Well, I'm not sure I have much to add, but I did have a couple things I wanted to mention.
First off, there's an old thread by the same title that might be of interest. At first, I thought someone had gone and dug it up. I was very surprised to discover that this was an entirely new thread which had somehow filled out since yesterday. Anyway, if you want to, you can go
here for some more posts on the same subject. There are pointers for how to treat a BR and some for how to get one. If you're reading this thread, that one is probably worth at least a quick look. Unfortunately, a lot of the discussion was lost during a boards crash, but there are still some interesting points.
Second -- Sara, it's okay to leave your BRs with a cliffhanger. In fact, I've worked with an author who deliberately did that (and, just as I typed this, popped up to say "hi" on AIM.
). The idea was that she wanted to get my reaction to the cliffhanger, to see how well it would go over, to see what I was thinking (How will it be resolved? What will happen next?).
Another author sent me a full outline along with a bunch of scenes which were more or less in order (but missing bits and pieces). It's what she had at the time. So, I knew what was going to happen, and then had the opportunity to see how well it fit together and how it got fleshed out. I could see how she was setting things up, too.
I know of others who only send out their stories to be BRed after they're complete. The BRs read, send comments, and then the author goes back through and creates a whole new draft.
There are a bunch of very different approaches, but all are entirely workable. It depends on what you have written, how you write, when the BR joins in, and what you want the BR to do/look out for.
(BTW, as long as I'm writing (and you're presumably reading), I wanted to double-check that you got my email, Sara. Aparantly, I've been having trouble sending email. I get it just fine, but it doesn't always send. If you don't have the message I sent Tuesday morning, please let me know.
EDIT: Never mind. I read the boards from the bottom up, so I hadn't seen that you'd already posted.)
As for myself, I rarely work with a BR. I'm not sure why. Usually, I just write short things and don't bother looking for someone to edit. It's those rare times when I have a longer story that I look for a BR, but, like Laura, I've often had trouble finding one. I'm sure the fact that I don't have anyone I regularly work with is a factor, but I can think of a couple other factors, as well. Quality of writing and social connections certainly come into play.
I was thrilled when Sara (Farnegal) volunteered to read for me. I'm just sorry I haven't had anything to send her since then. I've been tired and haven't written anything in weeks. Hopefully, I'll get back to writing soon-ish, and hopefully Sara won't be too busy or something by then. We'll see.
Anyway, I've kind of lost my chain of thought now, and I don't think I have more to add. So, sorry for the abrupt ending, but that's it. For now.
Paul
