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Need a Snarky But Helpful Beta? I'm Your Girl!


ClumsyPinkTiger

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Hello, hello!

I realize that my newness to the forum and the site might act as a deterrent for some of you, but I'm interested in getting my feet wet here, helping fellow writers, and getting to know more of the folks that lurk about on the site in the process ^_^. In terms of qualifications:

-I have a Master's Degree in English from the University of Maryland. For those who are interested, I wrote my master's thesis on The Lord of the Rings. My areas of focus for my course of study were myth literature, digital humanities (video games as texts), and American Literature. I also have a very strong grounding in Le Shakespeare.

-I taught English Composition and creative writing to College freshman for two years. So, I can help you with everything from tense shifts to comma splices, to cohesion, all while kicking your ass and telling you to read the assignment sheets carefully. Kidding, kidding. Since then I've been dealing with business and technical writing, which is sufficiently more dull than freshman composition/creative writing. Somehow, when people get older and enter the work force complacency and crummy writing sets in. GRRR passive voice!!!!

In terms of my writing style, I've been through the upper-snotty-echelon of graduate level English and obviously know how to edit and assist with revision. Personally, however, I really enjoy juxtaposing unexpected and deliberately incorrect phrasings with high-brow language. For instance, statements like "that's some paradoxical shit, yo," and "hey bro, lay off the infinite recessions" would meet my aforementioned criteria. Now, the trick is to never over use this. Well, in any case, I do have an unfinished story posted at the moment. So, feel free to check that out. Needless to say I *know* there are still some mistakes that linger in the story, but it will give you a good sense of my fiction style.

Now that I've thoroughly vetted out how large of a monocle I have, (imagine a pompous mock-english accent there), please don't be threatened by me! I am very approachable and love helping others and have a very dark and sarcastic sense of humor.

In general, I am a glutton for Naruto, Samurai Champloo, Final Fantasy, and Inuyasha fan fictions and would prefer in the case of those sorts of works if you run the anime/manga/show by me first to make sure I have at least some knowledge of the characters before I beta for you. I just want to make sure I have enough of a background to be helpful. In the case of original work, I am fairly open-minded. I also should say, that content wise, I tend to be opinionated. In other words, if I feel as though a rape scene is in the story just for the sake of being there and does nothing to help with its development, I will say so. If you can't handle that, steer away from me!! Otherwise, ask away ^_^.

-ClumsyPinkTiger

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So.... I must first ask how flexible you are and then...

:drops to knees and pleads: Help!!!

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So.... I must first ask how flexible you are and then...

:drops to knees and pleads: Help!!!

Hi Hopebringer! I am very flexible and would love to help you :D :D :D. YAY! (I should also say that I am very excitable too--if you can't tell). In terms of my work load, I do have a full-time job and a husband/friends I like being with, so I don't want to overload myself. But, I am also a speed reader; I was kind of forced to be because of teaching English Comp. So, on the one hand I want to make sure I give each of the author's I beta for an ample and fair amount of time, i.e. I'd read the stories multiple times--backwards, forwards, out loud, etc. I don't want to be in a situation where I have to shortchange one of the author's works and unfortunately, I don't think I can really say 'how much' until I see who comes to me first, etc. Other than that, I'm pretty open!!! ^_^

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Wonderful! I do tend to write in quite a few genre's and I'm currently dealing with classes and certification, so little rushing on my part.

http://anime.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=1296898944 Is my profile link, if you want to take a look at it and see if there's anything you would want to go over. I'd appreciate any help possible. I do apologise ahead of time. I am guilty of 5 am typing and writing at times.

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Wonderful! I do tend to write in quite a few genre's and I'm currently dealing with classes and certification, so little rushing on my part.

http://anime.adultfa...=1296898944 Is my profile link, if you want to take a look at it and see if there's anything you would want to go over. I'd appreciate any help possible. I do apologise ahead of time. I am guilty of 5 am typing and writing at times.

