How do you deal as a beta with a writer who really is Bad?
I try not to. I have in the past, for one reason or another, and I've also worked as a writing tutor, which is similar in some ways. Basically you have to say, "This is never going to end up as if I had written it" and focus on a few things. I made the mistake once of pointing out everything I saw wrong in a story, and the writer never posted it. I wasn't mean in my comments (though I did beg her to learn the rules for dialogue punctuation in English, which might have been going a bit far, but OMFG), but she still ended up really discouraged. Since then I've decided that if I end up beta reading something that's just painful, you have to focus on one thing.
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I try not to. I have in the past, for one reason or another, and I've also worked as a writing tutor, which is similar in some ways. Basically you have to say, "This is never going to end up as if I had written it" and focus on a few things. I made the mistake once of pointing out everything I saw wrong in a story, and the writer never posted it. I wasn't mean in my comments (though I did beg her to learn the rules for dialogue punctuation in English, which might have been going a bit far, but OMFG), but she still ended up really discouraged. Since then I've decided that if I end up beta reading something that's just painful, you have to focus on one thing.