Beta Bio: general description as a beta reader
I've beta-ed fanfics way back in ancient times before this beta system was so simple (a year or so ago). This past year, however, I was an intern to a Doctor of English eduction, had said Doctor's AP Literature class, and inexplicably volunteered another hour of my day editing essays for the whole student body, which basically means I depressed myself with my own English nerd-iness.br /br /br /br /br / br /br / br / br /br /br / br / br /br / br / br /br /br /br / br / br /br / br / br /br /br / br / br /br / br / It's fine if you want to throw at one-shot at me and never talk to me again, but if you ask me to beta a long, chaptered fic, I will pester you and make you tell me how work/school is, who your favourite bands are, have you ever watched Donnie Darko, blahblahblah...basically, if we're going to be together for awhile, I'd like to get to know you. If it really bothers you, though, you can always just tell me to shut up. |
My Strengths: beta, writing, or reading strengths
I'm really picky about spelling and grammar, though I try not to be a nazi about it. I'm very patient. Normally, I will send your original copy with mistakes in bold and oftentimes annotations in italics/brackets, along with my edited version, so you can see exactly what I fixed. Also, I will gladly critique deeper than just grammar and into such things as characterization and plot development, if you want. |
My Weaknesses: beta, writing, or reading weaknesses
I don't know a lot of fandoms, to be honest, so I will probably have to research the canon of your fic, which will take me an extra day or so. I really haven't beta-ed a fanfic in a long time, so it's a weakness that I don't know enough about my beta-ing style to truly know my weaknesses. I'm also used to editing either for people who are about to fail school because of their English, or for my friends who are extremely well-versed in strange English rules like dangling participles and 8th century Anglo-Saxon literary characteristics, so I might be have difficulty striking a balance between coddling you and - figuratively - bleeding red ink all over your fic. |
Preferred: types of stories I prefer over others
I do prefer slash, male or female, but I don't have a problem with het. I don't care if there isn't any romance whatsoever. I don't have a particular genre preference, I like AUs as much as canon settings, and I'm perfectly fine with PWP. I like mature themes - drugs, violence, cursing, even suicide if it's written right. I like smut if it's done well. But if you want to write crack or marshmallow fluff or even flying unicorns in mecha suits barfing rainbows and hamsters across the sky, I'll beta it if you're funny and a damn good writer. |
Would Rather Not: I do not beta for these stories
I probably will not beta a story with an OC as a major character, especially if the character is a love interest. If your OC is a crazed super villian, I might take a look. Also, unless it's total, ridiculous crack, I do not even read m-preg.br /br /br /br /br / br /br / br / br /br /br / br / br /br / br / br /br /br /br / br / br /br / br / br /br /br / br / br /br / br / If you suck at writing smut, I will criticize it as nicely as I can. |
