Originally posted by hedwig
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Originally posted by hedwig
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On the other hand, she has several times pointed out things she didn't agree with in my stories that she was unhappy with. Some, I didn't agree with, but otheres made me think, and in the end, I believe the story turned out differently.
When I wrote Growing Pains, both my betas were like-minded Sam fans, and that story ended up being heavily Sam-centric, despite my intentions to the otherwise. I think if I had had my current set of betas, one a Sam fan with S/J leanings and a Daniel fan with S/D leanings, I think that Growing Pains would be a different story.
For me, a beta does more than just check for typos (and even professional editors let mistakes slip past, I've yet to pick up a book that doesn't have at least one minor spelling or grammatical error in it...) but for me personally I find the back and forth conversations and debates just as much fun as the writing and posting. I've found that one needs to have a good ability to take constrictive crtisism, and give it, when acting as beta or being beta'd. Yeah, I don't listen to them all the time having my own ideas of how the story or characters play out, and they don't always listen to me, but hey, that's life. Can't say many actually listen to me in RL much either
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