estirose

At first, I was going to say how amazed I was, because 20 years is a long time. Then my memory finally kicked in and I realized that I was also "writing" fanfic 22 years ago. Granted, I was like 4 and would regale my mom with stories about my Mary Sue team of human Care Bears who'd save the world.

You win at earliest writing. (I can say one thing; Even looking back at my first fanfic, I can say it's coherent, if just lacking a bit of... life experience.)

Every time I create an OC, they start off as Mary Sues. Then I just let them develop, and they grow out of it. :)

I'm sure mine do; I just can't see it too well.

* I'm really bad at reviewing.

I'm always forgetting to review things.

Me too. Bummer.

I don't think it so much makes you a bad beta. Not everyone sees things the same way. I've had betas who've complained about "issues" in my fics which aren't really issues because of the way I wrote it, but would be issues if it was written in a different tone.

Betas are always most effective when they're on the same wavelength as you. Like, I have a beta in NCIS who practically shares a brain with me. Our writing styles are very similiar, so it's easy for her to pick up on the problems in my fics. Whereas, I've had beta who's styles are massively different from my own, and they rarely notice part of the fic I consider rough.

Well, there's a difference, and maybe I wasn't being too clear (I really can outBridge Bridge half the time when I'm not imitating Sky), in that I am very uncritical of stuff. It's not really spotting what's wrong, it's an overpoliteness. It is easier to spot the right things when you share a brain with your beta (I've had some of those), but me... I'm very reluctant to criticize. Even with people who can take it. For example, if I ripped one of your stories apart in a critical review, in constructive criticism, I wouldn't be afraid that you'd flame me to high heaven. And yet, I'm afraid of doing it because it *might* happen. My brain is weird.

The different perspectives is a good point, though. I do see things a lot of people don't see, and vice versa.

* Like most people, I don't like my own writing. I think that most people around me write better than I do.

I guess I'm a minority then. I love my writing. I'm rather embarrassed by some of the stuff from my fangirl phase, but there's always been good points in every one of my fics. From the first one on. I don't hate my writing because each fic I've written was the best I could do at that point in time. I get better, I grow, I still re-read a lot of my old work with a sense of enjoyment.

Granted, I don't think I'm the best writer around. I have weaknesses where others have strengths, and I have strengths where others have weaknesses.

Yay! That's really cool of you. It's a nice attitude to have.