And ode to my beta-reader!
Oct. 25th, 2010 05:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gelbes_gilatierThis year, it's the second beta-author anniversary that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mackenziesmomma and I celebrate and in light of this... I think an ode to my beta is in order. Also, mac already produced one and made me speechless - and, you know, no one makes me speechless - with it, so I guess I need to be extra nice to her ;)
Alright, here we go...
I met mac in the LorneLovers thread on GW and from the first post I read, I found her to be one of the most likable girls in a bunch of a lot of very nice girls. When I started taking up writing Stargate again and Lorne started to creep into my stories, sneaky little bastard that he is, she was one of my most avid readers. Right from Seize the Day, the first prelude to the Protect and Survive series, she reviewed steadily every Stargate one-shot and every multi-chaptered Stargate story that I wrote and published (and later also my Leverage stories, which she started beta'ing before she actually knew the show and the characters). She even made me take up writing the Minor Characters again and I'll be always thankful for that because the Minor Characters are probably even more important to me than Protect and Survive.
When she finally offered to do some betaing for me (she said it was the second chapter of Show the World, which is the seventh Protect and Survive installment, and I absolutely believe her because she's reliable like that ;)), I didn't hesitate for long - because, you know, it would have been pretty stupid to do so - and boy, am I glad I took up her offer :D
Mac has an impeccable sense of continuity and an amazing sense of language (I've been learning, speaking and writing English as a foreign language for almost 20 years now but it needed my genius beta to come along and teach me the real fineries), is a kick-ass observer and helps me to keep together the various strands of intersecting universes, dividing timelines and an evergrowing cast of OCs (and damn, those characters do need a firm hand). She also awards gold stars for swearing
But the greatest thing about mac as a beta reader is that she doesn't just edit my stories and sends them back with the best snark I ever read (most of all the blue snark! There's nothing like mac's blue snark to make me laugh!), she also shares her sometimes batshit insane plot bunnies (batshit insane plot bunnies are a good thing) with me and lets me use them. This really is the most amazing thing ever. Because, see, when it comes to plot bunnies, I have a pretty... conservative way of thinking; too confined to the good old paths we've seen a million times before... but mac doesn't. Mac doesn't have a problem with building a bunny out of the words "tutus and combat boots" (and damn, I love that story... ABBA's Dancing Queen will never be the same again for me) and she has a wonderfully quirky and unconventional way of thinking when it comes to plotting. Without that, I would have never gotten through Fanfic100 and I'd still be stuck somewhere in Protect and Survive, long before Fred (Fred is kinda her fault as well...).
She also often enough gives me just the right push I need to losen the knot that keeps me from continuing a multichapter story and when she beta's she finds exactly the things that were bugging me as well, without me having to tell her so. Which is probably due to the fact that she seems to be in my head for at least half the time, anyway... and that's pretty much amazing, considering the fact that there are thousands of kilometers between our heads most of the time ;)
The one time it wasn't in spring 2009 was amazing as well. After my visit to my sister in Vancouver for a few days mac and I actually managed to meet for a few hours because I had to take a Greyhound back to Seattle from Vancouver and she picked me up from a bus station on the road. We shared a wonderful dinner and had a lot of fun. Getting to meet mac in person was a great privilege that I'd love to repeat some day, only in Berlin so I can drag her around and indulge her history nut side :D
But above all, mac isn't only a good beta reader, she's a good friend and that's even more important. She lets me rant at her when I have to, no matter what it is about and she always manages to find the right moment to start talking me down and then go through with it (and Lord knows it's hard to talk me down when I really get rolling and I get rolling very fast). There aren't many people who can do that, and practically all of them are close relatives (as in my sisters). She also doesn't shy away from pushing me when I need it and doesn't let me give up prematurely, and I don't mean that only in writing but generally.
Mac, you're one of the most modest persons I know and I know that you don't take praise as you should but seriously, mac, take this one. It's from the heart and it's true and I just bet a lot of people will agree that you're one of a kind and a friend everyone would be glad to have. I damn, am I glad that I do :D
mackenziesmomma and I celebrate and in light of this... I think an ode to my beta is in order. Also, mac already produced one and made me speechless - and, you know, no one makes me speechless - with it, so I guess I need to be extra nice to her ;)Alright, here we go...
