FanFiction.net Article: Getting betas for your stories helps

3

posted by MrsSiriusB

That's one of the biggest issue người hâm mộ fiction communities faces: Incorrect spelling, grammar and punctuation. bạn can have the best and most creative plot around, but if your story has too much spelling and grammar mistakes, most readers will hit the back button. These things matter a lot, and the problem is, many writers don't realize that. A story needs to look appealing in order for a reader to like it. Readers should be able to get sucked into the story, but when there is wrong spellings and punctuation everywhere, they can't get pulled into the story, because every mistake is reminding them that it's just a fanfiction.

There are reasons why a person can't have good grammar. Maybe English isn't their first language. hoặc maybe they're just bad in spelling and grammar. There's nothing wrong with that. No one is going to make fun of bạn for that. However, If bạn don't have confidence in your spelling and grammar strength while nghề viết văn a story, don't just think that "Oh, there's nothing to do about it" and just đăng lên the fic like that. If bạn think that your story needs editing and proofreading of any kind, here's what I think is the best and easiest solution to that problem:

Get a beta. It's free, it's easy, and doesn't require any grammar skills in your part. The beta will do it all for you. There are hundreds and hundreds betas out there at ff.net, each with different strengths. Choose a beta that Luật sư đấu trí your need; bạn want someone to fix your tenses and punctuation, choose a beta who is good at that. bạn want a beta who can make character dialogues sound realistic, you'll find one if bạn look carefully. A beta will do anything and everything on the process of making your story better. That's what their job is.

Don't laze off. If you've taken your time and put some effort into nghề viết văn your story, don't ruin it for yourself. Don't think, "It's too much work to get a beta. I'll just post it like this." bạn want to make your story seem readable and likable to readers. Readers wants to see stories that are good and not filled with errors. I know a few people that have some very brilliant and creative plots, but when bạn try to read the story, bạn don't enjoy it very much because of all the mistakes popping up in every single sentence.

There's nothing wrong with getting help. Like I đã đưa ý kiến in my trước đó article, getting a beta can be fun and a very good experience. They give bạn suggestions and tips, things in your story that bạn can replace to make it flow better, and generally are there to help bạn out. bạn don't even have to be bad at grammar and spelling hoặc anything else to get a beta. I have a friend over at ff.net who herself is a beta yet gets an editor for her own stories. Why? Simply because she thinks another person's outlook and view on the story will do her fanfics good. And I agree.

So the tiếp theo time bạn think that your fanfic needs editing of some sort, whether it be with the flow of the story, the grammar and punctuation, the dialogues, the tenses, anything, consider getting a beta.

LowriLorenza89, KowalSkip9 and 1 other like this

LadyNottingham I agree with the article. There's nothing as annoying and spoiling the whole fun as a badly written story - regardless how great the plot is. As an English teacher, honestly, it grates on my nerves to see language so mistreated sometimes. The same goes for French, my other language. For sure, I hit the back button. Also, some people do not realize that posting a story on the net means it's going to be read via a computer. While on paper you may have long paragraphs, reading on a computer device requires the paragraphs to be shorter and the dialogues to be clearly singled out as such. Sometimes, you have one big pad of a paragraph which makes reading on a computer very difficult. If I see something as such, I won't even start reading the story. Other times, dialogues are not clear. Who is talking to whom ? If I had to read three or four times to understand who's talking, that's a no. To test the punchiness of a dialogue, I read it aloud after writing it. That way, you may feel if something is missing or awkward.

MrsSiriusB You're an English teacher? That's so cool! And yes, agreed. When I try to read big paragraphs in the screen, I zone out somewhere in the middle, because everything becomes blurry and very confusing and difficult to read. That's why I try to keep my paragraphs short, even if that means cutting of some lines. As for dialogues, that is also true. Unless it's an all-dialogue story where there are no "he said" and "she said", it really annoys me when I don't know who is talking to whom.

