Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related BR Question...

I've never actually done this before, but I have a question about beta readers. Does one actually have their story finished and then have a beta reader go over it? Or do people typically write their stories in chunks to be BR'd? I know both are probably done, I was just wondering what people preferred/most people do.

Thanks.

It really just depends on which method best suits author and beta reader. I've worked both ways and each has its pros and cons, but I think most betas prefer chunks as written, because it's easier to fit those into a hectic schedule. Would depend on the length of the story, of course. A complete 50 page story isn't going to take much longer to beta than a chunk of it.

For an author, the advantage of sending a beta your story in chunks is that they'll often pick up on something you'd never have thought of on your own that you want to incorporate into the story. Much easier to do that as you go, than retrospectively once the story is complete. Not that it can't be done then. But with as you go there's less chance you'll be tripping yourself up further down the line.

Either way, the most important thing isn't which method you use, but that you and your beta are on the same page as to which method you use.

LabRat

Okay, thanks for the help Labrat!

Well, I've been doing some br-ing n chunks, and it suited me quite well. Right now, I'm doing one where the story is completely written. Here are the pros and cons for getting chunks to your br:
pro

• As an author, you get early feedback. And you all know the benefits of FDK, right?
• If there is a fault in the plotline, you hear about it early on. Thus, you cann make changes early on.
• I don't know about other br's, but I feel rather intimidated by a long story sent to me all at once. So much work left to do...
• If I get only a chunk, I feel better about offering suggestions than with a completed story.
• Last but not least, if the author has problems with an uncooperative muse, I can give him some points to think about.

contra:

• If you send in the whole story, you're not tempted to post before it's done. Thus, you can post regularly, no matter what. Good for your readers.
• Your beta can read the whole story before making any suggestions to the plot. Might be an asset.
• As a br, you know how long the story turns out to be.

As you can see, I realized that I prefer chunks. *g*

Ahh... very valid points Olympe. Thanks so much for taking out the time to answer my question. I've never actually worked with a BR, but I'm considering it. I was just trying to do some research before I go off bothering half the messageboard.

I actually have some questions about this topic. I have BR'd for a couple stories and I was wondering how other people go about it. How do you give your comments? Do you automatically make corrections as you go (grammar/spelling/punctuation type of corrections)? How do you add in suggestions on wording and such? What exactly do you do?!

I'm just curious how other people have gone about BRing a story or if its different for everyone. I've meant to jump on IRC and ask some of you guys but I never manage to get on. Anyway, I'd love to hear what anyone has to say!

~Kristen

Well, if you are using Microsoft Word, some people use the 'track' function, but I personally don't like it. But some folks love it. The track function uses arrows of a sort with the colored correction marked in a 'box'. Suggestions would still have to be written in or put in an email. Also with the track function, you have to scroll back and forth across the screen. Some BR's (and GE's or General Editors for the archive) like it because any corrections they make can be easily removed if the writer doesn't want it there. It isn't hard to use though.

I prefer to work in colors and make suggestions or corrections as I go. That seems to have worked well for me - both for my own stories and for stories that I BR. I usually work in red or blue. The advantage to using red and blue is that they can also be seen with Word Pad. They also transfer well to Open Office. Some colors available in Microsoft Word transfer as yellow or some other difficult to read color. I have come up with a system that I use for various types of corrections. I also have a list of stuff that I can just copy and paste instead of typing it every time. That would be things like: no comma or add comma. I sometimes add other things to that list. Like if the writer consistently uses a word incorrectly, I'll fix that so I can copy and paste those also.

Yes, I'll mark in edits as I read through. Like Nancy, when beta reading I'll use red or blue to write them, sometimes I use italics - anything really, to make the edit stand out from the story text. Make sure you save the file as a WORD doc though and that your WP program isn't set to save as text files as a default! Or all those colours etc will vanish soon as you close down the file.

I do it slightly differently when GEing - mostly because we deal in text files. There I don't use colours or italics, but just enclose my edits in square brackets. Which means that the author can do a global search of the file for [ or ] and be taken directly to the edits.

I should probably use track - it might make things quicker and easier, but I've simply never taken the time to figure it out.

LabRat