cowgirl65

Most of the fanfic I read and write is set in the American West, circa 1870s, and it irks me as well when the men are wearing boxers when they weren't developed for about 60 more years and the word wasn't even in use until 1944 (according to Webster's). Or when they unzip their pants (zippers were invented in 1913). So my characters go commando often, like purported inventor of the suit, Beau Brummell, one of whose "foibles (shared by most fashionable men of his generation) was to eschew underwear. The clean cut of the early nineteenth century trouser was far too important to be disturbed by visible panty lines." from http://suite101.com/article/why-do-men-wear-suits--five-things-you-didnt-know-about-fashion-a311982#ixzz1Bz2UVIP8 Unless it's cold, then they wear a union suit or 'combinations' (a two part union suit), but that's a pain to get off for a hot sex scene. And I've always wanted to use a codpiece like Henry VIII's in a Renaissance time period A little research into a story's time period can go a long way.

How about capitalization? I see numerous examples of capitalizing common nouns, i.e. 'He went to see the Doctor.' if your just going to see a random medical practitioner, shouldn't 'doctor' not be capitalized? As far as I know, the only doctor capitalized that way is one of the Doctors from Dr. Who. i read this example somewhere else as well and it always makes me laugh There's a difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

I find it interesting to read how some people's turn offs are what turn others on. For example, the 'cum/come' comment. If I read a sex scene and one character says, "Come for me", or uses the spelling 'come' to describe semen, I think of someone calling their dog, not of someone achieving orgasm. It cools the scene down for me and I'm several decades from being a teenager. Just goes to show the wonderful diversity that abounds, everyone can find something to their own taste.

None of that matters if the writing is enjoyable to you. If it is, someone out there will enjoy reading it. One of my favourite fanfic authors is not a native English speaker and it shows in her grammar and some of the odd substitutions she uses. But the sheer power of the emotion in her writing, because she is so passionate about the stories, keeps me coming back for more. Whereas some with wonderful grammar, POV, etc. don't pull me in at all. Just have fun!

I think it would depend on the POV you're using. If it's completely third person omniscient, then whatever the writer feel more comfortable with will probably flow better. If it's mostly being told from one of the character's POV, then sticking with that character's colloquialisms would work better, but only if the writer is comfortable with that. Personally, as long as the characters 'sound' right as I read, it isn't a big deal about the rest. UK vs US spelling always amuses me, being Canadian. We mostly use UK, but there are a few US spellings we use routinely, so it gives my spellcheck fits LOL

There's not much else you can do if you want to keep him as a beta. Don't be shy in asking if he intends to continue, though, it's nice to know if he doesn't have the time, inclination, etc. sooner rather than later. But I would think by common politeness, he should keep in touch just to let you know that he hasn't forgotten you. It's taken me a while sometimes to get chapters done for writers I beta for due to real life, but I always let them know I haven't forgotten them.

I would like to thank the reviewers on my stories, Fairy Slayer who gave a wonderful detailed review of what was good and what could be improved, keanne, jules and kisakiniko who took the time to say what they thought. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment.

don't know it this is the appropriate place, but maybe deleting trolls has some benefit other than us not having to put up with them. A rather annoying troll who was deleted from here has started posting on WWOMB and (gasp!) the writing is starting to resemble actual stories (or a couple anyway). maybe you started to show it the light

On another site I write on, we call that "reader's risk" Every time a reader picks up a story, they have to realize the author does have a real life and there is always the risk that the story might not be finished. If they can't accept that, they should wait for the final chapter to be posted before starting. Otherwise, just take what the author gives as what it is, a gift to the fans for even sharing their talent and vision, whether it's ever completed or not.

I always wait until I finish. I have been on chapter 20 and had to go back to chapter one and make significant changes because it's gone in a different direction than i anticipated!

I have a question over capitalization of titles and things used as titiles but aren't I know earned titiles are capitalized: Sister Agnes, Brother Cadfael, Dr. Merar, Professor Snape It's words used in place of names that I'm wondering about. "Hello, Dad," should be capitalized, but what about "hello, doctor?" one of my characters in canon uses a lot of terms of endearment: darling, honey, lovely lady I don't think those should be capitalized, but I'm not sure He also puts 'brother' in front of his siblings' names, i.e. brother Nick when I capitalize that, it makes Nick sound like a monk to me any ideas?

Try Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) to back up your work. whenever you save, your document, etc, gets backed up on their server and you can access it from anywhere. you can get 2 GB free storage and share between computers, too.

Does fall in love with a guy then find out he's your half brother and wonder 'what the hell do we do now?' count as an ethical dilemma? (it is an AU fanfic, just in case you're not interested in that type) http://tv.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095477

I would love to find a beta for my AFF stories. I love working with the beta I have for my gen/PG stuff on another site and would really like to have one for my stories here. My fandom is the 1960's western "The Big Valley", but it doesn't matter to me if you're familiar with it. check out the stories on my page if you'd like http://tv.adultfanfi...p?no=1296881948 and if you're interested, let me know.

My avatar in the author panel keeps going missing! Anyone know why?