So I asked Nancy HarryTwifan who is a beta for many people within the FanFiction society, and she also does some beta'ing for Original Fiction, if she could answer a few questions for me on being a beta. As we all know, it takes different things to be a beta, and it can be some serious hard ward.
Me: What exactly is your role as a Beta? Tell us what you do?
Nancy: Different writers require different things from their beta. Some just want you to do grammar/spelling/punctuation/tense, and others request input on the story. Kind of like a beta/pre-reader combined. I'll do either. When I first started, I preferred strictly beta'ing, but as my reputation grew, along with my confidence and experience, I found myself giving more thoughts on the story.
Me: Why did you become a Beta?
Nancy: I became good friends with a new author to the FanFiction world through the review/reply process. She eventually asked me if I would beta her story. I started with all her new chapters, simultaneously beta'ing the earlier chapters. Through that, I met all of the lovely readers and writers on Facebook, and took requests for more beta work. I will never write my own stories, so beta'ing allows me to be a bigger part of the fandom and part of the creative process. I admire anyone with the courage to put themselves out there, and I feel honored to be able to help.
Me: What's your favourite book?
Nancy: By far - The Stand by Stephen King. I've read it at least 20 times - and it's a huge book! After that would definitely be the entire Harry Potter series, with Prisoner of Azkaban being my favorite. Oddly enough, my favorite genre is serial killer/mystery stories. Although those are my favorites, Stephen King and JK Rowling are geniuses to me.
Me: Do you write as well as beta, if you do, does someone else do the beta'ing for you?
Nancy: I do not write at all! It's not fun for me, too much like hard work. I did do a guest review for another blog, and had someone help me every step of the way. More of a "pre-reader" rather than a beta.
Me: If someone wanted to become a beta, what would they have to be good at?
Nancy: Punctuation and tense are really the most important. Spellcheck takes care of a lot of the common errors, but is not very good at punctuation, and doesn't really catch tense. To me, if you want to be an excellent beta, you have to be able to challenge the writers to be better. Let them know when they're taking the easy route, or when they need more detail, when they need to paint a better picture. That was the hardest thing for me; telling these amazingly talented and creative people they needed to work harder. But I think they appreciate it from me.
Me: What's your favourite food?
Nancy: LOL. I'm a South Side of Chicago Italian girl - definitely thin-crust pizza!
Me: When you're doing your beta'ing, do you have anything on in the background such as music, or the TV?
Nancy: I like it perfectly quiet. I do all of my beta work alone in my basement. The only sound I like is my portable space-heater, to keep it from being totally silent. If I have music or the TV on, it distracts me. As it is now, the only distraction I have is Facebook "dinging" that there's been a new post. I should close Facebook down when I'm beta'ing, but I can't bring myself to!
Me: Which could you not live without, your mobile or your laptop?
Nancy: I am so not a cellphone person! I have one, but it stays in my purse all the time, used only in emergencies. I actually don't have a laptop - just an iPad and my desktop. I do all of my beta'ing on my desktop, but for everything else, I couldn't live without my iPad.
Me: If you write, what got you into writing?
Nancy: I don't write at all. Like I said before, it is difficult for me and too much like work. Even answering your thoughtful questions is rough for me! I sit here staring at the screen, trying to put what I want to say in to the right words.
Me: What do you do when you're not beta'ing, in your spare time?
Nancy: Other than my family, I spend most of my free time reading. I have been working on original fiction with some of our FanFiction writers, and that is very time-consuming. Not that I don't always want to do a good job, but there is so much more pressure with the original fiction. I don't ever want to be the reason their story is not accepted, so it takes a lot more time to get those stories perfect. With all of the FanFiction I do, along with the upsurge in our writers getting in to original fiction, I have almost no free time anymore! And I'm perfectly happy with that.
Me: What tools can you use when beta'ing stories?
Nancy: There are so many tools available to help with beta'ing. I have an extra Google tab open at all times. I use many different punctuation sites, thesaurus, dictionary.com, etc. I will also pull up stories that I love and are well-written to see how they handle certain writing situations. Some of the publishers have guidelines on submitting stories, and I refer to those quite often even while beta'ing FanFiction. I know I've gotten a lot tougher of my FanFiction writers since I started editing original fiction!
So those are the words from Nancy, she has been doing beta'ing for some time and her reputation is astronomical with the FanFiction and fandom on Facebook world. No matter which group I go into, Nancy is already renowned in there for her work with authors. People have even begun to use her for their Original Fiction, as she mentioned.
