Quick guide to Beta-ing

[itotoro]

not the abo kind

Hi! Just wanted to put some thoughts together for how to beta, especially for people who have never tried it before. I wrote this out before for a friend who was getting a beta for the first time and i think it'll help both for new writers and new betas.

As of Jan 13, 2022

Quick introduction to BETAS

A beta, as the name suggests, is your fic's "beta-tester."

This means that a beta looks at your fic before it's open to the public, and based on the degree of help you request, works with you as you polish your fic.

What does this mean? Betas and Writers work hand in hand to craft the fic into what the writer wants it to be. This means the writer has to be clear with what kind of help they’re looking for – in depth idea exploration at the very beginning of ficwriting, a first read-through for any gaping plot holes in the first draft, or a quick second pair of eyes for grammar and spelling errors.

In short, a beta can help you at every stage of fic writing, but you are the captain of your ship. This is a tandem built on trust, and for there to be trust, there should be clear expectations between the beta and the writer.

Here are various ways a Beta can help you with your fic!

Provide affirmation

This is my favorite thing to do. As a beta, the whole point of you helping out the writer is for the fic to be published. The number one way you can help anyone is to tell them how awesome the WIP is. Especially if you care about the writer and the story and you can point things out that genuinely excite you –affirmations show the writer that their effort is going somewhere.

Provide their reaction as a reader

This is very specific phrasing, and Mary Robinette Kowal specifies four kinds of questions she wants her beta readers to answer:

· What parts of the story do her beta readers love? (so they don’t get deleted)

· What parts of the story bored them? (so she can work on making them more exciting)

· What parts of the story confused them? (so she can clear them up in prose)

· What parts of the story did they find unbelievable? (so she can build up the foundation for them better)

She sticks to these questions because they call for descriptive answers, rather than prescriptive answers. This comes from her experience of beta readers prescribing changes that don’t match her vision of the story, when what she actually needs is a description of the problem.

The same thing can happen between fic writers and betas. Outside of these questions, there will always be a risk of the beta wanting to "control" the fic. It's NOT on purpose most of the time. But a beta, especially a less experienced one, can sometimes think that the best version of the story is the one they themselves would write. The one they would prescribe.

This should be clear: a beta should help you write your story, with your style and your vision. Especially when you ask for it, they can offer suggestions for how the story should go along, but it is your story first and foremost. A diamond in the rough that should be polished and not switched for one or another.

If you’re a writer reading this, you can help your beta avoid going out of bounds by being clear with what you need from them. Is all you’re looking for a grammar check? Some assurance? Or do you want them to check for any plot holes? This is how expectations are managed, and trust is developed as time goes.

Provide a second pair of eyes

Lastly, but most commonly: A beta can help you with word choice, spelling, grammar. In most oneshots this is all you'll need help with, and that's fine! This is also the easiest to make clear, and a good opportunity for you to test the waters with a potential beta

That's all for now! might revise this in the future LOL