First of all I'll be honest - my pet hate is when a beta reader chooses to ignore my requests or guidelines for what I want help with. For example - I once wrote a note on a story that said I was aware of the large amount of short 'fragmented' sentences, but I wanted to keep them in as it was the style I was going for. I received the story back with a note at the bottom containing suggestions for connectives and how to use them, and every short sentence highlighted! To me that seemed a massive waste of time for the both of us.
My second pet hate is when a beta explains my errors to me in such a lengthy way it's almost an essay in itself. I type quickly, so I make typos and abuse apostrophes. I always say this to a beta (a disclaimer of sorts) and honestly find it a little insulting when I get a half-page of writing explaining to me exactly what an apostrophe is and how to use it. Even more so when they do it more than once in a document. Yes, I make errors, but I am not an idiot.
That being said, most of the betas I have worked with are wonderful people, and I appreciate the help massively! The best ones are the ones who aren't afraid to say YOU ARE NOT MAKING SENSE, and who highlight errors with suggestions rather than patronizing explanations.
I am a terrible beta, I will admit. I don't have the capacity to step back and look at a fic objectively. I always want to tweak it to what I would say! The only beta-ing I am any good at is a simple typo/error highlighting job, brit-picking, or an overall story review. Anything in-between and I tend to overstep the line :)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-03-15 12:21 pm (UTC)My second pet hate is when a beta explains my errors to me in such a lengthy way it's almost an essay in itself. I type quickly, so I make typos and abuse apostrophes. I always say this to a beta (a disclaimer of sorts) and honestly find it a little insulting when I get a half-page of writing explaining to me exactly what an apostrophe is and how to use it. Even more so when they do it more than once in a document. Yes, I make errors, but I am not an idiot.
That being said, most of the betas I have worked with are wonderful people, and I appreciate the help massively! The best ones are the ones who aren't afraid to say YOU ARE NOT MAKING SENSE, and who highlight errors with suggestions rather than patronizing explanations.
I am a terrible beta, I will admit. I don't have the capacity to step back and look at a fic objectively. I always want to tweak it to what I would say! The only beta-ing I am any good at is a simple typo/error highlighting job, brit-picking, or an overall story review. Anything in-between and I tend to overstep the line :)
Thank you for all the resources!