Would anyone like to be a continuity beta reader? · 6:23pm Aug 19th, 2016
I'm re-reading Not the Hero and finding a number of places where I say one thing and then contradict it later because I've been writing this story for 2 years now, and this is the story where I do a lot of exposition and worldbuilding. (Elements of Opposition doesn't have this problem to nearly the same extent because there's a lot less general worldbuilding going on, No Escape From Yourself just isn't long enough yet, and so forth.) Most of it is really minor crap, like Discord positively identifying Anubis as Set's son at one point and then later on claiming that he really isn't sure about that because his chaos avatar memories of Set are a jumbled mess.
But the problem is, I'm a speed reader, and that means my retention is crap. (It's natural, I didn't train to do it or anything... so I can't slow down.) Which means I can read the same story five times and get something new out of it each time that I missed, but when I wrote the story, if I happen to forget that some piece of worldbuilding I've changed my mind about has already been exposited, I'm not likely to find that piece via a quick re-read, and I don't have time to re-read a long story like this every time I want to work on writing it.
I am looking for one or two people who are careful readers, who'd notice if I was contradicting something I'd stated or implied earlier. (This doesn't guarantee I won't go ahead with the contradiction anyway... this is Discord narrating, after all.) The incentive for you is that you get to read new parts of the story before anyone else except maybe the folks on Patreon sometimes. I might also seek other specific advice -- not looking for help with typos, grammar, etc, but I might for instance ask a question like "Do you think I should tone this down" or "Is this particular digression too long" or stuff like that.
Would anyone be interested?
I'm extremely tempted to lie and say I can do that, but truth is, I have the exact same problem as you. I speedread things, especially when I like the story and I often reread them because I've forgotten some part of the story, or just forgot almost everything except that I liked it. Upside is I can read my favorite stories more than once and still be surprised.
Hmm...I could give it a shot...
I can try to do it I mean I am a speed reader but I'm extremely detail oriented and I got a photographic memory.
I would very much love to volunteer, though I'll admit it's mostly out of a desire to read more of Not the Hero.
I like to think that I'm good with catching continuity errors though, and I could always keep the story itself open to reference back to in order to be sure.
Well, I've helped you once before with this sort of thing, and you've seen how obsessive I am about small details, so I could give it a shot.
There's almost no need to ask, I'm sure a lot of us would comment on the story if there was a contradiction anyway.
It's a story with two reality warpers on the loose.
It's narrated by Discord, and he's losing his mind at points.
I'd be more concerned if everything fit perfectly.
4159895
With your writing style, so far, no digression has left me bored yet!
I was planning of re-reading all of Not the Hero, so I could do this.
I noticed errors on my first read-through, but I attributed it to Discord being an unreliable narrator, or being forgetful, or in serious pain, or having forgotten and then remembered later and vice-versa. But if I know it's a thing out of universe I could note it.
Raises hand. :)
I would gladly help, and I have experience beta reading
Would love to, though I would want to reread the story again. I'm more for retention and have a natural tendency to notice contradictions. I would do something to set myself ahead of the competition, but in reality, I do not have anything to offer at the moment but the promise that I can be what you are looking for.
I have experience pre-reading, editing, and being an overall pedant, so I bet I'd be a shoe-in.
Message me if you want information, schedules, or some sort of proof-work.
Regards,
Mal