Animation Source Forums

I was thinking that as a way of helping less experienced writers, this site could use some Beta Readers.

For those of you who don't know what they are, beta readers are people that fanfic writers can use to look over their work. They check for any spelling and grammatical errors, and also give tips on characterization and plot, if they're needed. They are basically editors for fanfiction.

It would be a great way to ensure that any shoddy work is corrected, and it would help people who are less experienced at writing. If they could have someone who is more experienced give them tips and help them along, they would gradually become better and better writers.

The idea is that certain members who would want to do that would sign up and it would be a sort of job for them, much like how the mods enforce the rules. If someone wanted to have their work looked at, they could find a beta reader on the site and send it to them.

What do you think?

In theory, it's a good idea. But who would want to spend all their time on BS editing poorly-edited work?

Well, I don't know about others, but I know I've offered at different times to Beta read for other writers. Of course, like anyone else, I get busy sometimes too, so I'd only be able to take on about two or three fanfictions per week (if I can even get that done). And, though it might be a bit of a hassle, considering some of the poorly edited fanfictions, isn't it better to try and help teach others to write better? As a writer and a roleplayer, I've always believed that when another writer/roleplayer doesn't know the rules or understand what s/he may be doing wrong, it's the more experienced person's duty to at least try to correct the less experienced person. Otherwise, how would they improve themselves?

I agree. The main hope is that the editors would give little tips to the writer on things like making the sentences flow better, or how to structure the plot as part of their editing. The writer would learn from this and gradually become a better writer. Eventually, the only thing the beta reader would need to do is a final spelling/grammar check (there is always the odd word that slips through the spell-checker). Thanks to the tips and encouragement from the beta, the writer has grown from a novice to a well-rounded writer.

I think it's a good idea. I've seen a fair amount of people get very frustrated when their fanfics are not accepted but sometimes they're just so full of errors the fanfic mods simply can't accept them.

Having a group of people willing to help out those people could help quite a lot. Particularly with so many fairly young members here.

I think it's an excellent idea. My reason also pretty much sums up to UK's post: