Author Confession
Dec. 22nd, 2018 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
My name is Keira and I'm fed up with the beta process.
Don't get me wrong, I totally love my betas. They're great. I just hate the process itself.
I have to ask myself, who in fandom decided that beta was a thing? Who thought -- oh, I'm getting free stuff to read but this author really should do a bunch of extra work to make sure my free entertainment doesn't have any typos!
I'm currently in beta for my QB fic. I mean, like I'm on part 2 of 6 in that process. I just finished Darkly Loyal and it's twice the length of my QB. If I actually put that in beta -- it wouldn't be ready to post until probably April. Fuck that noise.
BAH.
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Date: 2018-12-23 02:08 am (UTC)Do what makes you happy, and flip the bird at people who complain.
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Date: 2018-12-23 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 06:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 06:07 am (UTC)Remember, you are doing this for fun. Please yourself.
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Date: 2018-12-23 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 10:17 am (UTC)4 or 5 months seems like a long time to do a beta tho? Maybe you can break the piece up among different betas so to shorten the period of time it takes? I dunno.
Happy holidays btw!
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Date: 2018-12-23 11:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 12:54 pm (UTC)I don't really see why an author needs to say one way or another whether the text has been beta'd. If none is credited, I don't assume there wasn't one. TBH, I don't think about it one way or another, but if I did I might well come to the conclusion that the author thanked their beta privately. Anyone rude enough to ask about it should be ignored!
Traditionally published work is different. I was pretty hacked off some years ago when I bought a big coffee table style book published by the BBC (of all people) which turned out to be full of errors. Not impressed!
But it's an entirely different situation from fan fiction (even if much fan work is plenty good enough to be sold in shops!) because of the payment involved. Plus I doubt the money saved on not using editors goes to the writer...
Do whatever makes you happiest, K. You already give us so much.
Happy Christmas!
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Date: 2018-12-23 02:58 pm (UTC)You've been writing for years in a ton of fandoms and you can post without a beta anytime you want.
I am the princess. I have spoken.
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Date: 2018-12-23 03:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 03:08 pm (UTC)I think that four months for a 181,000-word story seems like a short time based on the process that my beta and I have going and how long it took her to beta my 170,000-word story. The betas have a life of their own. And if they can only do a chapter a week, you have to multiply the chapters by the weeks and then have two betas will double that time. Breaking down a 181k story into 5k average chapters is 36 chapters. I have no clue if Darkly Loyal is like that, but it's a good starting point. Even with one beta and a chapter a week that's 36 weeks. That's nine months. I'm sure that some betas can do quicker, but that's a good break down. Even three chapters a week is still three months.
And splitting a story into parts and have each section only gone over by one beta is asking for continuity errors and plot hole errors.
Betaing short stories is easy, and it's easy to keep track of things, it's a not a simple it takes an hour to beta a 5k story so it'll take 5 hours to beta a 25k story. Sometimes adding more words means doubling even tripling time because of keeping all of the parts in order in the beta's head.
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Date: 2018-12-23 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 04:02 pm (UTC)[edited for more appropriate iconage]
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Date: 2018-12-23 04:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 09:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 09:56 pm (UTC)Happy Holidays!
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Date: 2018-12-24 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-24 10:23 pm (UTC)That being said, I've been a fanfiction reader for over ten years. I have seen some awesome fic ruined by poor writing styles and improper grammar.
Betas have their uses, and maybe when someone is just building their craft they may need that help as they build their skill set.
Writing is an Art. With all art, there is a learning curve. The more you do it, the more you educate yourself about what you are doing, branching out, and growing, the more you improve your craft.
Maybe in the beginning betas can help with that. They can point out where you need more work or where you are doing well. Sometimes having that mirror of a different perspective is immensely helpful.
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Date: 2018-12-26 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-06 03:57 am (UTC)Beta.
Date: 2019-02-21 10:15 pm (UTC)