Voyager
09-28-2007, 11:47 PM
The Request:
Beta reader would be hugely appreciated.
The person who usually beta reads for me has taken ill (it wasn't my writing, at least she swears it wasn't). We were just starting our second read-through when she got sick. She'll be out of commission for a while and I'd really like to have it gone over once more for plot holes, readability, etc.
The genre is tricky, so perhaps I can get help with pigeon holing it as well. It's part fantasy, part thriller, I suppose. There are no elves, wizards, dragons, vampires, werecreatures, but there are demons.
Parts of this novel are extremely graphic, there is sex, violence, violent sex, a tiny smidgen of man on man action, swearing and some violently inappropriate comma placement.
The history of my fantasy characters is a small part of the beginning of the novel, hardly the Silmarillion, but a bit complicated. The basic gyst of the story centers around the Mayan doomsday prophecy.
I'm not sure what else to add here, I really blow at summarizing my own work. My background is very green. I first discovered a huge passion for writing a little over two years ago. This is my second novel, the first was looked at by an agent and rejected as having poor character development. This kinda blew me away because I loved my main character, until I discovered, after much reflection, that I had fallen in love with the character in my head and failed miserably at conveying him on paper. Hopefully I've done a better job this time.
Other than that, I've won a few awards writing fanfiction.
The Question:
Is it a good idea to find a professional proofreader? My comma placement is terrible, I have a tendency to repeat words and my sentence structure can be tragic in my continuing effort to avoid writing in passive voice, beginning sentences with pronouns and avoiding the words, 'as', 'begin', etc. at all costs! Fanfic beta's really messed me up. There are a lot of betas in fanfic who like to share the editing expertise they garnered from years in 'the business' as writers of technical manuals and inserts for prescription medications.
I'm just thinking that it would be an awful lot to hope for someone willing to beta and proofread. I may have to shell out money for either or both, :D
Beta reader would be hugely appreciated.
The person who usually beta reads for me has taken ill (it wasn't my writing, at least she swears it wasn't). We were just starting our second read-through when she got sick. She'll be out of commission for a while and I'd really like to have it gone over once more for plot holes, readability, etc.
The genre is tricky, so perhaps I can get help with pigeon holing it as well. It's part fantasy, part thriller, I suppose. There are no elves, wizards, dragons, vampires, werecreatures, but there are demons.
Parts of this novel are extremely graphic, there is sex, violence, violent sex, a tiny smidgen of man on man action, swearing and some violently inappropriate comma placement.
The history of my fantasy characters is a small part of the beginning of the novel, hardly the Silmarillion, but a bit complicated. The basic gyst of the story centers around the Mayan doomsday prophecy.
I'm not sure what else to add here, I really blow at summarizing my own work. My background is very green. I first discovered a huge passion for writing a little over two years ago. This is my second novel, the first was looked at by an agent and rejected as having poor character development. This kinda blew me away because I loved my main character, until I discovered, after much reflection, that I had fallen in love with the character in my head and failed miserably at conveying him on paper. Hopefully I've done a better job this time.
Other than that, I've won a few awards writing fanfiction.
The Question:
Is it a good idea to find a professional proofreader? My comma placement is terrible, I have a tendency to repeat words and my sentence structure can be tragic in my continuing effort to avoid writing in passive voice, beginning sentences with pronouns and avoiding the words, 'as', 'begin', etc. at all costs! Fanfic beta's really messed me up. There are a lot of betas in fanfic who like to share the editing expertise they garnered from years in 'the business' as writers of technical manuals and inserts for prescription medications.
I'm just thinking that it would be an awful lot to hope for someone willing to beta and proofread. I may have to shell out money for either or both, :D