Odds and Ends
02/15/00
I realized today that I can pretty much go without a beta reader. I don't even remember the last time I had a full, official beta before I posted a story.
It's odd, because I still feel the need for a beta reader. I'm so much more comfortable having someone read a peice over before I post. I'm very insecure; I need someone to tell me that my work doesn't suck.
But now I just post a story as soon as I've finished, and read the piece over once once or twice. And throughly spellchecked. Spelling seems to be the only thing I still have a problem with.
This scares me. I don't have a safety net. I don't have someone pointing out plot errors to me. I'm all on my own. I may get stories out faster, but I run a big risk.
02/03/00
Today I re-read a story I wrote in early January that's part of my "unpostable" series. Basicly it's a bunch of stories that I wrote, all in a row, that I deemed unpostable and never finished. And they're all long. Anyway, a fresh re-read of this one made me re-think it's status. But I'm still unsure, so I think I'll have someone else read it and trell me if it's any good.
Scratch that. I *know* it's good. It's well written, well plotted, and has excellent characterazation. But it contains a roomful of minor characters that I've based on people I've known in real life, and I think that I haven't described them or their situation in a way that other people will understand. And it contains jokes that I believe will only be funny to me, and maybe thirty other people. *And* I've *Mary Sued* a younger version of myself. Oy.
