No-one is more surprised than I am

[indri]

OK, I've finished drafting my fic about the Burkles. I think that took three years, a personal record for fic.

Is there anyone still reading this journal who'd like to beta? It's only 2300 words now that I've ruthlessly culled the superfluous subplots.

Anyone?

ETA: OK, I have an Australian and an ex-pat Brit. I really need an American too, as it's set in Texas.

---

Switching between dialects is hard. In one story I used the word "hoon" and nwhepcat queried it; I was aiming for an English idiom, but "hoon" is Aussie. The other day, I used the word "snib" in front of my partner; it turned out that in the sixteen years we've known each other I had never before had cause to say "snib" and it's a Scotticism.

FYI, a hoon is someone driving recklessly and fast, while a snib is a catch, such a window-catch.

Comments

[reverancepavane.livejournal.com]

[indri]

OK, you've surprised me. I didn't know that you beta fanfic.

[reverancepavane.livejournal.com]

[indri]

Well, up until now all of the betas I've had have been fellow fanfic writers, but I'll give it a go. Sending you email.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I would be honoured to beta your story, if you'll let me?

[indri]

Oh, I'd be delighted. I'll email you a link. I'll presume @livejournal.com will work.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

Dialects are weird and fascinating. I once completely fazed a New York editor by having a character refer to something (a cursed ivory statue another character was toting around, it being that sort of book) as a "play-pretty" . . . she'd never heard the term, and was strongly of the opinion that nobody outside of Texas was going to have heard of it either. I had to settle for "bauble," which was a close-but-no-cigar sort of alternative that left out the extra shades of meaning dealing with the relationship between the speaker and the listener in question.

[indri]

I've not heard of "play-pretty" either, despite my two years in Austin.

I didn't realise, before I left Scotland, how many of the words I used were local: "barry" meaning "great", "shoogle" meaning "to shake something that's at least partially liquid" and so on.

[deepad]

I have nothing of relevance to say beyond:
I love those two bits of random slang and I shall endeavour to incorporate them into my vocabulary as firmly as possible. Hoon, given Delhi driving, should be easy. Snib will need working on.

[deepad]

oh, and I'd beta, except I'm thinking an Indian with two years familiarity with Minnesota doesn't exactly help with the texan-edits.

[indri]

wasabi_oni is willing to check my Americanisms. If you still fancy beta'ing though, I'll email a link.

[deepad]

Just checking - you got my beta comment email, right?

[indri]

Yes, just had an unexpectedly busy weekend so haven't made the edits yet.

Thanks!

[indri]

Do you find yourself using words in Minnesota that you thought were everywhere-English but which the Minnesotans don't recognise?

What worries me is that, once I've mostly sorted out which words I know from where, then the language will have changed anyway. When watching the new Dr Who I had to look up new Brit slang words which had gone into common usage after I'd left. I'll never keep up :(

[deepad]

Yep. Maybe I was being dumb by not realising they didn't know the word 'loo', you know, for bathroom, but I thought that sort of slang was universal. Plus there's enough Indian English in me, and fanspeak to make me sounds weird pretty much anywhere.
And I'm up for the beta if you still want another one.

[wasabi-oni.livejournal.com]

Delurking to say: ex-pat American here, though of the Californian variety. I'd love to beta.

[indri]

Thank you! I'm particularly interested in any aspects or use of language that don't ring true as American.

I'll send a link by email.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I'm such a techno-moron, I've lost your e-mail addy. Can you send it again and I'll pass my comments on to you?

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Did the comments get through?

[(Anonymous)]

Yes. I am just about to look at them now; I didn't have time yesterday.

Thanks!

[indri]

Thank you! I should be able to respond properly by email sometime tomorrow.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

There's no hurry - I wasn't able to be terribly helpful anyway because I thought the story was great as it stands - but I've been having some trouble with disappearing emails of late and I wanted to be sure this wasn't one of them.

[indri]

Did you get the link? I'm looking forward to your input.

[indri]

Thanks again for the offer to beta. If you are able to find time, I'd welcome your comments. I'm going to go ahead and post the fic now, as it's about two weeks since I put it up for beta, but I'd still make changes based on your recommendations. But I quite understand if you've become too busy. Life all too often interferes with fanfic, alas.

[ex_peasant441]

If it's not too late for you, I can offer my services. (Sorry about the slow response, my life has been deeply chaotic he last couple of weeks.)

[indri]

Actually, what I'm hoping is that you'll beta the Dru fic when it's done. The Burkle fic is a sort of prequel, but is really quite minor by comparison.