Hi again Hopebringer! ^_^. I took a quick look at your work and I'd love to help. Although, I should say, that I have not seen or read Weiss Kreuz, and am only mildly familiar with D&D; Star Wars, of course, I am quite familiar with. I would expect you to be concerned if I weren't. That said, I won't be able to help you as much with the content as I could if I were more familiar with the canon for Weiss Kreuz and the canon for D&D. With the glory of the internet, of course, I can garner enough information to get me going. As long as that is OK with you, I'm ready to help. So my next question for you is what sort of revision/editing help are you really looking for? I intend to help with everything, but if there must be something you are concerned about or you wouldn't be asking :P

Do you feel you need a little bit of everything or are you learning more towards content/cohesion from plot points or sentence structure and word choice? Don't feel like you have to answer this right now---or in the forum; we can discuss it more later if you'd like. Just want to get a good idea of what to focus on. :)

Edited by ClumsyPinkTiger
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Let's be honest. A little bit of everything. I should have some notes linked to help out with the D&D and I can send you to some helpful sites if you need. XD I do DM so I tend to have wikis marked for each setting. Weiss Kruez is an older series, so there should be a lot out there on the web... As long as it is still up. There is always that.

However, yes! Hit me with all ya got! XD I am in desperate need of it.

Edited by Hopebringer Jem
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Sounds good!! *runs off to read* :)

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Hi ClumsyPinkTiger!

I'm not so much chasing a beta just yet as I am chasing an overall opinion to the fundamental question "Can Slayitalldown write, or would she starve to death as an author?"

(That's not to say that I'm not open to an in-depth analysis of my abilities, talents, strengths/weaknesses and other details, I just need the big question answered quickly so I can get on with my original works! My muses are very, very shy. I am getting no reviews at all from LJ and practically none from FF.net and its eating away at my confidence. And all I want is that question answered... anything else is freakin' Christmas!!)

I don't have any original fiction ready for review but I do have two epic-size fanfiction available. One is for Supernatural and the other for the Chronicles of Riddick. (Links will take you through to Livejournal for those.)

The reason I point you to those is so you can choose a sample at your discretion - otherwise you can go through my ramblings if you like!

A general opinion would be much appreciated. The original fiction I would like to write is an epic fantasy saga with strong female characters. I love historical fiction, second only to my unabashed adoration of high fantasy - it was your mention of your thesis that caught my eye and the fact that you have taught English Composition and Creative Writing for a living has prompted me to unabashadely beg for your attention!

In fact, should you read the first paragraph and have an opinion immediately, that would be GREAT. I really need an honest impression. I'd like to be an auther 'when I grow up', I've been saving for six months just to 'buy' myself two weeks of uninterupted time in front of my computer to write and my muses have suddenly contracted down into my subconcious like disturbed sea anemones. Its a little frustrating, to say the least! But I have been filling my time with fanfiction to keep the juices flowing!

Oh, BTW, none of my education is formal, I have been studying the art of writing as a hobby for the last 20 years and avidly read everything I can get my hands/eyeballs onto so if there are 'gaps' in my training that my ignorance can't see, by all means, point them out! I am eager to learn. I am not offended, disappointed or put off my critisism AT ALL - anything that makes me a better writer so I can get all the universes out of my head and onto paper to share with the world, bring it on!

Your time will be hugely appreciated, whatever you choose to spare will be fine.

Thanking You, Slayitalldown.

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Hi ClumsyPinkTiger!

I'm not so much chasing a beta just yet as I am chasing an overall opinion to the fundamental question "Can Slayitalldown write, or would she starve to death as an author?"

(That's not to say that I'm not open to an in-depth analysis of my abilities, talents, strengths/weaknesses and other details, I just need the big question answered quickly so I can get on with my original works! My muses are very, very shy. I am getting no reviews at all from LJ and practically none from FF.net and its eating away at my confidence. And all I want is that question answered... anything else is freakin' Christmas!!)

I don't have any original fiction ready for review but I do have two epic-size fanfiction available. One is for Supernaturaland the other for the Chronicles of Riddick. (Links will take you through to Livejournal for those.)

The reason I point you to those is so you can choose a sample at your discretion - otherwise you can go through my ramblings if you like!

