I Can't See!

[intothewood]

Help.

I’m going over my second book because it needs some fixing, and it’s definitely been awhile since I’ve read it through. But I’m in that state where I can’t really see anything for what it is.

Have you been there? One minute you look at something you’ve written and think ‘hey, that’s pretty good’ and the next minute you’re thinking ‘oh god that’s fucking awful!’ Or you get an obsession with, say, commas, and suddenly every fucking comma looks out of place. You’re reading unnaturally, halted by all the commas and the sentences don’t read like sentences any longer, they’re just a string of words separated by awkward commas!

I really need to do this, but I’m second guessing everything. Everything. The logical answer would be to put it aside, but I don’t wanna. Yes, I’ve turned into a stubborn four year-old who can’t read properly.

Stubborn four-year-old antics aside, have you had this happen and is there something you do to break from it? Because I really want to work on this today.

Comments

[intothewood]

Oh hey, you. I haven't seen you in awhile - that, or I'm blind.

The thing with Betas is I want to know them, to form relationships and understand them and have them understand me, so that when they offer input, I can trust them. Trust is a big thing for me. I can't just toss my stuff around willy nilly, that's like foisting off a kid to whatever babysitter, you know? I'm sure you know, and you have good relationships with your betas. But it takes time, and I haven't begun, yet. Obviously I need to!

[niniane]

Eh, I've been busy.

It takes a long while to form a relationship with a beta, I agree. Also, it tends to happen (in my experience) with someone you've already been working with. I have best friends who I would not beta (and who I don't want to beta my work), and I've met people I barely like in real life who do a great job. So it's tricky. I've met pretty much all of my from critique groups, though, so I'm not sure where else you'd find one.

I agree that there is a certain level of trust involved. But in many ways, I see it more as sending a kid to elementary school. They may not like the teacher. The teacher may be a jerk and I may request that they be moved to another class. But me and all the loving aunts and uncles are unlikely to be able to teach them everything they need to know to get along in life.

There's also the challenge (and this happens with my regular betas too) that we all think our stories are little geniuses. Every last one of us thinks we have a prodigy. But when we send that little Einstein off into a group of his peers and suddenly he gets a C, we think, "Huh, maybe not." Or maybe it's the teacher's fault...but then after the next one also gives it a C or a D, we start thinking that perhaps Jr. needs some remedial tutoring in certain areas. (That's the other advantage of somewhere like Critters. I've found it's easy to write off one "your ending isn't working", but when 10 people tell you the same thing, you take notice!)

That's part of why I stay active in the critique groups. Most of my current betas and I get along. We want each other to succeed and think that each others' work is pretty good. But that also introduces a level of bias that someone at Critters (or whatever) won't have.

The nice thing is, while some people are brutal or unfair or just seem to be wrong, the most genuinely seem to want to help. Which is good. (Although some are better at helping than others.) Plus, ultimately, the worst that happens is that it stings a bit, you have a drink, and then get back at it.

(And the more you're critiqued, the less it stings. Me and a beta actually have a running contest as to who can get the most awful critique. We think I've won...so far.)

[intothewood]

My issue isn't the critiques - I want the critiques, the brutal truths, because I don't want to put out slop. Sometimes we all write slop, geniuses or not. It's just a part of the creative process, we throw out ideas and sentences and some are amazing, some suck. No, the issue with me is I'm paranoid.

I don't want people taking me shit. My ideas, my words, my stuff. Realistic or not, that's my hangup. Now, I realize we all poach inspiration from different sources, I do it wildly, but I take as inspiration, not thievery. I've witnessed downright thievery and it pisses me off to no end, so yes I'm hyper aware, maybe over sensitive. I don't scarper with people's shit, and I don't want my shit scarpered. That's my big concern in looking to form trusting relationships.

[niniane]

I think it's rather improbable that anyone will steal (beyond in the peripheral way in which we all steal).

For once, most other writers are convinced that their stuff is the best ever, so see no reason to steal your "inferior" idea.

For another, the sites are password protected. And most include a long list of legal disclaimers as to what happens if someone does steal an idea.

So I won't say that it can't happen - or that it never happens. But I suspect that it happening is pretty rare. (At least on reputable sites.) There's not a huge amount of financial gain, and there's a lot of potential risk.

Plus, it's a risk you take anywhere, with any story. An agent could steal it. A publisher could. So either you keep them all hidden on your computer or figure, "I take my odds" and go for it. (And sue anyone who does steal. The penalties are crazy harsh - far more than most of us will ever make for selling a story!)

[intothewood]

Such is the world of paranoia. I need to examine more, I really haven't. At all. I'm sure you're right, but it's one of those things one has to discover on their own, like ouch the stove fucking burns when you stick your hand on it.

How do you sue for random stuff? I don't think it can be done. I've had that dangerous level of exposure to the book industry - just enough to get me into trouble, not enough to know specifics.

[niniane]

Eh, you only discover that you're mostly safe by interacting with writing comms. Which, of course, you can do without sharing work. (Although it's often hard to get a beta without doing so, as betas often don't want to agree to read more than a very little bit unless they're fairly convinced that they won't be agreeing to a novel worth of misery.)

You can definitely sue if someone shares your copy righted work without permission. From the Critters Website:

Absolutely not! No way! Big trouble awaits!

All works submitted to Critters are copyrighted, and you have no authority to share the work with anyone, at all, period. And if you have the urge, keep in mind that the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) carries really stiff fines (minimum $2500 -per violation- up to millions of dollars) and up to ten years in jail. Yeah. Heavy stuff.

Don't mess with the copyright law. (Note that maximums are unlimited as far as fines go.)

This, of course, relates only to the US. But similar laws exist in most other countries. So if you shared something with someone and they spread it all over (or pretended it was theirs), you could technically sue them under this law for any damages. Of course, you'd have to figure out where they were (which could be tough) and prove that it was yours (pretty easy, as I'd assume that there'd be an enormous digital trail).

And this really wouldn't apply to fanfiction, seeing as your legal rights to it are nebulous there at best.

But if someone stole your original fiction, you could definitely sue and get them into a huge amount of legal trouble. (And this is beyond finding where they shared it and getting them into trouble there, too. I suspect that magazines, etc. don't look too fondly on plagiarism.)

Regardless, the penalties (both legal and also, do you really want to be known as the person who stole someone else's work and pretended it was yours?) are significant enough that most people tend to be pretty good. No guarantees - of course - there are none in life. But most people's fears are rather over blown. It's not that hard to prove that your work is your own. It's not that hard to make a plagiarist's life miserable. And most people really aren't out there to steal other people's stuff, anyway, as they're having a hard enough time promoting what they write themselves.

[intothewood]

Thank you, this is really helpful, a much appreciated part of my education and introduction to the world of writers as a community of people. I'm like a feral kitty, I have to be convinced to join the other kitties. Ugh, that's a horrible comparison, but you know what I mean.

[niniane]

Oh, not a problem. You can't learn if you don't ask questions. (And I believe that damages can be as high as $30,000 even if you can't prove any actual damages, which is a pretty tidy sum if someone runs off with a story - not bad, really.)