tdcat | On Beta (or Alpha) reading

Once upon a time, about a million years ago, I worked in publishing. I’ve also been an editor for various kinds of media, though the term “editor” is a broad term for a wide range of production activities. Then about six months ago I thought that maybe I should try to use some of this editorial experience by volunteering to beta for fanfiction. In this post, I am sharing some of my thoughts about betaing so that writers can decide whether they’d like to work with me.

The relationship between a writer and a beta is somewhat similar to that between a client and therapist. It’s about trust and respect and the mutual goal of helping the writer/client be the best that they can be. Also as with therapy, not all writers and betas are equally suited to each other, and it may take some trial and error for a writer to find someone with whom they connect.

I have three guiding principles that inform my beta reading philosophy. The first (and this is a carry-over from editorial) is that it is my job to make the writer look good. The second is that fanfiction does not have to conform to any market conditions, and therefore the writer is 100% in the driver’s seat. It’s not my responsibility to make sure that a work fits a particular page count, market niche, or SEO requirement. This brings me to my third point: fanwriters have no obligation to listen to anything I say, and my ego should not be invested in whether a writer decides to ignore all of my suggestions.

To the best of my ability, I tailor my betaing to meet the writer’s specific concerns. Like if a writer doesn’t want SPaG? Then I won’t read for that level of detail. But I know that some writers only use a beta because a fest requires them to. In these cases, unless asked to do otherwise, and depending on whether a work requires alpha or beta reading, my default style is to read through a work and, to some extent, provide my stream-of-consciousness reactions/feedback. I’ll do a SPaG check as I go along.

And now some particulars, because I am a cranky and idiosyncratic beta reader (if that isn’t obvious yet).

What fandoms/ships will I alpha or beta for?

I have observed that fanon conventions differ across fandoms and among ships within fandoms. Currently I feel informed enough to beta for Drarry or Scorbus in Harry Potter and Sheith in Voltron: Legendary Defender. I will beta gen or femmeslash in either fandom. I’m also fine with rarepairs that don’t involve the characters in the three cited ships.

What content will I not read (or what are my squicks)?

I have no sex- or violence-related squicks. I’m ok with the darkest of dark shit. But generally speaking, if a fic deals with the love lives of the characters in my aforementioned ships, it must have endgame Drarry, Scorbus, or Sheith or a poly relationship. This is not 100% absolute (e.g., I’ve beta read draco x albus and survived), except endgame Hinny, which I absolutely will not read (ship and let ship, though). In the case of Drarry, I probably won’t want to read non-loophole Harry or Draco MCD, but we can talk.

I understand that showing a work-in-progress to a stranger puts the writer in a vulnerable position, and I do my best not to be an asshole when providing concrit. However, we likely would not work well together if:

You feel very strongly about using “cum” in your writing
You imply or try to impose heteronormativity in slash (no making one man the “man” and the other the “woman.”) This includes sex as well as characterization.
Your sex scenes are completely unrealistic (biologically, with exceptions for magic or alien interventions) and/or over-the-top (stylistically). Sex scenes shouldn’t make me laugh unless they’re meant to be humorous.

SPaG

Negotiable, but my default is American Psychological Association style (don’t ask). Yes to the Oxford comma. I’m an American English speaker, so my grasp of British English is not 100 percent. I generally refer to the Guardian website or the Cambridge Dictionary for British language reference. For Harry Potter, I refer to Potterwords or the HP Lexicon. I tend to get cranky about banal and/or overused language (e.g., Draco drawling, cocks that are hard as rocks). **All of this is subject to change based on the writer’s requests.**

Timing and details

Generally flexible, but it really depends on the amount of assistance the project requires. Usually work in google docs, but this is negotiable.

Still here? If you’ve read this far and are still looking for a beta reader, hit me up!

On Beta (or Alpha) reading

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