Solaris Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 And I mean not one response. And when you say that the story will no longer be up for beta reading by anyone, they come out and ask? I hate that when that happens! One of my friends got an e-mail from a beta reader who was not asked to e-mail her or anything, asked . . . no demanded that she becomes her beta reader and that she changes one of the characters to suit her demands. My friend rejected her offer as she told her that I write for myself and if the readers like what I have fine. My friend had asked for beta readers for her story for many chapters only to find none and when she finally said screw it, it will be left as is, this girl e-mails her asking her how she'll correct her story as long as she changes one character to suit her. Needless to say, my friend rejected her. Has anyone asked for beta readers and after months of waiting for one, said in your next author note that you have dropped the request for beta readers for this and all of my stories that they finally come out and ask? Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenwizard Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Yep. I posted on here for a Harry Potter beta. It still doesn't have any replies as far as I know. I had to go actively hunt for one. I still need one that I can bounce ideas off and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitBlackmage Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Heh... actually I never requested a beta until a couple of days ago... it's sort of like fishing! Sometimes you catch crap (betas like the one you mentioned Solaris) and sometimes nothing at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinigamiinochi Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 *waves hand frantically* ooh, ooh, me! Yeah, I posted a request for my original fiction, solstice, and nothing! I've never had a beta in my years of fanfiction, but I desperately need one for Solstice since I can't edit worth crap, but does anyone step up to help me? No! Damn, I need to go to sleep... *shuffles off* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melrick Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I've never asked for a beta reader. I used to beta for a German friend, but frankly, her comprehension of English was absolutely superb! Better than most English speakers, that's for sure. But I don't think she really appreciated how good she was, so there was usually little for me to do with her stories. lol She didn't even speak English with an accent, which is remarkable. Anyway, I think someone DEMANDING that a character be changed to suit the would-be beta reader is ludicrous, and they clearly don't understand the point of being a beta reader. If the beta reader feels major changes need to be made then they can suggest it, but ultimately it's 100% up to author, since it is their story, after all. I know I've had reviews suggesting things that would have utterly changed - and ruined - the story if I'd followed their advice, which showed they clearly didn't get what I was saying. At least your friend had the sense to tell this person to hit the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solaris Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I've never asked for a beta reader. I used to beta for a German friend, but frankly, her comprehension of English was absolutely superb! Better than most English speakers, that's for sure. But I don't think she really appreciated how good she was, so there was usually little for me to do with her stories. lol She didn't even speak English with an accent, which is remarkable. Anyway, I think someone DEMANDING that a character be changed to suit the would-be beta reader is ludicrous, and they clearly don't understand the point of being a beta reader. If the beta reader feels major changes need to be made then they can suggest it, but ultimately it's 100% up to author, since it is their story, after all. I know I've had reviews suggesting things that would have utterly changed - and ruined - the story if I'd followed their advice, which showed they clearly didn't get what I was saying. At least your friend had the sense to tell this person to hit the road. Wow, I think those people who speak English as a second tongue can write better then those who write and speak it as their first. But there are people who do write and speak English really good too. Thanks. I think she was right to tell the girl to go hit the road. She was pissed that this girl had the gall to demand that she becomes a beta reader for her and that she demanded that she change a character for her. So was I because I saw her beg for a reader but got no one. I know I have some grammical errors in my stories but I try to fix them before I post them on the net and sometimes I make spelling errors that I do not even see till weeks or months later. I think people who want to be betas really should have a guildline of some sort to direct them in how to ask someone to let them become a beta reader for them if they are talking to them by e-mails. Actually, I think that is a good idea to have a guildline on how to become a beta reader. The Do's and the Don'ts in how to become a beta reader. I think I will work on that, as soon as I finish my how to do a role play? article is done. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canterro Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 (edited) Wow, I think those people who speak English as a second tongue can write better then those who write and speak it as their first. The problem as I see it is that I, not being a native English speaker, don't know a lot of useful expressions. I'd like to describe some things beautifully, eloquently, but I just can't make it through the language barrier... Not well enough, at least.I am afraid of using my own metaphors and poetic(?) collocations, cause I might use too much of my own language logic and in English it'd turn out to be funny, incorrect or incomprehensible The second thing: dialogs. Very often I have an impression that my characters speek too formally; that I'm not that good at colloquial language. Edited March 21, 2008 by canterro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rosemarius Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 The problem as I see it is that I, not being a native English speaker, don't know a lot of useful expressions. I'd like to describe some things beautifully, eloquently, but I just can't make it through the language barrier... Not well enough, at least.I am afraid of using my own metaphors and poetic(?) collocations, cause I might use too much of my own language logic and in English it'd turn out to be funny, incorrect or incomprehensible The second thing: dialogs. Very often I have an impression that my characters speek too formally; that I'm not that good at colloquial language. ditto to that! Also, Idioms give me problems...and funny enough, I've just learned (in this topic) what "hit the road" does exactly mean I did listen to an advice my Betareader gave to me and now I've got a more solid plotline to work on, but she only adviced me, never pushed into something I didn't want to...that'd be obviously someone who's not serious nor honest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PariahSolo Posted March 22, 2008 Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 Definitely can emphasis with most of what has been said here. When I first started XSFGC, I was fine with going it solo because I read and edit and read and edit a story numerous times while writing it. Then I wrote some non-FanFic stuff that really didn't fit here and so I posted them to another site; where it was promptly rejected for grammatical error. Ouch talk about feeling knocked down. So then I did my Re-Edit of the chapters I had already posted and even after I completed the process on chapters, I could still find small errors abound. So I did the Beta request. After three weeks of no response, I miss out when someone did say yes, boo on me, then a second said she would beta and after a month of her not responding she finally came back and said she wasn't going to beta XSFGC after all. I guess I must be a real Pariah here at AFF because I have started two threads, essentially asking opinion and have gotten no replies and only seven views per each thread. This beta issue isn't unique here. At the other site, I have requested help for an editor and twice I have had someone say yes and twice they ended up not working on my work. Interesting enough, "college picking up" seems to be the default rejection notice. Since I am on a roll with the whole Beta/Editor thing, let me rant some more; I have finally got two different editors to look at my non-AFF work and they seem to average two to four weeks to edit a chapter/short story. Is that the norm? And no my work isn't that attrocious, yes it has typo's or more accurately, wrong words that are correctly spelled (like SITE instead of SIGHT). Since I have been ranting, let me end with a positive. I have finally got someone to Beta XSFGC, he contacted me about fan fiction I wrote for a computer game on a third sight. I referred him to my XSFGC story here and after trading emails and giving him advance peeks at the new chapters, he started sending back suggestions. The kicker? While he is living in the US, he is an ESL. Albert - PariahSolo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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