Thirty Days - Day Twenty-Four

Day 24 – Betaing – How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren’t any major flaws in your story? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?

I use one beta: my husband. He's great for bouncing ideas off of and showing first drafts to, because he'll give me feedback and let me know if things work or not. He's got a good grasp on characterizations in the fandoms I write for, and always has solid advice and input for plot points. It works out well, because I beta for him the same way when he writes.

The only downside is that his grammar, spelling, and punctuation leave a bit to be desired. I make up for that by doing multiple edits on my own work. I'll read through the first draft with him, and then let that sit for a couple of days. Then I'll tackle it again, and go through fixing things like awkward word flow, editing out adverbs that aren't needed (too many always sneak in on those first drafts), and typos. Then I let it sit again.

On the third read-through, if I only find a few things to fix, I'll fix those and call it good to post. If I find I've had to do more editing than expected, I'll let it sit yet again, and do a fourth read-through and edit. By that point, the story is usually ready to post, but if not, I'll rinse-repeat that process until I do feel confident that it's polished well enough to share.