I met mac in the LorneLovers thread on GW and from the first post I read, I found her to be one of the most likable girls in a bunch of a lot of very nice girls. When I started taking up writing Stargate again and Lorne started to creep into my stories, sneaky little bastard that he is, she was one of my most avid readers. Right from Seize the Day, the first prelude to the Protect and Survive series, she reviewed steadily every Stargate one-shot and every multi-chaptered Stargate story that I wrote and published (and later also my Leverage stories, which she started beta'ing before she actually knew the show and the characters). She even made me take up writing the Minor Characters again and I'll be always thankful for that because the Minor Characters are probably even more important to me than Protect and Survive.
When she finally offered to do some betaing for me (she said it was the second chapter of Show the World, which is the seventh Protect and Survive installment, and I absolutely believe her because she's reliable like that ;)), I didn't hesitate for long - because, you know, it would have been pretty stupid to do so - and boy, am I glad I took up her offer :D
Mac has an impeccable sense of continuity and an amazing sense of language (I've been learning, speaking and writing English as a foreign language for almost 20 years now but it needed my genius beta to come along and teach me the real fineries), is a kick-ass observer and helps me to keep together the various strands of intersecting universes, dividing timelines and an evergrowing cast of OCs (and damn, those characters do need a firm hand). She also awards gold stars for swearing
But the greatest thing about mac as a beta reader is that she doesn't just edit my stories and sends them back with the best snark I ever read (most of all the blue snark! There's nothing like mac's blue snark to make me laugh!), she also shares her sometimes batshit insane plot bunnies (batshit insane plot bunnies are a good thing) with me and lets me use them. This really is the most amazing thing ever. Because, see, when it comes to plot bunnies, I have a pretty... conservative way of thinking; too confined to the good old paths we've seen a million times before... but mac doesn't. Mac doesn't have a problem with building a bunny out of the words "tutus and combat boots" (and damn, I love that story... ABBA's Dancing Queen will never be the same again for me) and she has a wonderfully quirky and unconventional way of thinking when it comes to plotting. Without that, I would have never gotten through Fanfic100 and I'd still be stuck somewhere in Protect and Survive, long before Fred (Fred is kinda her fault as well...).
She also often enough gives me just the right push I need to losen the knot that keeps me from continuing a multichapter story and when she beta's she finds exactly the things that were bugging me as well, without me having to tell her so. Which is probably due to the fact that she seems to be in my head for at least half the time, anyway... and that's pretty much amazing, considering the fact that there are thousands of kilometers between our heads most of the time ;)
The one time it wasn't in spring 2009 was amazing as well. After my visit to my sister in Vancouver for a few days mac and I actually managed to meet for a few hours because I had to take a Greyhound back to Seattle from Vancouver and she picked me up from a bus station on the road. We shared a wonderful dinner and had a lot of fun. Getting to meet mac in person was a great privilege that I'd love to repeat some day, only in Berlin so I can drag her around and indulge her history nut side :D
But above all, mac isn't only a good beta reader, she's a good friend and that's even more important. She lets me rant at her when I have to, no matter what it is about and she always manages to find the right moment to start talking me down and then go through with it (and Lord knows it's hard to talk me down when I really get rolling and I get rolling very fast). There aren't many people who can do that, and practically all of them are close relatives (as in my sisters). She also doesn't shy away from pushing me when I need it and doesn't let me give up prematurely, and I don't mean that only in writing but generally.
Mac, you're one of the most modest persons I know and I know that you don't take praise as you should but seriously, mac, take this one. It's from the heart and it's true and I just bet a lot of people will agree that you're one of a kind and a friend everyone would be glad to have. I damn, am I glad that I do :D
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Date: 2010-10-25 10:23 pm (UTC)You're not supposed to mention the blue snark! It's our dirty little secret :P
batshit insane plot bunnies
I don't think batshit insane even begins to cover some of my plot bunnies ;) (*coughs*firingrangesex*cough*)
Fred (Fred is kinda her fault as well...
Fred is so NOT my fault. He is totally your fault. I just support Fred and his insanity. :P
only in Berlin so I can drag her around and indulge her history nut side
You know...I'm not entirely sure Berlin would be ready for me ;) (you'd probably have to put out an all points bulletin or something that I was coming. Just so everyone could run away ;))
mac, take this one.
Fine, fine I'll take the praise. Doesn't mean I won't snark about it though ;)