Nancy can be found on Facebook under Nancy HarryTwifan.
Look out for more interviews with beta's coming soon!!
Me: What exactly is your role as a Beta? Tell us what you do?
Nancy: Different writers require different things from their beta. Some just want you to do grammar/spelling/punctuation/tense, and others request input on the story. Kind of like a beta/pre-reader combined. I'll do either. When I first started, I preferred strictly beta'ing, but as my reputation grew, along with my confidence and experience, I found myself giving more thoughts on the story.
Me: Why did you become a Beta?
Nancy: I became good friends with a new author to the FanFiction world through the review/reply process. She eventually asked me if I would beta her story. I started with all her new chapters, simultaneously beta'ing the earlier chapters. Through that, I met all of the lovely readers and writers on Facebook, and took requests for more beta work. I will never write my own stories, so beta'ing allows me to be a bigger part of the fandom and part of the creative process. I admire anyone with the courage to put themselves out there, and I feel honored to be able to help.
Me: What's your favourite book?
Nancy: By far - The Stand by Stephen King. I've read it at least 20 times - and it's a huge book! After that would definitely be the entire Harry Potter series, with Prisoner of Azkaban being my favorite. Oddly enough, my favorite genre is serial killer/mystery stories. Although those are my favorites, Stephen King and JK Rowling are geniuses to me.
Me: Do you write as well as beta, if you do, does someone else do the beta'ing for you?
Nancy: I do not write at all! It's not fun for me, too much like hard work. I did do a guest review for another blog, and had someone help me every step of the way. More of a "pre-reader" rather than a beta.
Me: If someone wanted to become a beta, what would they have to be good at?
Nancy: Punctuation and tense are really the most important. Spellcheck takes care of a lot of the common errors, but is not very good at punctuation, and doesn't really catch tense. To me, if you want to be an excellent beta, you have to be able to challenge the writers to be better. Let them know when they're taking the easy route, or when they need more detail, when they need to paint a better picture. That was the hardest thing for me; telling these amazingly talented and creative people they needed to work harder. But I think they appreciate it from me.
Me: What's your favourite food?
Nancy: LOL. I'm a South Side of Chicago Italian girl - definitely thin-crust pizza!
Me: When you're doing your beta'ing, do you have anything on in the background such as music, or the TV?
Nancy: I like it perfectly quiet. I do all of my beta work alone in my basement. The only sound I like is my portable space-heater, to keep it from being totally silent. If I have music or the TV on, it distracts me. As it is now, the only distraction I have is Facebook "dinging" that there's been a new post. I should close Facebook down when I'm beta'ing, but I can't bring myself to!
Me: Which could you not live without, your mobile or your laptop?
Nancy: I am so not a cellphone person! I have one, but it stays in my purse all the time, used only in emergencies. I actually don't have a laptop - just an iPad and my desktop. I do all of my beta'ing on my desktop, but for everything else, I couldn't live without my iPad.
Me: If you write, what got you into writing?
Nancy: I don't write at all. Like I said before, it is difficult for me and too much like work. Even answering your thoughtful questions is rough for me! I sit here staring at the screen, trying to put what I want to say in to the right words.
Me: What do you do when you're not beta'ing, in your spare time?
Nancy: Other than my family, I spend most of my free time reading. I have been working on original fiction with some of our FanFiction writers, and that is very time-consuming. Not that I don't always want to do a good job, but there is so much more pressure with the original fiction. I don't ever want to be the reason their story is not accepted, so it takes a lot more time to get those stories perfect. With all of the FanFiction I do, along with the upsurge in our writers getting in to original fiction, I have almost no free time anymore! And I'm perfectly happy with that.
Me: What tools can you use when beta'ing stories?
Nancy: There are so many tools available to help with beta'ing. I have an extra Google tab open at all times. I use many different punctuation sites, thesaurus, dictionary.com, etc. I will also pull up stories that I love and are well-written to see how they handle certain writing situations. Some of the publishers have guidelines on submitting stories, and I refer to those quite often even while beta'ing FanFiction. I know I've gotten a lot tougher of my FanFiction writers since I started editing original fiction!
So those are the words from Nancy, she has been doing beta'ing for some time and her reputation is astronomical with the FanFiction and fandom on Facebook world. No matter which group I go into, Nancy is already renowned in there for her work with authors. People have even begun to use her for their Original Fiction, as she mentioned.
Nancy can be found on Facebook under Nancy HarryTwifan.
Look out for more interviews with beta's coming soon!!