Few questions, first.

Beta request (Non-PPC) by L'Homme Arbre on 2011-07-11 15:34:00 UTC Reply

Before I begin, I'd like to clarify the subject line. In the PPC's 'official' capacity as an organization that hunts down and makes fun of badfic, this is not PPC-related, no. On the other hand, in your unofficial capacity as a large collective of experienced and knowledgeable writers and beta-readers whom I know and trust, this has everything to do with you. Okay? Okay.

Alright, so I was going through some of my old original stories, and laughing at how terrible my writing was a few years ago, when I came upon a partially-written fantasy story that really didn't suck quite as badly as everything else. Oh, don't get me wrong, the writing itself still isn't even approaching decency, but the central concept and some of the main ideas strike me as suprisingly clever. So clever, in fact, that I want to try to continue the story. But, if I want to do that, some serious editing and cutting has to be done. I know that if I try to do it myself, I'm going to be far to lenient, which is why I'm coming here. What follows is a list of my preferences regarding beta-readers.

Let me be clear; I'm not looking for someone who's going to painstakingly go over every detail, and inform me every time they want to fix a typo or something. I'm looking for a real hack-and-slash, take-no-prisoners, McArthur-would-be-proud editing job here. If you're a person that can supply that, I'm pretty certain you know who you are. If you have a busy schedule, without much time for editing, I don't really have a problem. I really don't mind if this takes a while. You might have an issue with that, which is something to think about, but I don't. Same thing with time zones. I follow Eastern Standard, but if you don't, I can certainly work around it. What else, what else...It's a fantasy story, but it's fairly high realism, so a firm knowledge of the genre is helpful, but not essential. Um...that's all I can think of for now. If you're interested in beta-ing or would simply like to know more, post a reply with your email address and I'll send you more info.

Thanks,
LHA

If anyone is curious... by JulyFlame on 2011-07-13 06:55:00 UTC Reply

I'm doing the editing/betaing type thing with giving concrit paragraph by paragraph in the chatroom most afternoons/evenings with him. People are welcome to join in and help if they want.
Well... by Sonne on 2011-07-12 18:10:00 UTC Reply

I could help with the plot, but I'm completely useless with SPaG. And it's ok if you want to ignore or throw pebbles at me afterwards.
A question by WhiteRaven93 on 2011-07-11 18:18:00 UTC Reply

The genre of "fantasy" is pretty broad. It can encompass some very opposite stories. For instance, is it a medieval setting or a modern setting? Both can be fantasy, but they require different knowledge to competently judge for realism. Perhaps you could give a short summary? I also agree with July's question; about how long is it?

Re: An answer by L'Homme Arbre on 2011-07-11 19:27:00 UTC Reply

My apologies, I really should have put in much more detail. Plot synopsis is as follows. (Note; this is the plot as it stands now. I'm planning to change a lot of this, so despite being WoG, it isn't set in stone.)

Ellis Damon is a fairly normal teenager living in Upstate NY. He inherits a grimiore from an uncle whom everyone else had assumed was simply nuts. Just for the hell of it, he tries one of the demon-summoning rituals in the book, and, suprise suprise, it works. In addition to the demons, there's a whole motley crew of other 'fantastic' creatures hiding from humans in the modern world. Bla bla bla, wacky hijinx (Hijinks? Hijinxes? I could never get that right...), hilarity ensues. It's around 20 pages long or so, not counting the page breaks after each chapter.

Hope that answered your question(s).

Few questions, first. by JulyFlame on 2011-07-11 17:15:00 UTC Reply

How long is the piece in question, and what sort of time frame do you consider as acceptable for having it take a long time in?

Should have answered them to begin with. by L'Homme Arbre on 2011-07-11 19:08:00 UTC Reply

In 12-point typeface, it's 22 pages. Take out the page breaks at the end of each chapter and it's down to 20. As for time frame...? Hmm...Even with fairly sporadic work, I don't think it should take over two weeks. However, if RL problems arise, I would be willing to wait up to three months before I out-and-out said, "Enough is enough, this is unacceptable, I'm finding another reviewer."

Shoot it over. by JulyFlame on 2011-07-11 19:28:00 UTC Reply

But try not to cry, okay? ;D

Not I by Phobos on 2011-07-11 16:39:00 UTC Reply

I am not the beta you are looking for. However, I will say that you have come to the right place. This is one aspect of the PPC community that I am proud of. We don't just mock bad writing, we are willing to put our skills to use by helping make writing better.

I am sure you will find a beta before too long.