cornerofmadness

A topic came up on my author's list about betas and their expectations. I'll be honest. While I respect my betas' opinions and suggestions, I don't take every one offered (which was the crux of the dispute on the list). So when the lovely betas who went through Kept Tears see the final product and see a spot and thing 'didn't I tell her to get rid of that?' don't be upset that I didn't.

How I weigh a beta's suggestion is many-fold. Often, if I'm very lucky, I have more than one set of eyes on my pro work. I wait until I have those multiple opinions back and compare and contrast. Then I consider how I feel about the scene and how I see their suggestions. More often than not, I take the suggestion but occasionally I think 'well here is that explanation they wanted, just a paragraph before. They must have been reading too fast.' Or I might just disagree with something.

wildrider and I belong to the same writers group and there's usually a dozen of us, give or take and sometimes the responses there can be divvied up right down the middle with half loving something and the other half going 'get rid of it.' When that happens, I do look at majority rule. I also weigh in the personalities involved. I was once in a group that I left because of the personalities involved, especially since one of them, a dominant member, thought everyone should write like Hemmingway and mercilessly went after it, belittling both description and any author using it. After a while others began to bend to his ideas (with the exception of those who didn't live in the same area. One part of the group all lived in the same city and met in person as well as by mail). I finally left but not before becoming afraid to describe things. (and these attacks were not just on my ability with description but across the board).

So getting a beta that works with you is an important thing. You have to trust them to help you without making you feel small and worthless as an author. I saw someone in the group I'm in now, long before

wildrider joined, who was badgered into quitting by her creative writing class which was a pity. She was good, good enough to make me enjoy contemporary literature which I don't usually do by and large. In a group like my writers group if I find just one person who doesn't like my style, I can tune them out. When it's the whole group you have to start wondering is it them or it is you and confidence can be destroyed.

When I'm working one on one with a beta, I like to keep the lines of communication open. Sometimes I don't see what they're driving at or why they were confused by something that was clear to me. Often we bounce ideas off one another. I don't take every idea offered.

evil_little_dog will attest to that (nor does she take every idea I give her nor would I expect her to).

Ultimately the story belongs to the author. for better or worse, they make the final decisions (at least until the editor gets it). Even my professional editors give me the option of not taking an edit though expects me to say why I didn't. I've never tried that since most of the edits I've gotten have been good ones. A good beta is a thing of glory. I'm more than willing to trade beta services (and I NEED to be better/faster than I have been. I know that.) So if you ever want to get in on the ground level of one of my stories, let me know!

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