timonger asked:
Do you have any advice with finding a writing partner, or Beta Reader? I'm new to the fan fiction writing world (been a reader for a while) and don't have that many connections in the fandom (Star Trek/DS9). any ideas or advice are welcome!
conceptadecency answered:
Thanks for the ask! And welcome to the fan fiction writing world!
In my experience it takes a while to find beta and co-writers, because you have to build up relationships and find people you particularly vibe with. The good news is it’s fun because you just talk about the characters you love with other people who love them just as much!
I built most of my fandom relationships first by commenting on other fics and replying to comments on mine. A lot of people like to have conversations in the comments about their headcanons, or wouldn’t it be great if such and such had happened in canon, or things like that. Tumblr is also a great place to do that — lots of us fanfic writers are on here, so don’t be afraid to interact with our posts! Then once you feel you know a person maybe you talk to them via pm on Tumblr (honestly the main reason I have a Tumblr is the pm feature so I can talk to other writers).
Yeah, so just get in there and comment on fics and Tumblr posts and connect with people and have fun doing it. The relationships will grow and once you know people better maybe you’ll get to talking and you or they will have a fic that needs betaing, or you’ll talk out a great idea together and decide to write it together, or some other great creative idea will come to you.
(And if you haven’t been to a Sid City Social Club Zoom you might want to do that too. There’s a thriving fan community around there and a lot of them are writers too. You don’t have to turn your camera on or talk to anybody if you don’t want to)

When I got onto Tumblr, I made a post asking if anyone wanted to beta read for me. I got two responses and one of them is now a dear friend. Go for it!
