My beta style is basic, line-by-line critiquing. I try to read the selection at least twice, in order to get a real feel for it. I fix the basic things, like grammar and spelling, and I don't comment on that unless you make similar mistakes over and over again. Everybody screws up occasionally, including (especially) me. In terms of writing, I tend to focus on sentence structure and characterization. I try to fix sentence structure without changing your original words; if I can't do it myself, I point it out and ask you to fix it (and, of course, show the result to me). As for characterization, I may ask you to completely rewrite a section if it doesn't work.

I have an extensive knowledge of picky grammar rules, and I'm fairly good at explaining what you did wrong and how to correct it. Also, I've been writing for a good long while now, so I know what works and what doesn't in terms of style and execution. I am fairly prompt at getting the edited work back to you because any time spent working on someone else's stuff is that much not spent on my own.

I can be very sarcastic if I don't like something you wrote. I try to reign it back with new writers, but I can be very nasty if I've been working with you a while. But I usually feel horrible afterward and grovel. Also, I am a writer before anything else, so I may not be as objective as I could be. A note: if I think your story has too much work needed, I will refuse. I will try to be polite, but occasionally I read things that I just wouldn't know where to begin with.

The genres I most often work in are romance, humor, and fantasy, so those are obviously the ones I am most comfortable critiquing. However, I'll read just about anything. I'm fine with critiquing any length of story, but if it is longer than a oneshot, I'd really prefer it if you could give me a concrete description of the plot (or at least a vague idea). For one thing, I don't like critiquing things the author doesn't plan to finish. For another, it will help me critique you if I know the backstory of the characters and what ends up happening to them. (If you have the whole thing completed (which I really reccommend), you don't have to.)

I am not a big fan of historical fiction (mostly because it is a lot of work to beta since you have to double-check the author's facts) and Westerns.

All Fiction

General Romance Humor Drama

Adventure Mystery Horror Parody

Angst Supernatural Suspense Sci-Fi

Fantasy Tragedy Friendship