SJF_Penguin2 I agree that betas can be useful tools for many authors. Unfortunately, I've read several stories whose authors note that they have used a beta and found that there were still errors aplenty, so the beta service cannot be considered magic pixie dust. I think the qualifications to be a beta should be more quality-based instead of volume-based. Anyone can publish five stories or 6,000 words, but not everyone can do it right. I have thought several times over the past two years about registering as a beta reader, but have always decided against it quickly. I certainly wish to be able to help people who are already good become better, but my fear is that I will be sent a story so full of mistakes or a poor plot that it is just beyond repair. Because I'm a nice guy, it would be just too difficult for me to tell the author that the only way to fix their story would be to press the "delete" key. Also, I fear that being a beta might dishearten me a little if an error I corrected in one chapter came back to me in subsequent chapters -- I would hope instead that the author would commit the style, grammar, or punctuation rule to memory instead of expecting me to fix it for them each time. Still, maybe someday I'll give it a try. Nothing says I can't try it and just stop if I dislike doing it. But I probably won't until I stop or seriously decrease writing my own material.

MrsSiriusB ^ Of course, betas are as human as the rest of us, so mistakes can still be found even after a story is edited (hopefully not big mistakes), but still, they do try their best. No story is perfect, but we can correct the mistakes that we find and try to make it as perfect as we can. As for being a beta, if you think you are eligible enough, then by all means, go for it. But I see what you're getting at. There are many people who doesn't try to learn from the mistakes someone else catches for them, they just continue to keep making the same error and expect the beta to correct it for them every time, which I understand can get annoying. And yeah, I know how it's like trying to tell someone "your story sucks" in the nicest way possible. It's pretty hard. So my only suggestion for this is give beta-ing a try when you think you're ready to face some [i]very[/i] badly written stories, and y'know, generally have a whole [i]lot[/i] of patience to deal with some of the more... hard-to-deal-with authors out there. And after you've given it a try but you dislike it, you can stop anytime you want. :D

EppofangirlXD Hmm. You know, I am a beta-reader, and I realized something. All the people I've read for are really serious in their writing. Think ruthc93 and Starlight River of Dreams. Their writing is much better than mine, yet they still want a beta (see how serious they are?). All the crappy writers I see are stubborn and refuse to get betas. Well, i don't know how it is for other people, but that's the way it is for me. :) so I can see how completely opposite this is from SJF's last two paragraphs. Because my biggest worry is that I mess up a bit when editing a story. Which happens sometimes, unfortunately. But thankfully I learn from my mistakes. :) because not only do the writer learns from her writing mistakes, I learn how to be a better beta-reader, too!

MrsSiriusB ^ You know what, that's so true. Why does a person want to get a beta? So they have another pair of eyes proofreading their work and improving it and making it the very best that it could be. And you're not very serious or dedicated to writing fics if you don't want your work to be very good. :)

3

The Host Chapter 10 The Birthday (5/10)

posted by HaleyDewit

An con voi was walking between Kelsey and Amber, while they headed to an unknown destination. “Where exactly are we going?” Amber asked. “We’ve been walking for hours. I’m hungry” she complained.
“There’s plenty of thực phẩm around” Kelsey said, waving her arm. “You mean like a rabbit?” Amber asked disgusted. “Yes, Am, like a rabbit” Kelsey confirmed. “Come on, we have to get moving”
“Where are we going?” Amber repeated her most urgent question.
“To a an toàn, két an toàn place” Kelsey answered, with a whiff of fear in her voice. “I need to get bạn somewhere safe”
“Safe?”...

2

The Host Chapter 9 Not What It Seems (6/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

It was as if it was open day. After Stefan had treated Bonnie with a visit it was now Jeremy’s turn. He was standing on her doorstep and hadn’t decided whether he would persist hoặc just turn around again when the door opened and Bonnie appeared. “How long are bạn going to stand here? hoặc were bạn just admiring my door?” she đã đưa ý kiến a little short.
“Fine, I’m leaving” Jeremy đã đưa ý kiến annoyed. He turned around and wanted to walk away, but Bonnie grabbed his arm, making him turn around again. “I’m sorry” she apologized. “You want to come in?” she offered.
“Sure” Jeremy said...

