Kajun wrote:
Yeah, I was just thinking of Katharyn when Binky mentioned word count. It's a thing.
I could see how it would become a thing. That woman does like her words. I mean, I'm not exactly laconic, and she impresses me. With the wordiness.
Quote:
I don't think marking in red to critique a fic here on the kitten would be allowed even if it was a short, short story. One of the rules. There would need to be a different, non font color/size changing, way to highlight specific things. It could be managed on the board if you were inclined to give it a go using a different method of marking. I think that would be great.
If it was done off board all kitten members wouldn't benefit from the efforts, you know?
Oh, heh. I didn't
literally mean marking with red. I just feel sort of like an English teacher when I'm critiquing, which makes me think 'red ink' thoughts. Plus, when I comment with MS word, it shows up in red. So, yes, being a tad metaphorical and shit.
(Besides, I'm
not messing with bbcode tags for font sizes/colors/etc. Just . . . no.)
Yes, we'd actually have to use quotes and strikethrough and bold and whatnot. Kludgy, but doable.
Binky,
First, I'm so glad to hear you were in grad school. Particularly for something like English lit. It makes me think "used to serious critique" thoughts. I can be, um . . . harsh? Yes, I'll say harsh. I also think things like "thank god, I can say shit like 'use the simple past here, not the past progressive,' or 'rewrite this to avoid passive voice.'" (I warn you, an English teacher beat me until I hated passive voice, and my beta beat me until shifting POVs made me dizzy.)
From your initial posting, I agree that spelling and grammar aren't likely to be much of an issue. I do have lots to say, though, so I promise that you won't get zero comments.
Of the two ways you mentioned for addressing the length . . . well, I suppose it doesn't matter, really--either you'll post the full thing or I'll ask for a draft of it. I know I want to have the whole thing in front of me when I sit down with it. My big concern with the length is how long it will take to translate comments into BBCode. Yesterday I sent out comments on two scenes that came to a total of 2000 rather well-written words, and I still made about 40 comments and as many in-line corrections/suggestions: deletions, substitutions, additions etc. (Part of that comes from the two of us having different styles, so I don't imagine she'll act on all of those.) Still, that would come out really, really long in BBCode. How long do you estimate each chunk would be? Would you do something like "this week, we're working on section 5. next week, section 6"?
I must warn you I'm not actually a San Diego native--I moved here for grad school a few years ago, and don't exactly get out much. But I do live here. (And holy shit is the zoo awesome.) By the way, if they have UCSD affiliations, they should live in La Jolla, not Chula Vista. Well, and/or can afford it. Which they presumably can if Willow's guest speaking at Brown.
In your initial post, you talked about the kinds of things that go into the compatibility between a writer and a beta. The "Sincerest Form of Flattery" thread linked in my signature is a thread I have doing rewrites of other people's stuff. (Which needs an update. I even have a piece in mind.) The discussion in the comments I think provides a good introduction to how I think about writing--word choice, POV, etc. So, if you're curious about who I am, and how I think about this sort of stuff, that's probably the best place to start. (And since each piece is in vignette territory, it's not heavy on the time-commitment front.)
-Kate
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More of a dog person, myself.
I'm from Iowa, we drive four hours for a high school football game.
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