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Prompt: Tradition Please remember to follow the rules as outlined here: Rules Happy Writing!

I get the whole point of wanting to get a story up like as soon as possible however, when you have a beta helping you with a hectic real life schedule and their own work, you would think they would have some patience when it comes to getting the edited copy back... That has not happened with me. A girl who was reading a fanfiction of mine on FF.net asked me to help them with their first story, without giving me anything on what it was, or what. Being the nice person I am and willing to help out I said, sure that I was willing to help a newbie... Low and behold I ended up being sent a Twilight AU fic, I actually hate Twilight but I had said I would help her so I went ahead and edited her first chapter for her, showed her where she could improve, cut things, add others, etc, etc. When she reposted it, I found she had barely taken in what I had said but brushed it aside thinking hey, its not too bad she took in some of what I said. She sent me the next chapter last week saying, "hurry... I want to get it up as soon as possible"... This is where I sorta started to get annoyed. I clearly have on my profile on FF.net that I do have a full time job, I study and I have other commitments and here I sit getting these messages. Urgh! Now I understand it may not be a great thing when I give them a promise date but they must remember that things pop up in between all the other stuff; including 7 assignments which I have like 9 days left to complete but I just opened my inbox to this, "so its been about a week past the time u said u would get it to me. dont bother anymore its fine." ??? Sorry is it just me or is this person starting to think I revolve only to beta for them and drop all things in my life as soon as she sends me a chapter??? Please help... I sent her a message saying I'm willing to help her but that other things come up suddenly and that being a beta is the last of my priorities for the past week. I've even edited the chapter and am halfway through it but I'm about ready to just toss it in the recycle bin after that message. I get that she is probably a teenager and anxious to post chapters but seriously respecting the boundaries of time and real life isn't too much to ask; is it? Let me what you think, DJ

Fairy you aren't long winded at all, its betas like you that are what aspiring writers need.