A general opinion would be much appreciated. The original fiction I would like to write is an epic fantasy saga with strong female characters. I love historical fiction, second only to my unabashed adoration of high fantasy - it was your mention of your thesis that caught my eye and the fact that you have taught English Composition and Creative Writing for a living has prompted me to unabashadely beg for your attention!

In fact, should you read the first paragraph and have an opinion immediately, that would be GREAT. I really need an honest impression. I'd like to be an auther 'when I grow up', I've been saving for six months just to 'buy' myself two weeks of uninterupted time in front of my computer to write and my muses have suddenly contracted down into my subconcious like disturbed sea anemones. Its a little frustrating, to say the least! But I have been filling my time with fanfiction to keep the juices flowing!

Oh, BTW, none of my education is formal, I have been studying the art of writing as a hobby for the last 20 years and avidly read everything I can get my hands/eyeballs onto so if there are 'gaps' in my training that my ignorance can't see, by all means, point them out! I am eager to learn. I am not offended, disappointed or put off my critisism AT ALL - anything that makes me a better writer so I can get all the universes out of my head and onto paper to share with the world, bring it on!

Your time will be hugely appreciated, whatever you choose to spare will be fine.

Thanking You, Slayitalldown.

Woohoo!! I'd love to help :) and I happen to really like Chronicles of Riddick and Supernatural. . .so cool there. I would love to give you some pointers/impressions/anything I can. I love reading the work of others and I'd be happy to offer you any help I can, including any reading recs if I can help. You are very inspiring and I love that you just came right out and told me what you need ^_^. I also very much believe in the 'first paragraph first impression' way of reading. So, I'll give you one of those and some more in-depth analysis. Trust me! I enjoy it ^_^ I have missed really helping people who want to write. . .working in the office environment that I do, I get a lot of err drivel and horrible sentences that really say nothing at all. (Can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say, "ok, delete the entire first page" to a supervisor because the writing was just fluff and couldn't because welp, the business world is a lot of smiling and nodding.) But, I digress. I don't care what you say, I can tell from your request's prose already that you've got some fire!!! :D

P.S. Don't be discouraged if you don't see a response from me until Sunday-ish. I will get to it and I am super interested. . .just have some crap to do for a few days!!

Edited by ClumsyPinkTiger
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Woohoo!! I'd love to help :) and I happen to really like Chronicles of Riddick and Supernatural. . .so cool there. I would love to give you some pointers/impressions/anything I can. I love reading the work of others and I'd be happy to offer you any help I can, including any reading recs if I can help. You are very inspiring and I love that you just came right out and told me what you need ^_^. I also very much believe in the 'first paragraph first impression' way of reading. So, I'll give you one of those and some more in-depth analysis. Trust me! I enjoy it ^_^ I have missed really helping people who want to write. . .working in the office environment that I do, I get a lot of err drivel and horrible sentences that really say nothing at all. (Can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say, "ok, delete the entire first page" to a supervisor because the writing was just fluff and couldn't because welp, the business world is a lot of smiling and nodding.) But, I digress. I don't care what you say, I can tell from your request's prose already that you've got some fire!!! :D

P.S. Don't be discouraged if you don't see a response from me until Sunday-ish. I will get to it and I am super interested. . .just have some crap to do for a few days!!

SQUEE! :dance::dancegirl2:

My apologies, I tend to be excitable.

Thank you so much for your interest!!

I can be patient as a stone if need be! I am well-aware of what it is to be busy... My soul starves in the education system and is further crushed by corporate employment later in the day - seriously, I had to 'buy' two weeks of my own freakin' time!! - so I understand the desperate need to bond with the ethreal souls of interwebs peoples who try to blossom unencumbered by society's shackles amongst the untamed and untended fanfiction weed-beds - while maintaining a rich full life in reality at the same time. Some of my best friends are interwebs fanficiton writers with the same problem! ;)

Impart your wisdom to me, sensei! Feel free to be brutal, the more I know the more I have to work with! I worry constantly about fluff. I love that you would viciously discard entire pages. I always work from three documents - the manuscript, a 'plot points' page and a page I call 'scraps'. My favourite theory has been to write as I would carve a statue of an alien - "take a block of stone and just cut off everything that doesn't look like an alien!" So I might end up with 10, 000 words but I'm happy to take a machete to it and only keep the 7,000 good ones, for the sake of the story.

