Moving to DW
6 Apr 2017 18:58All links are sorted properly!
(Disclaimer: So, this is a little bit aimed at a particular author – they probably know who they are – a little bit born from Mum going off on another one of her rants about dumb authors who ask for an editor and then ignore our suggestions.)
(What right do I have to this topic, you may ask? I've been a writer for *muffled number* years, and I've utilised a beta reader for probably about ten years now. Probably about six years ago, I took up the task for beta reading fanfiction for other people, and I've since added editing 'real books' in the past three or four years. I'm hardly an expert, but I've been in this game a while.)
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So, you're looking to get someone to edit your work! That's awesome! Fanfiction or original fiction, either is a great choice! And I'm not saying this because I think you're a bad writer; human beings make mistakes, it's what we do, and there's generally no shame in that. (I mean, if your mistake involves wiping out an entire country, that's a problem, but for most of us, that just involves overcooking the pasta and things like giving a character a third hand.) If you're a traditionally published author, the publishing house is going to be passing your work through an editor, because chances are pretty good there's something you've missed, which is especially true in longer pieces.
Here's the thing, though, about asking for an editor, which not all authors seem to get: You are asking for their time and their expertise. Your editor wants to help you, that's why they're there! (For original fiction, they may also be there for the money, but they're generally offering their services because they want to help someone.) If you're going to ignore your editor's suggestions out of hand, you're not looking for an editor; you're looking for someone to read it and gush, which isn't what your editor is there for. (Although we're certainly happy to gush if we enjoyed it!) If you don't like something your editor changed, that's fine, change it back; we all have our personal styles. If you're confused about why your editor made/suggested a change, ask them.
The other thing to remember, of course, is to give your editor time. A 'beta reader' is your second reader (assuming you, the author, are the first). That means they get it second. (Or third, or fourth, or however many beta readers you've actually scripted to help out.) If you're incapable of waiting to give the general populace a piece until after the beta reader has had a look, you're not looking for a beta reader; you're probably looking for a reader willing to point out mistakes. Which some will do, but most won't make that a priority, and plenty won't think to point errors out at all.
Okay, so, there's a few different ways an editor can look at your work:
( Read more... )That was both....longer and shorter than I expected, somehow. ^^; Thanks for bearing with me, folks.
While I’m over here (& responding to a backlog of reviews, which reminded me that people are asking about the sequel again) I figure I should maybe make an actual post about when people should expect to see We All Need Saving.
So, first things first, I signed up for, foolishly decided to do...way too much shit this summer. Which is pretty much the entire reason for the delay. (Sorry.) My FMA big bang piece is done (and will be posted eventually; we got an extension because rl hit one of my artists), and my 1st wave FMA fandom challenge piece is... I’m working on it. (It’s almost done. Like, another 3-4 scenes. 7K or so. Easy shit.) I’m also signed up as a 3rd wave writer, which is another 5K piece, but that shouldn’t be too hard to knock out. I hope.
Ship Week wise... RoyEd & Hyuroi Weeks are out of the way. I want to write at least one piece for AlMei Week next week, and I have a list of shit I wanna do for RarePair Week in a few more weeks, which... Well. We’ll see.
(Also need to work on those short ficlets for holiday cards, but I’m hoping those will go quick, since I’d like them to be short enough to fit on a single sheet of printer paper. Yeah, good luck, oh monster-length writer Bats. XP)
SO.
I intend to get back to We All Need Saving in October sometime. (There’s... idk, probably about a quarter of it already written. Including one side scene.) If the muse is agreeable, I might have it edited to start posting by the end of November, but, honestly, best not to expect it until closer to the new year. (End of November-end of December is always a bit crazy for me, because holidays. Ugh.)
I think that’s all the important stuff?
Some of you might remember how, last year, I made a joke about how I wish I could put short little ficlets into winter holiday cards for people, since I can’t do little personalised arts, but I didn’t have time to figure out what to write. (Whoops.) So I had a thought, the other night, about this would probably be a good time to ask for opinions on ships and fandoms and such, so...
I’m not going to put a cap on how many ships/fandoms I willing to write ficlets for, but I will say that there needs to be a certain amount of interest before I’ll agree to write that ship, because I don’t really want to stress over banging out a short fic about a ship that only one person is interested in.
So, you can pick up to 2 options (including whatever you want to add in the other category; yes, I can tell if you’re clicking two boxes and then adding two more for other, and I’ll delete your vote if you do that, don’t be a dick). You’ll only get one in your card, but I know some people are really going to want an unpopular ship, so I’m giving you the opportunity to pick a first and a second choice, so you’re more likely to get something you’ll enjoy. (You are not picking what you’re getting in your card right now, just what I’ll be writing; the card form will go up in November.)
Ship-wise, I do have this lovely little list of ships I’m comfortable writing for on my writing tumblr, but if you’re really desperate for a ship in one of those fandoms, and it’s not on the list – or you just want a gen fic for a particular group of people – go ahead and ask. (Please don’t ask about fandoms not on that list, though; chances are good I’m not familiar with it.)
These ficlets will have a holiday theme – I’ll aim for either non-specific, or specific to the religious leanings of those characters, as much as I can – and won’t be related to any of my current fics, so you can enjoy them without having read a specific fic.
I think that’s everything important? I’ll be closing the poll whenever I remember to in August, and I’ll be reblogging it a few times on my personal tumblr, and probably on this LJ.
So, I know this has always been a fic journal, but I don't feel like trying to figure out noagirl's password right now, and I did tell
anotherfmafan (and other people in the 520 Day chat) that I'd try to post shit on LJ, so.
People who've been following me on tumblr and twitter for a while know, but for those who don't, I've taken to collecting FMA figurines since I got back in the fandom last summer. Two new ones arrived today (Olivier and the Riza in the middle of the pic), and they're the last I should buy for a while, because bills and Mum's giving me disapproving looks (& I also should save up for a 3DS before the new Pokémon games come out, seriously), so I decided to take a shot of all the ones I have! (Plus bonus Squall and Selphie from FF8, because that shelf's their home too.)
The littler Roy in the middle is actually kept on top of my monitor, watching me while I don't write. (Wish I had an Ed too keep with him, but all the smaller Eds are either ridic expensive, or their faces make me shudder, so...)
(And Envy's driving me nuts. They've had a leaning problem ever since I got them. :/ Had to stick their base to the glass with sticky, and they're leaning against the glass so it's hopefully a little less noticeable.)
Still desperately wishing I could find the Trading Arts Olivier, and I'll probably get the chibi May at some point (her Trading Arts figure is even harder to find than Olivier, ugh), and I kinda wanna get Lust and the Trading Arts Al, but I'm otherwise quite happy with this set. :D