Do you use editors?

[Bramblethorn]

It's you and me with the spaces, Dave. Well, I'm giving it a go with singles today. There's... been a lot of ctrl-H-ing.

But I had the same issue with italics. The lean seems to make it appear there is no space between the italicized word and the regular word next to it. And the double space proposed to solve the issue won't work, because, as you pointed out, html won't display the double space.

It can happen in some systems that italics make spaces less visible at the transition - even though the feet of the letters are spaced, the top of the italicised letter runs into the top of the following non-italicised letter.

But there's a separate problem on Literotica with the spaces sometimes being lost altogether, as per the Sidechain example I posted above.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It can happen in some systems that italics make spaces less visible at the transition - even though the feet of the letters are spaced, the top of the italicised letter runs into the top of the following non-italicised letter.

But there's a separate problem on Literotica with the spaces sometimes being lost altogether, as per the Sidechain example I posted above.

As you say, the press up happens a lot, yet another reason to minimise use of italics and bold.

Does double spacing solve the problem, does anyone know? I think it does, but now, I'm not so sure.

 

[Josh323804]

That's interesting. I would never think to add actual writing as an editor. As an editor I would think it's quite rude to add text to someone else's story, but if it works for you then fair enough. Did your editor actually write that, or just suggest you added something?

 

[JaxRhapsody]

It definitely keeps you from wanting to write longer stories. It is especially difficult to go back and see what you typed earlier in the story. I can type quickly on computer and phone, but computer is definitely faster and easier to write on.

I mainly started on my phone because I didn’t want my wife to find my writings.

Pfft. I have a scifi romance that's about 58k words so far, a roughly 78k, 37k, two roughly 36k, 52k and 44k fanfics written on my phone. It's convenient, plus I'm often too lazy to deal with my writing laptop, and now the screens took the piss, and there's a few things there, for here, among other things I need it for. I'd say everything I have published here in the last six years, except for a certain incest story, was written on my phone. A computer <i>is</i> easier to write on, unless it's two of my four laptops where you kinda gotta mash the keys. I gotta be careful on the writing laptop; get carried away and it'll look like Lorum Ipsum.

 

[alohadave]

Well, frankly, I don't really care what "it's all about me" behavior you feel the need to stick to.

You are hilarious.

 

[KeithD]

You are hilarious.

Glad you are an easy giggle. Mildly glad, because, again, I frankly don't care.

 

[KeithD]

That's interesting. I would never think to add actual writing as an editor. As an editor I would think it's quite rude to add text to someone else's story, but if it works for you then fair enough. Did your editor actually write that, or just suggest you added something?

No, a trained editor wouldn't do that. I doubt that any trained editor has done that here.

 

[KeithD]

Yeah, I'm aware that you are butt hurt and want to fight.

 

[KeithD]

Can you suggest a specific college for training editors that I can attend? I am interested in registering so that I can assist you in refining your posts.

Can't think of one that would want an obnoxious snot as a student.

I went to the University of Virginia's graduate studies division in Falls Church, Virginia. Both the editing and the publishing majors. These are post-college graduate programs, though. You'd best work on getting your high school diploma first.

 

[Athalia]

No, a trained editor wouldn't do that. I doubt that any trained editor has done that here.

Wolcott Gibbs, a copy editor for the New Yorker magazine, gave this advice to editors: "Try to preserve an author's style, if he is an author and has a style."
That's about as far as a decent editor would go in changing the wording of an article or story.

 

[PandemicReader8]

Long Answer: Yes.

 

[Codoc24]

I should also give a shout-out to Grammarly Professional. That's given me a huge lift on grammar and punctuation.

I use Grammarly Pro and it saves my ass when it comes to commas. I can never get them right.

 

[Codoc24]

After several tries with no response, I finally found an editor from LitE. I won't mention her name so she doesn't get a bunch of requests. She is at her limit and has removed her name from the Editor page. She spends a lot of time reading and editing the story. She makes suggestions but more than once, she has said, but it's your story, so write it how you want. I don't always take her suggestions, sometimes I like the way I have it and don't change it, and sometimes, after I think about it, I come up with a third way that I like the best. But I have been very happy with her, I feel like she has made me a better writer. Although that was probably a low bar to clear.

 

[neuroparenthetical]

"Try to preserve an author's style, if he is an author and has a style."
That's about as far as a decent editor would go in changing the wording of an article or story.

That is quite a permissive standard, unless one is willing to appeal to near-tautologies for the definitions of both "author" and "style." I suppose there is one additional loophole for style: an editor might claim that a writer is using more than one inside a single piece, thus freeing the editor to meddle further. After all, the quote is "... a style [emphasis added]." Surely you can smell the stank all over that quote. If you can't, maybe you should propose radical changes to it so that it's clearer for the next guy.

When you're simultaneously proofreading, line editing, and developmentally editing a piece for somebody who isn't already Hemingway, shit happens. I just roll with it. Sometimes it is so, so much easier to show rather than tell.

Rejecting one of my infamous "illustrative examples" is as easy as clicking a single button in Word or on Google Docs. Accepting one, granted, is just as easy. I encourage my writers to take the harder path - identifying the problem/opportunity and workshopping their own solution - but then I let them do as they will.

