I think I posted some long ramble yesterday, which I don't remember now
But I believe the main points I wished to make were:
Like many of us, I am sometimes an author, sometimes a beta. As an author, I keep in mind at all times that my beta readers are doing me a huge favor -- taking valuable time out of their lives and basically donating it to me. I believe I should be very, very polite and grateful for that, and I'll consider all their suggestions. I appreciate what they can give me.
Sometimes, they make one small comment that makes me smack myself in the head and say "Yes! That's exactly what I need to do to this story." Irene did that for me once, and I'm certain she had no such intention <g> But a stray observation from her made me realize the story would work a lot better if I radically restructured it. Other times, they can't do as much as I might want, but that's life.
It's like Superman, really
"Whatever he can do, is enough"
As a beta reader, I keep firmly in mind that this is not my story
I'll point out things that I see as problems, with suggested fixes if I can think of them. I'll react and let the author know how the story worked for me. And then it is *completely* up to the author whether they want to take my suggestions or not. Sometimes, I'm wrong ... and sometimes, I'm just misunderstanding or even disagreeing with what the author is trying to do. Sometimes, the author is being a bonehead
but that is his or her perogative.
I hope to get some sort of reply, because the discussions can be fascinating, but if it's a choice between the author chatting with me or writing the story... usually I'll go nag them to write more
Oh, and the most important thing -- this is *not* personal. This is a partnership for the purpose of producing better fanfic. Disagreements or even ending a author/beta relationship doesn't mean one of us hates the other. Betas and authors often are friends or become friends, but that's just a nice side-benefit
The focus is on the story.
PJ
who will admit to feeling piqued sometimes, but who tries hard not to let it show