I think it depends on perspective. There are many variations. Are you just sharing your hobby with your close friends? Do you just want an outlet for plot bunnies that won't get out of your head? Are you attempting to achieve something in particular? Are you attempting to hone your skills? If so, what area? How lofty are your goals? Let's say that there is a guy who merely wants to get a reaction out of his friends. He posts a story, not really caring about quality, asks his friends to read, rate, and review. His friends don't want to alienate him and it isn't any skin off their back to give him glowing marks. Heck, some of them have probably never read fan fiction before and may not read his story at all. And, he doesn't care one way or another. Let's say that you have a young female that wants to see a particular plot written and no one else is doing it, and she can't talk anyone into it. She goes out on a limb and does it herself, even knowing that her writing is subpar. That takes courage and her friends are going to cheer her on because they know her purpose, which isn't to be an example of high literary standards. They are less likely to give a constructive critique for fear of hurting her feelings, and will review based on her efforts to actually get the story written and posted. For them, that's an achievement. Other youngsters only do it to be popular with their friends, or to be able to say that they did something bold and brave. It's a toy for them, nothing real serious. Many who have been in fan fiction for years see it as a whole community, whereas the examples above see a small sandbox in a playground. They have a small corner and aren't really concerned about the rest. It's just them and their friends. If someone else wants to pop in, the more the merrier. It isn't a competition, or a regiment for improvement. Then there are other motives/perspective. I can't speak for others, but I can speak for myself. When I started, it was just me. I'd never done anything online and hadn't even heard of instant messengers. Had it not been for my daughter, I wouldn't have even known that I could write and post on fan fiction sites. Once informed, I just wanted to see if I could regain the vocabulary and grammar skills I'd lost when cat scratch fever gave me seizures and took away my ability to read and write for two years. At the time, I was alone in a comfortable little corner and had no desire to be exposed to a competition in popularity. I wanted constructive criticism and a way in which to determine whether or not my skills were improving. This system does not take into account what is said on a review board, or what a fic rating is set to be; it's pure numbers--reviews divided by hits. I wanted to be realistic. These were my motives. I ignored the stories who drew ridiculously large numbers because of smut. I was fair and acknowledged that my percentages would never reach those who had an established following or who were exceptionally talented. My goal wasn't to have the best numbers, but to do better than mediocre. I had to account for the years a fic had been up because it garners hits just from people checking for updates, just like all do. There is also the number of chapters, the way in which a fic is written (cliffies, polls, etc.), how often it updates. All those things make a discernible impact. Rates change when population and rules change. Reviews took a big hit when the security program was put in place and they still aren't at prior levels. Hence, a newer story will naturally have a lower rating than a comparable very old one. Different fandoms, genres, categories will have different rates. Different sites will have different rates. On the very outer fringes, you have trolls, with many accounts, who write and review their own stories, start fake flame wars between their different sock puppets, which raises review numbers. Don't ask me why this is done. Probably for the sheer entertainment value of snaring an unaware outsider. If you guys can track IP's now, there's a good chance that it doesn't go on as much. What you really need to do is decide what 'you' want out of fan fiction. Constructive critiques are usually far and few between. They are very helpful gems, but the desire for them shouldn't preclude simple encouraging comments. Both have value, especially to the person writing them. If you want more feedback on your own writing, there is no reason you can't ask your readers to come to the forums and answer specific questions for you concerning what you are wanting to achieve with your story and whether or not you are accomplishing that. Start a thread and leave them a link to the thread. Hm, I like that idea. It might help pick up traffic on the forums. I'll ask DG what she thinks. Some authors use Formspring to communicate with their readers. If readers get comfortable with you on a one-on-one basis, they're more likely to point out grammatical errors and plot holes. They'll probably be more likely to rib you for late updates, too. Overall though, don't stress yourself out over inflated numbers on stories that lack constructive critiques. They don't have a bearing on your work and are no reflection on you or your work. If what you want is high numbers, knock yourself out with writing smut stories. I'd get too bored with that though. I'll read a story with low ratings just to see if it is as bad as the marks show because trolls can cause a lot of damage. Just because a person doesn't have the highest ranking doesn't mean they aren't producing great work. Different people just have different tastes. OMG! I actually bought a hardback in Walden Books and it turned out to be full of grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. On top of that, the book was almost all dialogue and sex--terribly unbalanced, and didn't further the plot of the series at all. We're talking published materials here. It's not content that sells a work as much as it is good salesmenship and a willingness to hack and slaughter your writing at a publisher's request. Fan fiction isn't usually about someone's livelihood, but if you want a large following, you have to know what they like and you need to be willing to give it to them--without maiming them. LOL It's good practice, writing for the masses, a good place to find out what does and doesn't work. But, you need to recognize when something doesn't apply to that experience--the anomalies--and just ignore them.

She isn't mature for a 24 year old. I told her to read other people's stories and do the same with her story and rewrite her story. Send it back to me and I'll edit it. She e-mailed me telling me that she posted it. She was told to e-mail me the copy when she got it finished. She was told to send it to me but she posted it on FF.net. I left her a review telling her in no simple terms that a beta reader doesn't like being told that someone had posted a story before being edited, that is a slap to their face and I told her that don't consider me her beta reader anymore. She hasn't replied or sent me an e-mail since. I told the girl I betaed for the ground rules with a warning not to piss me off with any funny business and she sent me the test chapter to test me, with plagiarized stuff in the story itself from another writer I was beta reading at the time. Yes, she is a known plagiarist on FF.net her name MrsOptimusPrime or Bonita Prime on FF.net. Her stories are crap and plus she plagiarizes other authors' work in her stories. I make sure the people who I beta read for understand what I look for from them after I edit their story. I would give example of a page to the person I'm betaing for and tell them what I will be expecting from them as I will want to see the edits after I did the first edit as most people end up adding more to the chapter and I edit that before sending it back to them. Most of the time, I get it at least three times before it is posted online. I will now beta read for only one person and she knows what I want from her amd I know what she wants from me. Beth

Pen Name: Asexual Biped Story link: Tradition made me do it Type of fic: Twitfic Rating: Adult Fandom: Original Pairing: N/A Warnings: None really, NoSex

Name: ZipFlopOhMyGod Link: Hegemony Pairings: None Fandom: Original! Warnings: No Sex Type: Flash fiction, WC 972

Pen name: Pittwitch Link to story: Tradition http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600102842 Pairing: None Fandom: Original Warnings: No sex, easily follows Harvest or stands alone. Drabble: 100 words, no more, no less.