Need a beta editor (count them: ONE)

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illiterati

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I'm a ways into my story, but I am wary of the consequences of posting the betas here. Anyone can sneek a peek whenever they feel like it, and that will destroy any novelty contained in the end product which I have been flogging my brains so vigorously to produce.

If anybody is interested in being my own private beta editor, do step forward, your services will be much appreciated.
 
If you're SERIOUS about needing a beta editor, I'll be happy to do so.
 
What I mean is this: I'm too busy to do beta reviews/suggestions on something that's going to pan out after one or two pages.

How long of an item are we talking about here?
 
Well, I'm not sure of it's length in pages, but speaking in wordcount terms, each sub-chapter will be at least five-hundred long, and each chapter will consist loosly somewhere around five sub-chapters. I've laid out the basic outline for six such chapters, and detailed treatments for three of them. Now there's just the routine trouble of writing them up in full, and somebody providing a second opinion on wrinkles needing ironing-out.

Now that I think about it, this isn't really a beta any more.
 
I'm afraid Elara's a bit busy with making the next chapter for the Steel Paladin Fanfiction Project, and her Steel Paladin RPG. Nevertheless, I'm sure she'll have time for you.. she's most often around at steelpaladins.vault13.net, so you might want to check around there.

Beta-ing is a two-sided process. You must both make time for each other, as both of you shall be involved with each own's and others' writing.

Don't be in such a rush... it might be much easier to beta several chapters at once, rather than one at a time. It makes much more sense that way, and you won't be throwing around explanations for plot twists which only you can understand.

http://www.envy.nu/bpen/illuminati.jpg
 
[font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-01 AT 06:55AM (GMT)[p]Don't be in such a rush... it might be much easier to beta several chapters at once, rather than one at a time. It makes much more sense that way, and you won't be throwing around explanations for plot twists which only you can understand.

Perhaps I didn't make clear what I meant by "chapters". The events leading up to the Vault Dweller's exodus from the Vault are one chapter. And that chapter has six individual chapters of it's own, which I called sub-chapters simply for being at a loss at what to call the larger grouping if I already used up the "chapter" label on it. What I ended up calling a chapter is a short story in itself, an act, if you will. If I continue on and go about working out the remaining three or so chapters which I see shaping themselves by myself, I'll have finished almost the whole story before seeing the first critical analysis.

As I said, I've been working hard on what I've come up with so far, and I'll be working equally hard on what's left to complete. The prospect of making and missing a major flaw in the story and ending up having to rewrite 5000-words-worth of already written material is something that would give me a violent shove into a "Fuck it." mentality. I am doing this for my leisure, and correcting voluminous fuck-ups far from amounts to leisure.
 
having to rewrite 5000-words-worth of already written material is something that would give me a violent shove into a "Fuck it." mentality.

Perhaps. But it's unlikely... unless one's ego is more important than one's writing, the better end result is a joy unto itself. Besides, as you're a good writer, the prospect that you will have to completely rewrite a 5000 wordcount piece is almost nil. An adjusted paragraph here and there will slowly build into a work, which flows from one idea into another.. and gives the reader a wonderful reading experience.

http://www.envy.nu/bpen/illuminati.jpg
 
[font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-01 AT 07:14AM (GMT)[p][font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-01 AT 07:08 AM (GMT)

unless one's ego is more important than one's writing, the better end result is a joy unto itself.

Note the revision of my last post. More precisely, this line:

I am doing this for my leisure, and correcting voluminous fuck-ups far from amounts to leisure.

Sure enough, I'd get around to fixing it eventually, but you wouldn't see it for a while, that's for sure. Given that I'm a teenager, and far from what one would call responsible, it's surprising that I've committed to writing the story at all.
 
Then don't. Forgive me, then.. as it seems our views on writing differ. To me, fanfiction is not merely the means to an end, but a part of a winding road up the mountain. It's a journey of the mind... and like mountain climbing, the frame of mind is essential to success. Focusing on the end result too much will just build up the Writer's Block.

Just relax and enjoy the journey, sir.'
I am doing this for my leisure, and correcting voluminous fuck-ups far from amounts to leisure. '

Ah... but if you don't see and fix those fuck-ups, what's to prevent you from doing it again in the future?

Remember the great blissful rush when you're 'in the zone', and you can churn out an entire chapter in an hour or so? Once experienced by a creative soul, it must seek to duplicate that sense. But writing is an interactive process.. the result of your mind will echo the stirrings in you heart. This is the essence of art, is it not?

Art is the creative process.

Fanfiction, or writing in general.. is art. And it is an appreciative medium. The reader, when experiencing your work, will gather that prickly feeling that signifies that HERE is something that the writer poured his being into. Here is something which was made to be the best it could be, because nothing less than utter perfection will suffice for the artisan.

We, as writers have a responsibility to the reader. It won't do to base self-esteem on others' responses, yes... but unless a person actually strives to improve and accepts that there are countless ways to learn, then that person will ultimately not find the happiness inherent in the writing sense. Anything not done to the best of one's own ability is better left undone.

Writing fanfiction is digital amphetamine. Creation from nothing, it's a wonderful rush. But the exultant spirit is only equal to the effort placed in crafting the piece.

Leisure? The storyteller is happy by making others happy. By expanding horizons. By moulding people who live and laugh in his imagination, and sharing that vision with others.

Sure enough, I'd get around to fixing it eventually, but you wouldn't see it for a while, that's for sure.Take your time... the important things is while we are at the end our own greatest critics, there are still things we can't see... simply because our perceptions are naturally different from the reader's. Beta-ing is a must. No fanfic reaches perfection on the very first try. None. Ever. This goes to every form of creative writing.

Given that I'm a teenager, and far from what one would call responsible, it's surprising that I've committed to writing the story at all. And? Since when has youth become a crutch? It's a stereotype.. teenagers have short attention spans, lazy.. best kept in a barrel, and fed sandwiches through a small hole at the top. *grin* It's a stereotype.. which has been proven to be false many a time.

Anyways, the point here is that fanfiction is a learning experience that teaches about life, camaraderie and logical thought... it's good that you're a-penning words and worlds. Don't stop. Open yourself to new points of view.

It's a refreshing experience. :D

http://www.envy.nu/bpen/illuminati.jpg
 
Shall do, Elara.


BP, you have a very valid point, but understanding the things you listed is one thing, and practicing them is another. And I didn't present you with a teen stereotype but rather one of my less admirable traits. I know me well enough, and that is I. Not all teens have borderline-ADD, but I do, and do I ever -- as I said, I'll finish the story sooner or later, but if I hit a major snag and you see no significant headway for months while my interest recouperates, bear that in mind. I have yet to nail that enjoy-the-journey-as-much-as-the-destination Tantric writing discipline. Progress is what satisfies me.

And by the way, I've been in this "zone" you speak of, and in it not just a single chapter but the entire Shady Sands episode wrote itself -- in treatment form, but still. I hope I find that place more often down the road -- it's a pleasant change from the slow creep through bewilderment and uncertainty. I never fully realized what a task it would be to make a story about the Vault Dweller's travels at the same time original and faithful to the continuity of the game's plot. For one, the game's maps are a very poor guide to follow when it comes to visualising some of the settlements. The size and populations such places would need in order to exist as the societies they claim to be are grossly understated. Plus there's very little to go on in terms of intricacies of such societies -- I'm left with the task of providing most of the fleshing out of these surreal locales myself before I can fashion stories within them. "The zone" will sure come in handy there.

Oh well, better get back to work.
 
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