2

The Host Chapter 9 Not What It Seems (2/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

“So, what’s your story” Tyler asked. Now that he had someone to talk to his captivity had become less hard. “Who brought bạn here?”
Caroline sighed. “Stefan… And Amber” she said. “I was busy with the murder on Derek Janders and I found out who Amber Lindy, his girlfriend was. But when I wanted to warn Elena Stefan sneaked up on me and kidnapped me. And Amber put the files on ngọn lửa, chữa cháy so all traces would be gone”
“What about your mother?” Tyler asked. “Doesn’t she wonder where bạn are?”
“I guess she’s compelled” Caroline đã đưa ý kiến soft. She groaned. “I just want to...

2

The Host Chapter 8 The Evil Enchantress (5/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

“Where is she?”
Stefan slammed the door and grabbed Katherines throat. He growled threatening. “Where is she?” he repeated. Katherine took his hand and pulled it away. “Depends on who you’re looking for” she đã đưa ý kiến sober, not in the least intimidated.
“Amber” Stefan panted. “Where is she? I’m going to kill her” Katherine laughed scornfully. “Well, that’s great, Stefan, can I do it?” she đã đưa ý kiến sarcastic. “But before we get to that point of epicness, can bạn fill me in on the why?”
“She attacked Elena” Stefan explained. “I left Elena alone; she was too scared...

2

The Host Chapter 7 The Hunt (10/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

Stefan and Elena slipped through the woods. Stefan up front watching and listening carefully, Elena right behind him, looking around, jumping up bởi every little noise. They sneaked thêm phía trước, chuyển tiếp and Stefan stuck out his hand to Elena. “Sssh, I hear something” he đã đưa ý kiến soft. “Stefan, I’m scared” Elena đã đưa ý kiến with a trembling voice. “Sssh” Stefan insisted. “There are people over there” he đã đưa ý kiến and he nodded at a point far ahead of them. Elena squeezed her eyes, but didn’t see anything. “I want to go home” she moaned. Stefan rolled his eyes, irritated. “Geez” he let out...

2

The Host Chapter 7 The Hunt (4/10)

posted by HaleyDewit

“This morning the body of deputy Greg Ferrel was found on a parking lot. Investigators say the death cause is yet unknown, but the body seems to be drained of blood. Looks like that được ưa chuộng vicious beast has returned”
The camera was pointed at the corpse which was covered in a black body bag and a bức ảnh of a mid-thirty năm old man with blonde hair was shown.
Bonnie shut the ti vi down and sniffed. She turned around and headed to Damon’s ‘bedroom’. She entered the space, but before she could say anything Damon said: “I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me” Bonnie sharply looked...

2

The Host Chapter 6 The Letter (8/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

Rachel and Gabe were having bữa tối, bữa ăn tối when someone knocked their door. They looked up at each other with a hopeful expression. Could it be? Gabe got up out his chair and walked down the hall to open the door. It was true. God had heard his prayers and answered them. He looked at the girl standing on his porch. “My dear God” he sobbed. “I knew you’d come back” He hugged her. “Can I come in?” Amber asked careful. Gabe let go of her and looked at her with a strange face. What kind of câu hỏi was that? “Of course bạn can come in, sweetie” he said. He pulled her into the house and...

2

The Host Chapter 5 The Reunion (1/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

Damon walked into the living room, finding Bonnie going through her cupboards. “That chó cái, bitch really got me. Look at my neck” she đã đưa ý kiến bitter. Damon grabbed her arm and forced her to turn around. All of the fear he had felt since she jinxed him was gone and now all she could read on his face was fury. “Let go of me, Damon” she đã đưa ý kiến with a cold voice, though she couldn’t hide the tremble. Damon brought his face to hers and looked her straight in the eye. He wasn’t going to compel her, he knew he wasn’t strong enough. “What have bạn done to Elena? bạn đã đưa ý kiến bạn wouldn’t hurt her”...

