beta-reading for fun and completely no profit

Do you have absolutely all of your work beta-read? If not, when do you not?

This question comes about because I noticed that alisanne has all of her drabbles betaed (by sevfan), and that seems unusual. I've seen a number of other people say that they never bother to have drabbles betaed, while they do most/all of their other stuff. I suppose with a piece that short she's just having someone check it quick for errors of mass stupid, but still.

I never have my drabbles betaed. In fact, a lot of my stuff (as though there were a lot! ha!) has never been passed through a beta because I regarded it as highly non-serious, just written as a lark, or sometimes literally as a joke (e.g. "Potion-Induced Comma"). I certainly don't beta the stuff I write about silly summaries, which often is long enough to get a "drabble" (<200 words) or "ficlet" (200-1000 words) tag. Not that crack/humour can't be done "for serious", just that that wasn't what I thought I was doing.

So. What are the factors that would cause you to pass up having something betaed, if anything? Just curious.

beta-reading for fun and completely no profit

Do you have absolutely all of your work beta-read? If not, when do you not?

This question comes about because I noticed that alisanne has all of her drabbles betaed (by sevfan), and that seems unusual. I've seen a number of other people say that they never bother to have drabbles betaed, while they do most/all of their other stuff. I suppose with a piece that short she's just having someone check it quick for errors of mass stupid, but still.

I never have my drabbles betaed. In fact, a lot of my stuff (as though there were a lot! ha!) has never been passed through a beta because I regarded it as highly non-serious, just written as a lark, or sometimes literally as a joke (e.g. "Potion-Induced Comma"). I certainly don't beta the stuff I write about silly summaries, which often is long enough to get a "drabble" (<200 words) or "ficlet" (200-1000 words) tag. Not that crack/humour can't be done "for serious", just that that wasn't what I thought I was doing.

So. What are the factors that would cause you to pass up having something betaed, if anything? Just curious.

Snape could teach you, but he'd have to charge

esmestrella says:
"What is it about Snape that brings all the batshit to the yard?" [from a comment on fandom_wank]
lol
damn right, it's better than yours
serious answer, i think, because he's an unwitting manifestation of some deeper archetype [i.e. although he is a fictional character, he's got Something Else about him, whether that was conscious or unconscious on JKR's part]
which triggers a lot of people to go OMG YES and a lot of others to go OMG NO
and then those people start punching each other in the nuts
even those of us without nuts
which is most of us
so that's why we've kept punching each other so long now
can't find the nuts
uh, i guess that's a serious answer. yeah

Snape could teach you, but he'd have to charge

esmestrella says:
"What is it about Snape that brings all the batshit to the yard?" [from a comment on fandom_wank]
lol
damn right, it's better than yours
serious answer, i think, because he's an unwitting manifestation of some deeper archetype [i.e. although he is a fictional character, he's got Something Else about him, whether that was conscious or unconscious on JKR's part]
which triggers a lot of people to go OMG YES and a lot of others to go OMG NO
and then those people start punching each other in the nuts
even those of us without nuts
which is most of us
so that's why we've kept punching each other so long now
can't find the nuts
uh, i guess that's a serious answer. yeah

So you want to understand your Snapefan?

Look, everyone! I'm being extremely silly again!

(Inspired by this post from lampblack.)


So you want to understand your Snapefan?

We commend you on your decision to support and encourage the Snapefan in your family. This can be a difficult time; sometimes it may seem that she or he is speaking a different language. As the first step to good relations is good communication, we hope this brief glossary and usage guide will aid you on the way to mutual understanding. ( Read more... )

So you want to understand your Snapefan?

Look, everyone! I'm being extremely silly again!

(Inspired by this post from lampblack.)


So you want to understand your Snapefan?

We commend you on your decision to support and encourage the Snapefan in your family. This can be a difficult time; sometimes it may seem that she or he is speaking a different language. As the first step to good relations is good communication, we hope this brief glossary and usage guide will aid you on the way to mutual understanding. ( Read more... )