Bless those hard working Betas

My latest story is doing pretty well, and I think I owe it to a Beta Reader. In fact, I have three stories that were all improved by suggestions from betas, and I wanted to take a minute to give those unsung heroes their due.

• electricblue66 pointed out that a character's psychological issues were too subtle, and things that were just in her head came across as literal.
• Etaski told me that a tangent I'd written at the end of a story was unnecessary and disrupted the flow of the climactic scene.
• xelliebabex noticed that a story ended with no real culmination, and also that one of my characters came across as a spoiled brat.

Thanks to their observant reading and feedback, I was able to correct the stories' flaws and I think each of those stories was stronger for it. I can't be the only one. Does anyone else have a beta reader who deserves to be recognized for saving a story?

For the most part, I do the editing myself and post my stories. Now, I annoy the shit outta electricblue66 after I post the story. His suggestions are noteworthy, despite my hard-headed bitch attitude. I don’t know how he puts up with my
ass

Holliday1960 has been a big help to me as well. She has taken a look at a couple of my recent revisions and a current chapter I’m working on that centers around “rejection”.

I don’t have a hat to tip to them, and it might be rude to tip my bra, but I wanna thank both of them for putting up with me, considering I post in less traffic categories.
Kant

Betas have given up on me because I can't be consistent. Sorry I have some really shitty mental issues and get busy at the drop of a hat.

But RubenR has helped me more times than I can remember and I can never thank him enough!

Kantarii said:

For the most part, I do the editing myself and post my stories. Now, I annoy the shit outta electricblue66 after I post the story. His suggestions are noteworthy, despite my hard-headed bitch attitude. I don’t know how he puts up with my ass
Kant

Click to expand...

"How can one resist those big eyes <----------," EB noted, writing with his fingers.

"Now you're just exposing my worst excesses in public," Kant expostulated, swinging those long legs so rapidly she rotated completely off the chair, dropping that sorry ass to the floor.

Holliday looked on, shaking her head.

Since she's mentioned in despatches, I have to thank Holliday1960 too, because eighteen months or so ago she wrote, "you know, you've got a reasonable turn of phrase, you should try something more ambitious than pretty girls with buttons on their blouses." So when I sent her the prologue to what became The Dark Chronicles, and received a reply written almost entirely in capitals and more OMGs and exclamation marks than any sixteen year old girl's Facebook account, I said, "So I should keep going then?"

My other beta, Jason Clearwater, is more difficult to manage. Even though I clearly write women with waists, hips and breasts, he appears to have an auto-correct in his reading centre that changes them, in his mind, into good looking stable boys. Every time. The only way to shut him up, frankly, was to write him into the bloody story as an important side character. In a stable. With his mouth full.

#JonahIsNotGay

I still write characters undoing buttons, though, eating fruit.

I've had multiple beta readers over the years. It probably is the wrong assumption to start with, but I'm afraid I might miss a small, crucial detail which was in my head and somehow didn't end up on the page. Also, consistency of tone is something I struggle with, on account of not being a native speaker perhaps.

Everyone who contributed to one of my stories receives a shout-out in my Author's Notes, but it never hurts to lavish some extra appreciation.

Etaski was an invaluable help during the creation of "The Rembrandt Legacy", cheering me on and whipping my ass in equal measure. Way back, she was also responsible for a major rewrite of "The Temptation of Gheeran", because she felt my antagonists lacked motive and teeth and I had no counter to that

Loqui already took it upon himself to wade through what I already have of"Rembrandt II -Reptilian Boogaloo" and assure me that the necessary recaps were not too long and boring. Phew.

In the past I've also worked with PennLady, JagFarlane, BuckyDuckman and several others. Frankly, without my beta readers (and my editor) I would be royally screwed. And devoured by doubt.

I don't seek beta readers for most of my stories, but I did for "Love is Enough." I needed input on category placement, but I also felt like after working on it for four months I'd really lost perspective.

Eight people read the story for me, and I'd like to single out two. Etaski and RubenR took different approaches to the task, but they both gave useful and detailed feedback that had big effects on the final form.

I have been immensely helped by betas but it's still all my own damn fault.

Kudos to the betas. Someone has to clean up for the alphas.