2

The Host Chapter 4 Behind the Surface (10/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

She knocked three times, then waited for Bonnie to open the door. It was pretty cold outside, so she hoped her plan would work. Five phút later, what took her so long?, the door went open and Bonnie appeared on the doorstep. She lifted up her chin and looked down on Katherine. “What?” she đã đưa ý kiến short. Katherine forced a smile, which was hard enough, knowing Damon was inside there against his will. “Hi, Bonnie, I’m sorry to bother bạn this late, but I need to talk to you” she said, trying to sound cheery. After all, Elena was in a cheery mood, so Katherine had to be too. “Really?...

2

The Host Chapter 4 Behind the Surface (4/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

Bonnie and Damon were walking down the path leading to the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House. Bonnie ironed her áo sơ mi with her hands. “Listen, Damon, it took me a lot of work to make everyone satisfied with the situation. It wouldn’t do much good if bạn start spouting out the wrong things, bạn know what I mean? And Katherine doesn’t like me that much” she said. Damon looked at the sky. “Now, why would that be?” he đã đưa ý kiến sarcastic. Bonnie knocked and five giây later the door was opened bởi Katherine. She flew in Damon’s arms. Bonnie pursed her lips and tapped her arm....

2

The Host Chapter 3 Twisted and Trapped (8/10)

posted by HaleyDewit

Katherine stared at the door, her arms crossed, while she waited for Damon to open the door and enter the house. She’s heard the key while she was in the living room and flashed at the front door. It went open and Damon got in. “Well it’s about time bạn hiển thị up” Katherine đã đưa ý kiến reproachful. “Sorry, I didn’t know I had to explain myself to you” Damon said. He walked further into the house and stretched. “I was worried” Katherine said, following him. “She could’ve done something to you” Damon turned around. “She did. She healed me, took the pain away. I owe her” “Are...

2

The Host Chapter 3 Twisted and Trapped (3/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

Caroline was hanging in the Grill when her phone rang. She let out a deep sigh when she noticed it was her ex-boyfriend Matt. “Hey, Matt” she said. “Caroline, hi, I’m glad I can finally reach you” Matt replied. “What do bạn mean?” Caroline asked avoiding. It had been two days since she last spoke to him and she had very consciously ‘missed’ his calls. “Is something wrong? Are bạn avoiding me? Because if bạn do I would understand. I mean, I did break up with you” Matt softly said. “I’m not avoiding you, okay? I’m just hooked into something, I can’t explain it”...

2

The Host Chapter 3 Twisted and Trapped (1/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

The tiếp theo morning Bonnie felt a lot better and it looked like the weather was copying her mood. She walked outside to get some fresh air and almost stumbled over Jeremy.
“Jeremy?!” she exclaimed. Jeremy startled and looked up. He was completely soaked and wrecked. “Oh my God, bạn sat here all night? Let’s get bạn inside” Bonnie đã đưa ý kiến worried. She sounded like herself again, Jeremy noticed. He got up and followed her inside. “Why didn’t bạn go home, Jeremy?” Bonnie asked, while she was putting some tea. “I was worried” Jeremy said, shaking from the cold. “You were diễn xuất very...

2

The Host Chapter 2 Accusations and Confusion (10/10)

posted by HaleyDewit

While Damon was getting ready to go to giường he heard a knock on his door. He looked up and saw Elena standing in the doorway. “Hey” he said. “What’s wrong?” Elena shrugged and shuffled with her feet. “Come in” Damon đã đưa ý kiến and he waved with his head. Elena accepted his offer and entered his room. She walked slowly to his bed. “I know it’s totally inappropriate, but I’m feeling uncomfortable in my bed, all alone… Can I sleep with you? Just sleep?” she kind of begged. Damon blinked and swallowed. “I don’t know, Elena” “Just sleeping, I promise” she said. Damon sighed....

