Beta Bio: general description as a beta reader
DUE TO THE BR CODE ERROR, WHEN YOU SEE "/" IMAGINE IT IS A NEW PARAGRAPH. Thanks! / Hi! My name is Skylar, but you can call me Skye! I'm 19 years old and currently in my first year of college. I have been writing stories for as long as I can possibly remember. There isn't a time in my memory that I can remember not loving to write. During my school years, I have won awards and have always been told what a talent I have for my art. This was very important to me, because as hard as I may have tried, I was not athletic. This was my only chance to be recognized! /As you may have guessed, writing is my passion. Deciding to become a Betareader was slightly difficult, due to my schedule and seeing if I could make time, but ultimately I decided that I wanted nothing more than to help someone with the same passion! /My expectations are simple. I expect you to want to learn, to be open to what I have to say, and to be patient. Writing is an art form that takes years of practice and dedication. Those who publish books did not just decide one day that they'd try it out and suddenly become a best-selling author; they worked for many years to reach that goal. And so, you must realize that even if you are a wonderful writer, you can still learn. I accept that I am not perfect in my chosen activity and that I can learn from everybody and anybody, so my expectation is the same from you. /A valuable and wise lesson is that we are not unique individuals. We are all the combined effort of everyone we have ever known. - Chuck Palahniuk. |
My Strengths: beta, writing, or reading strengths
-Punctuation. I almost always get my punctuation correct if I go back and edit my writing thoroughly. The only punctuation that gives me trouble is semicolons. But even then, it's seldom. / -Dialogue. I feel as though I am great at writing dialogue. Other's may have different opinions, but it is just my own. I feel as though I can make it flow well and truly capture the character I am writing for. / -Spelling. Remember that game SPARKLE? Yeah, I always won! I often won awards at school for being one of the best spellers, and I even was in a spelling bee! However, I choked and lost. / -Finding repetitiveness. Many people make the mistake of reusing a word far too often or even repeating sentences or points. I'm great at pointing this out. / -Finding perfection. No story should be perfect. And by this I mean, characters are not perfect. Things that happen to them will not be perfect, and they certainly will lose at least once (if you're writing a fight, for example). It can be a bit annoying when people play their characters off as perfect, because they certainly aren't! / -The correct versions of "your", "you're", "there", "their", "they're". |
My Weaknesses: beta, writing, or reading weaknesses
-Descriptions can be a bit difficult. I find if I'm describing a fight or a room, then I don't do well. Truthfully I don't feel as though people are able to imagine what they are reading and picture it in their minds. / -I have a ton of anxiety when it comes to writing for other people. This potentially causes my responses to be slower, as I will thoroughly go through the story multiple times and scan for mistakes and/or corrections. / -I can be a bit of a perfectionist. And so, because of this, I will point out even the smallest of mistakes. But if you're looking for a great story, grammar-wise, then I'm your girl! / -Violence. I love a good violence fic, but sometimes it's a bit difficult for me to get the details to my liking. Sometimes I feel as though I've been too graphic, but other times it falls into my description weakness. |
Preferred: types of stories I prefer over others
-Angst. I love angst. Anything that could be put in the hurt/comfort tag, I love. I know that's strange, but it appeals to me more than anything else. / -I do like the occasional fluff, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much. Probably because I'm a bitter and lonely soul. But I do like reading it quite a bit. So yeah, it'd be preferred! / -This could tie into fluff, I suppose, but I love a family fic. Whether it be angst, fluff, or a mix. Pregnancy, marriage, mom/child relationship, etc. All of this is great, too! / -I probably would do best with Descendants, Once Upon a Time, Harry Potter, and Sailor Moon, as those are ones that I truly know. But, if you send me something that I don't know as well, I would still do my best and correct what I could! So no, it doesn't have to be just one of the mentioned for me to beta it! / -I'll do almost any pairing. Same sex, opposite sex, etc. I would never reject the fic just because I didn't like the pairing *see "Would Rather Not"* it's about. / -I can deal with any trigger warning, even if it does trigger me. I'm not triggered easily though and I will not reject a fic for any trigger. / -I will accept those that are clearly unskilled writers because I am here to help you learn. But I am being generous with this because it will take time and I will be a mentor/teacher in this situation. I'm sorry if that sounds like my head is full, but it is true. If you have a poor writing skill then I'm going to help you improve it, and so please, do not be upset if I critique every sentence in the work. I reserve the right to change my mind about the fic if you communicate poorly with me. I.E. If you get mouthy with me. |
Would Rather Not: I do not beta for these stories
-I will not do any child/adult pairings. I do not see that as okay, and so I will reject any fic that comes to me with a child/adult romantic relationship. This does not mean I would reject a fic that involves a certain trigger when it comes to the situation. / -Script form. I do not enjoy these. This is not a play and I will not accept these. Truthfully I've never met/talked to someone who enjoyed script fics. It seems a bit lazy. / -Stories with mainly OCs. I will accept stories with OCs, so please don't misunderstand this if I don't. But if your OC is poorly described to begin with, I will not know how to correct it as I don't know how you picture the character in your mind. / -I would prefer your work to be formatted well. I made the mistake before (see "Oh, Baby: Chapter 2"), and it was horrible and I truly regret it. Please have spaces between your paragraphs, because it's difficult and hurts my eyes (no, I'm not being sarcastic) to read just a block of text. I don't believe I'm alone in this! |
