So you have a piece written for the competition. Now it’s time to have it proofread. You can also ask to have it beta read.
Let’s start there, because most people will use those two terms interchangeably. A proofreading (or a proof) is just checking for technical problems. It’s also called a “basic red line” reading. Proofing just checks spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. Other things that are involved in a basic proof are checking for clarity, tightening the prose, and checking perspective & tense.
A beta read on the other hand will include suggestions on characterization, action, plot, pacing, and flow. Basically, a beta helps with the story aspects as well as the writing aspects, but a proof just deals with the writing aspects. Some people are better with one part over the other, both in their writing and in checking others, and some might be more receptive to one over the other.
This is why the spreadsheet roster has the Beta Preferences section.
Now onto the good stuff: how Hufflepuff handles this.
Since the Houses Competition judges spelling, grammar, and punctuation (SG&P), it is always a good idea to have a second set of eyes look over your piece. It’s not required by the rules of the competition, but it is a good strategy.
This is especially true if this is your first term with the team. Hufflepuff is blessed with a large amount of seasoned players with a few that have even been with the team since Term 1. This term also sees a former judge joining the team. With experience comes knowledge, some of it hard won. We urge all our players to take advantage of having a team supporting you.
We use Google Docs (G-Docs) to share documents. The reason for this is two-fold. One, you will need the word count of your story (just the story part) and the official count is done through G-Docs. Two, it allows for more than just the corrections. It also allows for explanations of why the corrections were suggested as well as comments about parts that can be improved.
You are not required to write your story in G-Docs, if you do not want to. G-Docs accepts uploads of multiple kinds files, even if it is most compatible with Word (.doc/.docx) and OpenOffice (.odt). G-Docs does handle very similar to Word, except it is not stored on your computer and finding it free is a lot easier (Microsoft tends have a lot of hoops to get to the free Office apps).
If you have a gmail or Youtube account (because that runs off a Google account, too), you have access to G-Docs, and it’s as easy as logging into your Google account!
How to upload your document:
When in G-Docs’ main page, you will see several options, but what we want for uploading is the folder icon found under the template ribbon. It looks like this:
Clicking the folder icon will open a dialogue box over your browser. On the top edge of this dialogue box are several options for where to find a file to open. (Picture included)
You want “Upload”. Clicking that will change the window to this:
At this point, it’s exactly like using a flash drive.
Your file will automatically open once it has been uploaded.
How to get a sharing link:
When your file opens, in the top right corner will be a blue button that says “Share”. After clicking it, a dialogue box will open that looks like this:
The easiest way to share with the team is to get a shareable link. Restricting to only certain emails interferes with our method of “whoever has a moment” for assigning to proofing/beta-reading.
When you have clicked the link button, your dialogue box will shift to this:
Note that the default setting for the link is “can view”. This means that someone accessing your document with that link will be able to see it but cannot make suggestions on the document and cannot edit at all. What we need is for it to be set to “can comment”. You change this setting by clicking the “can view” section and selecting the “can comment” option. The “can comment” setting means that someone can make suggestions for changes but they cannot outright change your document.
Why is that important? Sometimes you may not agree with a suggested change or you may agree that it should be changed but decide to change it in a different way. Also, speaking from the perspective of a professional writing coach, if you see the corrections, you can learn better & faster.
Important!: You will need to make a fresh copy of the link by clicking “copy link”. It is a different URL from the one which was automatically copied.
Next is sharing the URL with the team. You can do this by making a link on the appropriate section of the spreadsheet and putting the status as “ready for beta” or “ready for proof”, but if you’re in our Discord server, you have another option.
You can just drop the link into the Beta & Proofing channel (located in the General Writing Stuff category). Please label the link in some way. I personally favor things like “Round 2 Drabble” or “PRC 05 (Aya)”. This is also the opportunity to mention any specific concerns you have such as “I really don’t think I was clear in this section” or “I don’t know if the prompt is present enough” so that whoever checks you can address them, even if it’s just to reassure you.
Important!: Once someone has looked over your piece, you will need resolve all comments. You can do this by accepting or rejecting the suggested correction and by clicking “resolve”.
After you have been proofed, it is time to get your file back on your computer. To do this, you go to “File” and then “Download File As”. You then choose your file type of choice, and it will save it in whatever way you have set up on your computer.
It is important to note that your file should be compatible with Fanfiction.net’s coding. The top three choices are a guarantee of that, with the top two as your best bet for preserving formatting.
Congratulations! You survived!