2

The Host Chapter 1 The First (4/10)(The Vampire Diaries)

posted by HaleyDewit

“So, what’s the plan?” Katherine’s voice came out of Damon’s bedroom. Damon and Elena were outside, leaning against the tường opposite of the door. “The plan is to lock bạn in here for all eternity” Damon replied. “You’ve always had a great sense of humor, Damon” Katherine sarcastically said. “Come on” Damon đã đưa ý kiến to Elena. He walked downstairs, Elena behind him. “Damon, what is the plan?” Elena asked. Damon opened the door and let Elena go first as he answered. “We’re going to your place” he said. Elena blinked. “Why? How is going to my house solving Katherine’s...

2

The Horrible Truth cpt 2 The Time Travel, part 1

posted by HaleyDewit

Bianca grabbed Chris bởi his shoulder and shimmered him to the attic. She gently lay him down on the floor and went to the Book of Shadows. She feverously started paging, but didn’t find anything that could possibly help. She slammed the Book and threw it on the floor, frustrated . “There has to be something!”, she screamed, while she tried to stop the tears from coming.
Chris groaned and lifted up his head to look at Bianca. “Maybe if there was a whitelighter available…” Bianca shook her head. “The whitelighters are all dead, as well as the Elders”, she đã đưa ý kiến hopeless. But than...

My True tình yêu Chapter 8. Nessies point of veiw.

posted by Twilightsauce

These last few hours had been the worst of my life. Nothing was normal, and it wouldn’t be until this was sorted out.
Alice’s vision had horrified all of us. She had seen thousands of clips of me sitting in a dark room, screaming and withering in pain, and then she had seen me dead and tortured. She had also seen me in hospital, and in Jacobs’s arms. The meanings of this had been discussed over and over in the following hours but we had only come to one conclusion, it was Nahul who would put me in this situation.
Everyone was on full guard, all except Alice and Edward who sat on the sofa...

6

One Way hoặc Another Ch.1 Part 2

posted by emruking

I grabbed some of my moms bags and headed inside.
When I opened the door, it opened up into a big room.
"Living room." My mom đã đưa ý kiến throwing her bags down in the center of the big room. "Dinning," She then pointed to the room directly beside the 'living room'. The 'dinning room' had no walls seperating it, it was open right tiếp theo to the 'living room'.
She then walked towards a door to the right of us. "Deffenitly, Kitchen." She đã đưa ý kiến as she looked in the room.
I walked up beside her to see the room for myself.
It was small, would be better used for the 'dinning room' but I didnt say anything....

1

Three's a Crowd chapter 9 I want to play a game (7/10)(SPN)

posted by HaleyDewit

The Impala was still parked on the same spot. Meg walked around the car and opened the trunk. She opened one of Cas’ bags and pulled out the first áo sơ mi she got her hands on. “Get in the car” she told Cas. “No, passenger seat” she added, when Cas wanted to step inside the driver’s seat. “You can’t drive like that”
She put herself behind the wheel. “I’m surprised bạn can drive at all” she mumbled.
“I can’t” Cas replied. He leaned backwards and closed his eyes.
“Keys?” Meg đã đưa ý kiến to herself, looking at the connection. “Keys” she answered her own câu hỏi as...

1

Three's a Crowd chapter 14 The Promise (3/10)(SPN)

posted by HaleyDewit

Dean opened the door of the mansion and he and Sam entered. Anna had told them where to find Cas.
Dean walked into the living room and saw the old man on the carpet, his eyes wide open. Sam pulled out his gun and so did Dean.
“Cas?” Dean called.
Meg’s eyes widened and Cas quickly covered her mouth. He pulled her behind the closet. “Hush” he whispered and he removed his hand.
Dean looked at Sam and signed he’d tìm kiếm upstairs and Sam would tìm kiếm downstairs. Dean sneaked upstairs and listened carefully.
Sam ran downstairs into the basement and became sick when he saw the two corpses....