McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
This is seriously ****ed up
Shecky:
--- Quote from: LizW65 on February 22, 2009, 12:16:15 AM ---Query: At what point does a professional writer such as Jim cease to take the advice of betas and just go his own route? I can understand beta readers being a useful tool for a beginning writer, but Jim has over a dozen successful books under his belt. Isn't it the job of an editor to catch errors in the text? How much say do betas actually have in the direction a story takes? Or am I completely misunderstanding their role in the creative process?
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Why would they cease? I've heard more than one writer say something to the effect of "When you, as a writer, start to think you're really on the top of your game, that's when you REALLY start to learn." Extra sets of eyes and brains are ALWAYS good to have around - with a group of betas, you can start to get an idea of how the readership is going to react to things, something an editor just isn't as equipped to do, no matter how much experience he has. Betas have as much "say" as the writer thinks they should have; I will say that a self-honest writer will ALWAYS listen to criticism... how he responds to it, if at all, depends on a number of things, mainly whether or not it IS a good suggestion. :)
Knight_Wanderer:
--- Quote from: LizW65 on February 22, 2009, 12:16:15 AM ---Query: At what point does a professional writer such as Jim cease to take the advice of betas and just go his own route? I can understand beta readers being a useful tool for a beginning writer, but Jim has over a dozen successful books under his belt. Isn't it the job of an editor to catch errors in the text? How much say do betas actually have in the direction a story takes? Or am I completely misunderstanding their role in the creative process?
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It basically goes back to what JB said about them pointing out the things the writer already knows - or at least suspects - are wrong. Readers point out the writer's blind spots regarding their own works, catch continuity errors (if possible), point out passages or character moments that don't ring true, and reinforce the creeping suspicions the writer already has about his own work, etc. They aren't there to dictate plot points, rewrite sections, etc. Personally, there have been VERY few instances in which a reader of my own has pointed something out where my immediate and continued reaction is "Wow, you're just dead wrong." Usually the feedback immediately makes sense, somewhat more rarely it will make sense after I ruminate on it a few days.
I'd also like to point out something a professor of mine once said in college. The audience is NEVER WRONG, no matter what they think or say about a piece of art. Art is a subjective medium, hence, whatever the audience thinks is always correct for that particular person. Telling a person he/she is wrong about their reaction to art is . . . well, kind of foolish. What the creator has to do is weigh each individual's reaction to the art.
Persephone:
--- Quote from: kwirk on February 22, 2009, 12:04:13 AM ---Hmph. Not so sure I share that. Imagine having a smaller scale version of *this board* and actually having to keep the discussion cogent, goal-directed, and within deadline. Kurding Hats.
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I am primarily jealous of ANYONE who has extended access to Jims level of AWESOME. I met him once in person and am that much more obsessed with doing it again. *not in a creepy stalker way* *more in an "OMG you are the coolest person I've ever met! we should hang out!" kinda way*
Shecky:
--- Quote from: kwirk on February 22, 2009, 12:04:13 AM ---Hmph. Not so sure I share that. Imagine having a smaller scale version of *this board* and actually having to keep the discussion cogent, goal-directed, and within deadline. Kurding Hats.
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I think it's the fact that it IS partially a "smaller-scale version of this board" that actually makes it work so well. Discussions grow organically, and there are often aspects and issues that don't come up in restrictively managed conversations. Besides, as has been said more than once, the initial structure of the commentary IS organized; it's any further discussion that grows beyond that.
LizW65:
--- Quote from: Knight_Wanderer on February 22, 2009, 08:43:39 AM --- They aren't there to dictate plot points, rewrite sections, etc.
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(snipped for space)
Oh, okay. This is mainly the part I was curious about.
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