Editing

How to Talk to a Beta Reader About Your Fanfiction (Before, During, and After)

August 11, 2017 // 1 Comment

Writers, by nature, keep a tight hold on their work. They obsessively craft and edit and rework until it’s just right (or, at least, just right now). So the thought of handing over your fanfiction to a beta reader for feedback can be, well, terrifying. There is plenty of advice to follow for how to be an effective beta reader, but what about some guidelines for writers? That’s where we come in. Here are some tips on how to talk to a beta reader about your fanfiction… without //

How to Be a Fanfiction Beta Reader

June 30, 2017 // 0 Comments

So you want to be a fanfiction beta reader? It’s a tough job, but if you take the right approach, beta reading can be immensely rewarding. Positive aspects include getting editing experience, discovering new authors (before they are famous), and giving back to your fandom community. But most betas will report it’s the relationships they build with their writers that makes beta reading worthwhile. Cultivating these relationships, like any other, takes open and honest communication //

Tips for Outlining your Fanfiction Novel

January 28, 2016 // 0 Comments

Some people find it boring to write from detailed outlines, because they enjoy discovering the story while writing. If you are one of these people, I have a technique for you too in this article! However, I can’t imagine trying to juggle plot, characterization, and writing style all at the same time. I’m also too much of a control freak to leave it up to chance. Additionally, if you only have a limited time to write, then a detailed outline helps you dip in and out of the writing //

How to Keep the Thesaurus from Throwing Up on Your Work

December 13, 2015 // 1 Comment

Writers have a great many tools at our disposal—plot devices, narrative structure, figurative language, and more—but the most fundamental tools of writing are words. Choosing words carefully is a large part of taking your writing from good to fantastic—but spending too much time agonizing over the Thesaurus can also send your work from good to purple prose faster than you can say “Hemingway was a drunkard.” This is not going to be one of those articles that lists a couple //

The Art of Fanfic Feedback

December 2, 2015 // 1 Comment

Being friends with a fanfic writer isn’t always easy. Pages upon pages of instant messages about that weird idea that just won’t leave them alone, random texts in the middle of the night about the latest plot hole they’ve encountered, and hours spent coaching them through the ever-so-common “oh man, no one’s gonna like this, my writing is crap, I hope I’m reincarnated as a clam” existential crisis that all writers go through. No, there’s never a dull moment when you’re friends //