Beginner Editor

[_Lynn_]

See Pilot it is all in your tone, seriously. The old expression say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean. You are knowledgeable but come off as cocky rather than knowledgeable. You are condescending in your replies and whether you would like to believe it or not people pick up on it. You are also continuously chest thumping which is a turn off as well.

Great you have a degree and are a professional. This is an amateur site and the word volunteer says you get what you pay for. The amateur writers learn as do the editors we learn together. People have to start somewhere and you have a habit of beating them before they get going.

Of course if they will let you do it and walk away with their heads down I guess it says something about them and they would not last anyway but you have no write to try to vet who can can't, should or shouldn't.

You and I do not get along, and I have to tell you I will take some blame there but the more I drift through these posts the more people I see you having problems with. Difference is I am over the top and should not be taken seriously I just rant along. You deliberately fuck with people. Anyway just my two cents, you can pay it or find a volunteer to tell you that you can be a real dink for free.

So a volunteer has no value because they do not get paid? Following that, then should I trust a fire department run by volunteers to be able to put a fire out? What about people who volunteer at assorted programs teaching English as a second language, for example? The world has volunteers working in countries without water, without proper food or shelter. Are they too worth what they get paid?

Granted the above situations involve training. Lit doesn't train their volunteers. However, in order to 'edit' here, an individual should have more than the desire to be a volunteer editor. Besides, not everyone posting a story here is or will remain an amateur.

Just my opinion, of course.

 

[mynameisben]

Holy jumpin' Jeezus on a pogo stick! How did we ever go from Post One to Ground Zero? Look, people. Friends. We all know, going in, that some people rub other people the wrong way. This is an immutable fact of life, which is as true in the hallowed halls of Literotica as it is anywhere else. But none of us should feel a moral obligation to jump on a fellow member's opinion -- no matter how large, no matter how small -- and shove it up his or her ass, simply because they rub us the wrong way. I honestly believe there IS more than one editor in the universe, and the right one for the job need not necessarily be the highest credentialed, nor the least, nor the eldest member, nor nothing. An abundance of choice, as well as a multitude of opinions, is a wonderful thing. It's the glue that builds a civilization.

This is an adult web site. We could all act like adults, occasionally. I doubt that would get anyone here banned.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Following that, then should I trust a fire department run by volunteers to be able to put a fire out?

No, you shouldn't. Case in point:

The mayor of South Fulton, Tenn., stands by his town's policy that led firefighters to watch from the sidelines while a man's county home burned to the ground because he hadn't paid the $75 fire protection fee.

Point is, don't take anything for granted.

 

[LissaSue]

And all of this tone business, anyway, is just the old Internet fallacy that everyone is equal on the Internet. You don't really want help from those with the expertise to help; you want to pull everyone down to the lowest common denominator to satisfy the "everyone is equal on the Internet" chest nut. And, should anyone have the gall to exhibit expertise in something, it's time for everyone else to jump on them and try to pull them down. To call them uppity and pompous and cocky.[/QUOTE]

Damn. I thought I was done, but I looked down and found two more cents to put in.
I'm going to have to say, for me personally at least, that I would have called you out on your "chest thumping", as someone else put it, whether we were on the net or face to face.
Peoples is peoples, as my six year old says, and we all know they like to have others know of their accomplishments and achievments. However, there comes a point when it feels like bragging, and then bragging turns to lording.
You can thump your chest to beat the band, my friend, but just know there are some of us out here that could careless about "equality" and more about tettering off the humble line.

 

[lovecraft68]

And you are a buzzard nursing hurt feelings of not being able to rise from the mediocre or escape your deep-seated prejudices and crazy hypocrisies.

How's that for tone?

That was quite hurtful actually

Well no not really, I look at the source. So tell me Pilot why do you wallow amongst us lesser than you? Why to make you feel better about yourself of course. Anyone in psychology can tell you that constant bragging is a mask for low self esteem and feelings of unworthiness. The mediocrity you claim I am mired in is apparently what you fear you are, so you just go around throwing around your credentials trying to look all important.

BTW Buzzard? Nice one, very different so much better than backbiter.

 

[lovecraft68]

So a volunteer has no value because they do not get paid? Following that, then should I trust a fire department run by volunteers to be able to put a fire out? What about people who volunteer at assorted programs teaching English as a second language, for example? The world has volunteers working in countries without water, without proper food or shelter. Are they too worth what they get paid?

Granted the above situations involve training. Lit doesn't train their volunteers. However, in order to 'edit' here, an individual should have more than the desire to be a volunteer editor. Besides, not everyone posting a story here is or will remain an amateur.

Just my opinion, of course.