My pride is only allowed to speak if it has something useful to say. We're in a good place. :hug:

I will admit to not having a beta - the reason is simply that I haven't found anyone with that much free time! It would be an onerous task and while endlessly appreciative of any interest I prefer at this time not to impose. My chapters are enormous, I live at the bottom of the earth in a completely different time zone and I am impatiant and eager to post my work. My doubts are often smothered in their sleep by my eager and prideful muses... they are great for inspiration, but bad, bad caretakers of emotion. I blame them for a great many things... LOL!

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She's rather good. XD I got the first chapter back from her. XD

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wow it sounds like you are really sought after already, almost afraid to ask if you'd be willing to look over my stuff. I work mostly in the Inuyasha universe.

I don't know what to ask for though. I've never had a beta.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't had time to be a very good beta in a few weeks. My mother passed away from cancer two sundays ago. So, between grieving and trying to catch up on stuff at work from being gone for so long to care for her. . I haven't had any time to help anyone!!

But, I am true to my word and want to keep helping you all. So, Hopebringer Jem, Slayitalldown, I will get to you first!! Promise.

bottecilliangel, I'd love to help you too. Just give me an idea of what you need. I am back on my 'duties' here and will probably be posting a chapter of my own story on here soon too. . .So i might ask each of you to read my story too ;). Alright, apologies again!! And please message me if you need anything.

Edited by ClumsyPinkTiger
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No need to apologize! I send my sympathies, ClumsyPinkTiger. I hope you and your family are doing alright. :hug:

I would be more than happy to look at anything you post! I'm not excellent with editing or anything, but I will do my best to be helpful.

As for my stuff... well, I could probably use help with the nitty-gritty punctuation details, and other technical mistakes. Mostly I just want to have someone tell me if I've completely lost any focus, or if I need to cut things down for the sake of following a plot line.

I don't write PWP, cannot. I get annoyed if I try, so all of my stuff tends to be long. I am a detail and tangent whore.

Background...

I have 2 projects going on right now: (take your pick!)

1. Spiel Mit Mir: Inuyasha/Sesshomaru pairing (focused pairing), with polyamorous relationships (Inuyasha/Kagome and Sesshomaru/Rin). Tags include: anal, angst, bi, fingering, hj, inc, minor2, oral, rapefic, violence, solo, wip. * A note about the rapefic tag. I tag all my fics with this, but I don't necessarily go into detail about rape. Most of the time I put it in as a warning about the psychological history of a character*

This is my attempt at an inucest fic. I attempt to keep everyone "in character" or give a damn good explanation why they aren't.

2. Regenerist: Sesshomaru/Kagura and Sesshomaru/Rin pairing. This fic is a direct rewrite from an older version, and not getting too much attention from readers. I assume because the older version was very popular (even though it is not up to the writing standards I hold myself to now), and I changed it completely. This one is dark, angsty, violent, and depressing. I am currently reformatting it, and giving better tags per chapter.

Regenerist is my therapy fic. I am going through a rough spot in my life and my writing reflects it. Some of the things I put the characters through are deeply personal to me, and it helps to write about it. I have no issue with emotionally destroying characters.

Even though some of the content is personal, I am not the type to get upset over criticism. I may be writing for me, but I want my works to be readable to others also.

I have a tendency to think I am very clever. Unchecked I could totally get into the arrogant "I f*ing rock" attitude, so I'd really appreciate honesty to keep my feet on the ground.

Again, I send my sympathies for your loss. If you need anything please feel free to message me.

-sincerely, me

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Honey, it's okay. XD Do what you have to, it's no race on my end. XD :hug: I hope you aren't trying to overwhelm yourself really. XD She was your mother, I do understand. IRL needs always come first. XD

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  • 2 months later...

