I Make Authors Cry: Why Betas Should Be Brutal

As most of you know, I am much older than the average Harry Potter fan. (No, I'm not telling you how much older. I'm definitely older than most of you reading this.)

I also came into the fandom late. In fact, I had never read any of the books, and I had only seen the first two movies, when DH came out. So I was sort of vaguely aware of what Harry Potter was about, but dismissed it as an overhyped kid's series. However, on a whim, I decided that since the series was supposed to be "over," I might as well read it and see what all the fuss was about. I read all seven books over the course of a few weeks.

Obviously, I loved them, which is why you're now reading this.

So then I did something else I'd never done before, for any series I'd been a fan of previously: I went looking for fan fiction.

Of course, I used Google, so of course, the first place I found was fanfiction.net.



( I make authors cry )

That's the kind of critique a writer who really wants to improve should covet. Critique from someone who will be brutally honest. Someone who isn't afraid to make you cry.

(Don't worry; no one's made me cry. Yet. We'll see after swissmarg and Miles2goB4Isleep get through with my rough draft of AQATDR...)

Current AQATDR Word Count: 81181. Maybe not a lot of progress, but in fairness, I've also rewritten nearly an entire chapter since the last word count.

I Make Authors Cry: Why Betas Should Be Brutal

As most of you know, I am much older than the average Harry Potter fan. (No, I'm not telling you how much older. I'm definitely older than most of you reading this.)

I also came into the fandom late. In fact, I had never read any of the books, and I had only seen the first two movies, when DH came out. So I was sort of vaguely aware of what Harry Potter was about, but dismissed it as an overhyped kid's series. However, on a whim, I decided that since the series was supposed to be "over," I might as well read it and see what all the fuss was about. I read all seven books over the course of a few weeks.

Obviously, I loved them, which is why you're now reading this.

So then I did something else I'd never done before, for any series I'd been a fan of previously: I went looking for fan fiction.

Of course, I used Google, so of course, the first place I found was fanfiction.net.



( I make authors cry )

That's the kind of critique a writer who really wants to improve should covet. Critique from someone who will be brutally honest. Someone who isn't afraid to make you cry.

(Don't worry; no one's made me cry. Yet. We'll see after swissmarg and Miles2goB4Isleep get through with my rough draft of AQATDR...)

Current AQATDR Word Count: 81181. Maybe not a lot of progress, but in fairness, I've also rewritten nearly an entire chapter since the last word count.

I Make Authors Cry: Why Betas Should Be Brutal

As most of you know, I am much older than the average Harry Potter fan. (No, I'm not telling you how much older. I'm definitely older than most of you reading this.)

I also came into the fandom late. In fact, I had never read any of the books, and I had only seen the first two movies, when DH came out. So I was sort of vaguely aware of what Harry Potter was about, but dismissed it as an overhyped kid's series. However, on a whim, I decided that since the series was supposed to be "over," I might as well read it and see what all the fuss was about. I read all seven books over the course of a few weeks.

Obviously, I loved them, which is why you're now reading this.

So then I did something else I'd never done before, for any series I'd been a fan of previously: I went looking for fan fiction.

Of course, I used Google, so of course, the first place I found was fanfiction.net.



( I make authors cry )

That's the kind of critique a writer who really wants to improve should covet. Critique from someone who will be brutally honest. Someone who isn't afraid to make you cry.

(Don't worry; no one's made me cry. Yet. We'll see after swissmarg and Miles2goB4Isleep get through with my rough draft of AQATDR...)

Current AQATDR Word Count: 81181. Maybe not a lot of progress, but in fairness, I've also rewritten nearly an entire chapter since the last word count.