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louiseluxA comment in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
snowballjane's journal got me thinking - how many betas do people like to use?
Two is about the right number for me, any more than that and I tend to get a bit swamped with other people's opinions. Basically, I get confused and distracted, especially if people tell me conflicting things. Making objective decisions about what works and what doesn't in my own fiction is very difficult. It's so much easier with other people's!
But I've seen people thanking whole strings of people for beta'ing and wonder how they manage the process. I can see that having betas for different things makes sense, not only because it splits the work down into smaller chunks for them, but also because I can attempt to mentally parcel things off, as in 'these are grammar comments, these are plot comments, etc'. Not that things ever work that smoothly, really.
Also, the length of the story seems to make a difference to me. Shorter things I tend not to bother getting checked. If you choose not to get something beta'd, what's your reason?
[Poll #330108]
snowballjane's journal got me thinking - how many betas do people like to use? Two is about the right number for me, any more than that and I tend to get a bit swamped with other people's opinions. Basically, I get confused and distracted, especially if people tell me conflicting things. Making objective decisions about what works and what doesn't in my own fiction is very difficult. It's so much easier with other people's!
But I've seen people thanking whole strings of people for beta'ing and wonder how they manage the process. I can see that having betas for different things makes sense, not only because it splits the work down into smaller chunks for them, but also because I can attempt to mentally parcel things off, as in 'these are grammar comments, these are plot comments, etc'. Not that things ever work that smoothly, really.
Also, the length of the story seems to make a difference to me. Shorter things I tend not to bother getting checked. If you choose not to get something beta'd, what's your reason?
[Poll #330108]
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-03 06:53 pm (UTC)I tend to have around five betas, and I can well understand why some would find the conflicting advice counter-productive. As it happens, I rarely get completely contradictory opinions, and I enjoy having multiple perspectives. I don't split up their tasks, either. I generally ask for any and all comments about plot, grammar, style, characterization, whatever, and occasionally will point to specific concerns, but for the most part I let them have at it with whatever perspective they wish to bring.
One reason I have so many betas is that I tend to ooze from fandom to fandom and pairing to pairing within the space of relatively few stories, and will often lose any regular betas for one fandom when I move to another. So, I end up advertising, and generally just let whoever volunteers take a stab at it. It's not very scientific, but it's seemed to work so far, more or less. And now that I've moved into Harry Potter fandom, I get to start all over again. :)