To beta read? Or to die like men instead?
To beta read? Or to die like men instead?
Do you have a beta read your fics before you publish them? Or do you prefer to do your own checking & hope that's good enough?
Personally, I'm not keen on the idea of having a beta reader (no shade to any who do). I re-read (& sometimes re-write) my chapters A LOT.
And when I'm happy with them, I give it a few days & re-read them again for SPAG issues or inconsistencies.
And then when I've posted them, I re-read them again because my brain won't let me in case they magically changed between pasting & posting. (I do the same with emails & the like. 🤷♀️)
After all that, having someone else re-read it yet again seems kind of redundant.
I come at this issue from both directions. I am a writer who does not have a beta reader, but I beta read for someone else. I catch a lot of big and small things for the person I'm helping out. They have been very grateful for my assistance. I've beta'd for some other people too. One person cannot catch everything.
Yet I don't have a beta reader. Why? Because it is a lot of work for someone to do. I write what some people might say are long chapters and update often. Finding someone willing to put that time in is rough. Let alone someone able to do so when I need them to?
Having someone else re-read your work is never redundant. I assure you we both miss a lot. You know your story already. Some things will always be a blind spot because of this foreknowledge. I have also gone back to doublecheck something for plot and found an inexcusable grammar mistake which no commenter mentioned. It happens. Nothing is perfect. There is a reason a lot of professional authors say to leave a manuscript lying around for at least a month or so before you go over it again.
Except this is for fun, so I'm not too worried about it. No one is going to crucify me for one wonky sentence or some misplaced grammar. For the most part, fanfic readers don't say anything about your story at all (whether they enjoyed it or not).
+1 not redundant. Especially if you are a mystery writer!
Sorry to hear you haven't had luck finding a beta.
While thankfully not crucified I have been attacked and mocked for my linguistics and plot choices. It's calmed down a lot this year but yeah. Some fandoms are weirdly nasty about such things.
I think artists get a lot more feedback than writers, so I can see it. Fortunately I’m not in the fandoms which are most known for attacking if you don’t ship the right people, which transcends the barrier of drawings to words. 🙄
It depends on the story for me. I usually don't. Sometimes a peer or a friend offer themselves to beta. Often I'll accept because I'm aware my English can be a mess lol. If I'm working on a piece that has a sensitive subject I am not personally familiar with I will seek someone to double check.
One friend of mine was completely ignorant to Pokémon. Their knowledge began with whatever I shared when we talked monster designs or company abuse. I do not know why or how they became interested in my PMD stories but it has been a delight to hear their fandom-blind thoughts on it.
Every once and a while I beta for others. Never for SPAG! But for plotholes, worldbuilding, art, word bubble/panel placement, etc I happily do. I very delight in tackling plotholes it is a favourite puzzle of mine to solve. But sometimes I have been asked to beta for things that are beyond me and had to turn it down. Certain genres and themes do not click for me,
I have someone beta read them. The right person can make a big difference in picking something apart in a way I wouldn't and prompting me to improve it.