Hello.
On the subject of AI, I have a confession to make: I use it. Not to write for me, but to help me check for inconsistencies, to brainstorm ideas, to write outlines, to give me a couple of lines when I've been stuck for hours, to be my beta reader, if you will. Generative AI is bad? Yes, but it also a useful tool if one isn't lazy. I don't ask: write me a story. I go with my story and ask: help me with continuity. Look, this paragraph is clunky, how do I make it better? The demonization of generative AI is fair, but to be honest, I also understand people who use it. Maybe they're afraid of writing themselves, maybe they're insecure and don't trust their prose. Maybe they have brilliannt ideas but they need help to make them become fics.
To me, this is very much connected to my last ask where I was talking about how we don't have enough mentors in fandom to support the influx of people entering it.
All of the things that you're asking AI to do used to be done by a beta reader (or more than one!). A fandom friend (or even a random stranger who volunteered) would read through your work and help you with those issues.
Betas are amazing. They can help with grammar and spelling. They can regionalize language. They can provide sensitivity reading if they're from a marginalized community that you're writing about and aren't a member of. They can track canon, help with research, even just be a sounding board to discuss ideas with.
And sometimes, they're just a cheer reader - someone reading your story and telling you how awesome it is because they love it just as much as you do.
I understand turning to AI if you 1) don't know beta readers exist or 2) don't know how to obtain one. The need for that kind of support doesn't go away just because you can't access it.
But for anyone out there who needs this kind of help and wants to avoid Gen AI, you can write a post on your blog, add it to an author's note, check out resources like @needabeta or - if the time of year is right and you have the funds - place a bid on beta reading services during @fandomtrumpshate
Beta readers are often involved in fandom events like big bangs and exchanges, and if anyone is looking to host such an event, it's a great way to get people involved who aren't writers or artists but would love to help out.
I get it, anon. We use the tools that are available to us. But here's another potential tool if you're interested in branching out?
Sometimes it's scary to post a message asking for beta readers, you are putting yourself out there, you have no idea who might respond to your message (if anyone at all) and nowadays a lot of bots are muddying the waters.
I definitely recommend searching a beta reader within the fandom you're writing for rather than someone who knows nothing about it.
And when you don't immediately get a response, ask again. This comes from a person (me) who is now two and a half years into dating the girl who replied to my 'I need a beta reader' post that I was debating to reblog that day.
Sometimes I wonder where our lives would be if I hadn't reblogged it or if she had skipped past the post.
Fandom is a community of people with shared interests. It's supposed to make it easier for us to become friends, hang out and talk for hours.
Not a single AI tool in the world is capable of giving (fandom) writers/artists/creators what they actually need.
Connection.
On a related note, members of the community betaplease on Dreamwidth would love to see more activity there! If you're looking to be a beta or get a beta, that might be a good place to check out.