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I totally disappeared for two months! Certainly grieving was part of it, but funeral planning and so much other crap and it's had really sapped my motivation to write or read *anything* :shutup:

So, if you wonderful people still want me to beta for you, I am more than willing now and back actively on the site from my hiatus and have made it through the hardest part of the grief. I think?? My sex drive is back so that has to count for something :rofl: . TMI LOL. k. *runs off to read*

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Welcome back! Sounds like you're on the road to recovery! ;)

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My condolences. I hope you're doing well and bouncing back.

If you're interested in some beta reading, I have a novella about illiterate male prostitutes and vampire tutors. the romp set in Renaissance France. The sex scenes are few. but there's a lot of innuendo and blasphemy.

Again, I hope you're doing well.

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My condolences. I hope you're doing well and bouncing back.

If you're interested in some beta reading, I have a novella about illiterate male prostitutes and vampire tutors. the romp set in Renaissance France. The sex scenes are few. but there's a lot of innuendo and blasphemy.

Again, I hope you're doing well.

Hi Olefish!

Thanks for your condolences. :) I giggled a bit when I read your description of your novella. I'd love to check it out. I owe BotecelliAngel my services first, then I will get on to you. Then, the rotation will start up again. I'm doing a chapter or so for everyone at a time in order of who asked me first. I hope that's ok!! Thanks again for being so understanding everyone. :D

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  • 1 month later...

Ty Clumsy for helping us all out. Hope things are going well for you. I forgot to look at this thread for a while. What do I need to do for this? I've never done this before.

Edited by botticelliangel
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Hm.... If you're still taking on people (I beta for some people as well, so I know that everyone has a limit on how much they can take on at any one time), I do have a few things I could send your way.

One unposted original story, which I intend to be a novel when finished. Mostly I want to know an editor's/beta's opinion on the characters, the world, etc. So far I'm on the sixth chapter of it. I do have a friend who reads it and tells me what she thinks (and if I'm missing things, sometimes, like forgetting that there was a character in a previous scene that seems to have vanished without explanation!) but she's French and still working on her English skills, so she's more pre-reader than beta, y'know? Anyway, I've been playing around with this world in my head for years and have a vague outline with some scenes planned out, but the outline covers so many characters' lives that I know it's not all going to fit in one book, so I'm having to parse through things and figure out what goes and what stays for the particular characters I'm primarily working with. It's...difficult. And I've almost never put the ideas down in words, typed or handwritten, so dragging details from my head makes the process more time-consuming and difficult. (So, if you have time...help? Perhaps?)

Hm...I have several posted/unposted/unfinished works that I would like feedback on, maybe someone to play sounding board with so I can finish them.... For a variety of categories: Bleach, Final Fantasy VII, Black Blood Brothers.... One in Naruto.... Um...I think that's all, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I wouldn't send more than two or three at a time in any case, because I want to get them finished, but first I have to know if you have the time and interest to handle them. (For the Bleach and Final Fantasy VII categories, I do have stories posted here on AFF. The first two chapters of my Black Blood Brothers story are on FFnet under the same username, Cuzosu - I keep the same username here on AFF, on FFnet, and on AO3 because it makes it easier for fans to find my works - though the fic makes much more sense if you've taken the time to watch the twelve-episode series. And maybe read the manga continuation, but that's not strictly necessary.)

I'm sorry for your loss but glad you're getting past the numbness that often accompanies such sorrows (it sounds so trite, no matter how I phrase it).

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  • 2 months later...

Hello, I am PeaceLoveYaoi. I really need a beta for a Naruto fanfic. It is an AU fic, and the main pairing is ShikaNeji. I already have written 12 chapters, and am planning to write many more. I don't really know what my strengths are, but my weaknesses include repeating words in an annoying way. I really try not to but it's hard to see your own mistakes sometimes. I also am often unsure if I put in too much or not enough detail. I am good at spelling, and decent at punctuation (though I could probably use a bit of help).

So... if you could take a look, I would be so grateful! Here is a link http://naruto.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600103010

If you are too swamped, or aren't interested for any reason let me know.

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