Okay, time out here, everyone.
There seems to be a little disagreement brewing here because a prereader
was cut without notice, and is miffed about it. (Okay, that's an
understatement).
Because this is a relevant, if less than properly handled, topic, and
because I happen to have been involved in this during the course of the
prereading process, I want to touch on some points about the relationship
between writers and prereaders, and their obligations.
The entire purpose of prereading is to allow the writer to get an idea of
how well a work in progress is flowing, and to have help in catching the
early draft stage mistakes before going public with the piece, and also to
gather ideas on what might improve the fic in question.
Now, every writer has a distinct style, and a modus operandi. Usually, when
a writer collects prereaders, they explain, in general, what they're
looking for, and it doesn't take long for the prereaders to figure out
about how long the author is willing to wait for it.
The entire point of prereading is to help the author perfect a fanfic. The
author wants comments, critiques, and help catching mistakes. They usually
want them within a reasonable period of time.
Sometimes, prereaders don't respond at all. Sometimes, they don't respond
promptly. And sometimes, they respond, but their comments are not
particularly helpful. This is fine if they genuinely have no problems with
the work as presented, and say something to the effect of, "I don't see
anything here I can help you with". But if their comments are along the
lines of "I think you should do this" and "I think this should happen", and
this is not what the author is looking for...
Sometimes, for these reasons, a prereader simply isn't serving any useful
purpose. In these cases, it is perfectly reasonable for an author to cut
them off, because they're dead weight.
Is a prereader entitled to know when they're being cut off? It depends. If
the prereader has never responded, and doesn't seem to give a roadkill
possum, then it's pretty much pointless to notify them that they've been
cut off. (This kind of thing shouldn't be necessary, but sometimes it is.)
If a prereader has been responding consistently, but their responses are
completely useless, and the author feels the need to cut them off, then the
author *should* inform the prereader in question of this. It is only common
courtesy. If someone is actually taking the time to respond, then they
deserve some kind of notice.
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It's Sigglypuff!
o/~Sigglypuff, sigglyyypuff...sigglypuff, siggly...o/~
It was a dark and horny night. Suddenly, a shit rang out. The maid creamed.
A turd in the hand is worth two in the tush.
A watched twat never oils.
"Here, firewood! ...nope, no firewood here, Pikachu." --Ash
"She can violate my rights anytime..." --Brock
"Please, Misty! Only one of us can hallucinate at a time!" --Ash
TODAY'S MYSTERY
Mewtwo: Freeza reincarnated as a Pokemon?
The Eternal Lost Lurker
(The Left Testicle of Gort)
I've got one hand in my pocket, and the other one's givin' you the
finger...
lurkerdrome@megami.net
http://lurkerdrome.megami.net
"You _fell_off_ your _ass_?! o.O;;;;;"
**No Bulbasaurs evolved into Penisaur during the making of this .sig**