My point Lynn is that I would not expect a volunteer editor on this site to wow me with credentials. I am sure there are many who have degrees and are educated in the field. But there are many who are English students or just people who have firm grasp of punctuation and they do it for fun and to try to help others.

I had a volunteer editor help me a few times and I still got some negative feedback about sloppy grammar. What should I have done? berated her? If I was paying her and she had professional experience I would have the right to, but I certainly was not going to back and tell her she sucks. She was donating her time to help me.

 

[lovecraft68]

Holy jumpin' Jeezus on a pogo stick! How did we ever go from Post One to Ground Zero? Look, people. Friends. We all know, going in, that some people rub other people the wrong way. This is an immutable fact of life, which is as true in the hallowed halls of Literotica as it is anywhere else. But none of us should feel a moral obligation to jump on a fellow member's opinion -- no matter how large, no matter how small -- and shove it up his or her ass, simply because they rub us the wrong way. I honestly believe there IS more than one editor in the universe, and the right one for the job need not necessarily be the highest credentialed, nor the least, nor the eldest member, nor nothing. An abundance of choice, as well as a multitude of opinions, is a wonderful thing. It's the glue that builds a civilization.

This is an adult web site. We could all act like adults, occasionally. I doubt that would get anyone here banned.

So another words "Can't we all just get along?"

 

[Darkniciad]

That's not how it looks, though. You have rigid definitions of what the various facets of editing are, with good reason, considering it's an occupation.

I don't think most people do, and Lit doesn't present those sort of graduations either.

I think that's where a lot of the tension comes from on this subject. You simply have a different, more structured, real-world mindset than most of the people who end up shouting at you. What you designate as a first-reader or a hybrid with basic grammar correction is an editor to a lot of people.

It's not ( always ) purposeful misrepresentation. It's a broader definition.

Do I have to point out to you too that repeatedly I've said it isn't about giving the help or not; it's about being honest about what sort of help you have the training and experience to give?

There are a bunch of folks here who want to lord it over the writers here by pretending that they have credentials they don't have--and that they are too lazy to get. I think of them as the easy button crew. And their guidance screws the writers' development up.

And, feeling threatened, they rag on those who can actually be helpful.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

That's not how it looks, though. You have rigid definitions of what the various facets of editing are, with good reason, considering it's an occupation.

I don't think most people do, and Lit doesn't present those sort of graduations either.

I think that's where a lot of the tension comes from on this subject. You simply have a different, more structured, real-world mindset than most of the people who end up shouting at you. What you designate as a first-reader or a hybrid with basic grammar correction is an editor to a lot of people.

It's not ( always ) purposeful misrepresentation. It's a broader definition.

Thanks Dark, I think I'm starting to understand. Let me assume, hopefully correctly and respond if I'm off-base, that a civilian with no knowledge of the military sees a small group of men/women in military uniforms and says, "Thanks soldiers".

But one is in the USAF, one in the Navy, one in the Marines, one in the Army, and one in the Coast Guard. If you are one in the service you know well the differences, but those are not understood by those beyond the military circle.

And hence I better understand SR. He's trying desperately to help the only way he knows how, but those who lack that comprehension of the differences in the levels of editing, seeing it as only a "thing", a "service" for want of a better word, we cannot understand where he's coming from.

But now I do. I'm sorry for hounding you in a few posts SR, I was trying to be protective of the newbies and writers, I meant well. Just as you have also been trying to do the same thing.

Shakes.

 

[Great_Brit]

... And hence I better understand SR. He's trying desperately to help the only way he knows how, ...

In what way does a posting like

And you are a buzzard nursing hurt feelings of not being able to rise from the mediocre or escape your deep-seated prejudices and crazy hypocrisies. ...

fit your definition of "trying desperately to help"?

It seems to me that SR would be much happier on a board where he is surrounded by his peers in qualifications and skills. Being here among an entire membership of those he considers misguided at best and charlatans at worst, he is clearly unhappy. I can't find a single VE of whom he approves.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

In what way does a posting like fit your definition of "trying desperately to help"?

It seems to me that SR would be much happier on a board where he is surrounded by his peers in qualifications and skills. Being here among an entire membership of those he considers misguided at best and charlatans at worst, he is clearly unhappy. I can't find a single VE of whom he approves.

I give up.

 

[lovecraft68]

In what way does a posting like fit your definition of "trying desperately to help"?

It seems to me that SR would be much happier on a board where he is surrounded by his peers in qualifications and skills. Being here among an entire membership of those he considers misguided at best and charlatans at worst, he is clearly unhappy. I can't find a single VE of whom he approves.

One has no peers when one has a God complex. Pilot's only equals are on high.