer it wrong feel free to clarify! I do like writing conflict, and given that I usually write contemporary, I guess some of that conflict could be classified as drama? But I'm not a big fan of miscommunication plots and things like that. I have written a couple plot points, both in original fiction and in fanfics, around rumors or gossip. Uhhh if this is asking about if I write scripts, I have experimented with screenwriting and playwriting, but nothing that ever made it to publication!

Fanfic writer ask!

#ask game #answers #alternatebananafish #sorry i legit have no clue what that second one means lol

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