To audience is not to beta: Two Texts to Compare

blythely asked what was meant by the word "audience" and I thought it might be better to show than to tell.

Exhibit A is brown_betty audiencing -- not betaing -- my JBBS pinch-hit, Homemade Volcanoes. Notable in her style of reaction are her enthusiasm, her general lack of critique with some minor exceptions, and her consistent timely response to something that was being written as she read.

( Betty Audiencing )

Exhibit B is brown_betty beta-reading part of Liminal Spaces via IM. The text she was reading had already been created, and was something like the third-generation draft of that particular scene. Notable in her responses to the text are her willingness to critique its tone, her feeling of freedom to suggest rephrasings of sections, and her engagement in the creative process. She had already beta-read the previous stories in the series and had made holistic comments on those as well.

( Betty Beta-Reading )