This is how much a nitpicker I am:

[eliyes]

Having saved a copy of a fanfic I like so that I can read it when I'm not online, I am now going through the file I have saved, for the pleasure of reading it and to make sure the formatting didn't go all weird....

...and I am fixing spelling and grammatical errors as I go....

Comments

[starwatcher]

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Oh, hell, I've done that since day 1 of saving fanfic. In those days, I didn't know how to right-click and save as web-page; I pasted everything into a new Word document to read later while offline. (I was on dial-up; limited hours per week.) If there was any possibility that I would want to re-read the story in the future -- highly likely since I'm a re-reader from childhood, and I wouldn't have saved the story if I hadn't expected it to be worth my time -- I fixed grammar and punctuation on the first reading, so it wouldn't be distracting on the next.

It's actually how I got started as a beta. I read this great story by a new author, but there were quite a few punctuation errors. I sent very complimentary feedback -- I wanted to encourage new writers, especially if they told a good story. I tentatively mentioned that I had saved a copy, because I liked it so much, and corrected some of the punctuation; would she like a copy? She would, indeed. A few weeks later, she wrote again; she had a new story, and would I be willing to look it over as a beta? Well, I've never done that before, but we can give it a try. A bunch of years and authors later, it's still something I really enjoy.
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[eliyes.livejournal.com]

I generally prefer to copy things into a document file rather than save the web page. These days even embedded pictures and such will come along. I like it. :D And like you, I was saving things from the very beginning of finding them, because it made sense what with dial-up. I can only remember making corrections to one author's (epic-length series) work, and that was primarily because he depended heavily on spellcheck and I got really, really sick of seeing "thorough" instead of "through".

That's a pretty awesome way to become a beta. That author was smart to snap you up! ;D I wish I could do more of that kind of thing, but it seems like every time I commit myself to being a beta or proofreader, Something Happens. I have a track record for being unreliable, therefore. I've noticed that on LJ and similar sites there have developed groups intended to connect authors with betas, and I think that's great, because Lord knows how many stories I've run across with interesting plots and good characterization and all those other things I want in a fic, but poor spelling or just lots of typos. I'm afraid I've annoyed many an author by leaving them comments pointing out errors to be fixed, although I try to be polite about it.

[phoenix-anca.livejournal.com]

I've done that. :p

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

My sister in nitpickery! *hugs*

[phoenix-anca.livejournal.com]

*hugs!* |3