 

[tenyari]

No I don't.

If I were publishing non-erotica to main stream sources with the intent to sell the work I would.

But in erotica I've always found the people who read and start making a lot of comments eventually show themselves to have an agenda about what kind of kink they want you to be writing for. Or they want to act as gatekeepers on your ideas and themes. Or they simply want to break past the wall and get involved with you beyond the writing.

I imagine some value in having some mistakes cleaned up. Things like 'its' versus 'it's' that I can't get straight even when I'm reading the definitions of their differences. But I consider that a minor issue to be fixed at too great of a cost of loss of control.

 

[mejau71]

Same for me, but eventually reached the conclusion that I had to pay to get this invaluable service. Free comes at the cost of our tolerance, and I don’t have the time.

 

[Demiurging]

I don't use one for my own work, more for cowardice than a lack of need.

As an editor, there have been times when I suggested changes to phrasing or word choice, usually because the vocabulary wasn't quite correct. Adding to the text from whole cloth has always been a no-go zone for me unless the author is asking for something more on the developmental side. Suggestions are all easily reversible in the software anyway, and I'm not being paid enough to be insistent

 

[SkyBubble]

When I was stuck in moderation hell with my first story, the suggestion in the boilerplate part of the reply was to contact an editor. I used the search facility to find people in the category and contacted one. No reply. Still no reply. So I tried the next on the list. Same thing. And the next.

Then I finally got a reply. But the guy (they are all guys) said he disliked anal (which suffused my story) and so couldn’t help. I tried a few more. The only other reply was someone saying that they didn’t like the category (no idea why they were tagged with it). So I gave up.

Since then, I have developed some stories by sharing sections with Lit friends as I write them. Partcularly if fictionalized versions of them appear in the text. This sometimes leads to errors being found or suggestions for improvement.

When I wrote my first story with a male narrator, I ran this by two male Lit friends. But this was mostly to get their perspective on my take on the male voice, not as general editors.

Some people are kind enough to give me feedback based on published works and I try to take notice of what they say. But I guess I have never worked with an actual editor.

Have you? If so, what was it like?

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a clandestine request for an editor. It’s just me wondering about other people’s experiences.

Em

They're not ALL guys. I recently worked with one I believe is female. I think that's what her profile says.

 

[SkyBubble]

When I was stuck in moderation hell with my first story, the suggestion in the boilerplate part of the reply was to contact an editor. I used the search facility to find people in the category and contacted one. No reply. Still no reply. So I tried the next on the list. Same thing. And the next.

Then I finally got a reply. But the guy (they are all guys) said he disliked anal (which suffused my story) and so couldn’t help. I tried a few more. The only other reply was someone saying that they didn’t like the category (no idea why they were tagged with it). So I gave up.

Since then, I have developed some stories by sharing sections with Lit friends as I write them. Partcularly if fictionalized versions of them appear in the text. This sometimes leads to errors being found or suggestions for improvement.

When I wrote my first story with a male narrator, I ran this by two male Lit friends. But this was mostly to get their perspective on my take on the male voice, not as general editors.

Some people are kind enough to give me feedback based on published works and I try to take notice of what they say. But I guess I have never worked with an actual editor.

Have you? If so, what was it like?

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a clandestine request for an editor. It’s just me wondering about other people’s experiences.

Em

Hi Em. I haven't used the editors until recently, but I had a story, fully written by me, that the system identified as AI, even though it wasn't, and I couldn't get anywhere, so I contacted an editor.

The first one I found expressed interest in editing my story. We exchanged a couple of emails and he basically ell off the face of the Earth, so I contacted another. He was helpful in his emails, but took a long time getting back to me with his edits.

I contacted yet another editor, and she was buried under a multi-chapter story. But she was in need of a break from editing that, so she spent a weekend looking at mine. She made some very helpful suggestions, most of which I incorporated. While that was going on, the second editor got back to me with some very useful edits of his own, most of which I incorporated.

I also got some outside help in a form I won't discuss. I incorporated some of that too. The first editor never got back to me again.

I like the way it turned out and it was finally published just a couple of days ago. Yea!!

Overall, it was a pretty good experience, though I'm not the most patient person in the world. I wish it moved a little bit faster, but I understand that the editors have lives and a full load of stories to edit, and frankly, a backlog. So it worked out pretty well. I would use them again.

 

[Rob_Royale]

No. If I was having trouble with the flow of the story, word use, or sentence structure, I'd see the need. But as it stands I'm at least decent at most of that. My grammar/spell checkers, repeated edits, and proofreading catch almost everything else.

 

[StillStunned]

Speaking as an editor, I often feel used.

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

No, I don't personally use an editor although it would be nice to get a second opinion before publishing. Any offers gratefully received.

I did work as a beta reader on novels coming up for publication for a while, back when I was a student, which I enjoyed very much, and did some volunteer editing work elsewhere, but frankly I got sick of either being submitted mistake-riddled work that took hours to correct, or getting the first thousand words of a planned 500 thousand word epic that everyone involved knew would never get past chapter two.