so I wrote a story

[minx1]

Hey everyone,

I guess I should be posting this in the authors hangy outy place, but I don't really know anyone there and wanted to pick your brains.

I have written a couple of stories now, as tasks that my Master has set me.
This time he wanted me to submit it for publication on Lit. I lack confidence in my writing skills, so you can imagine my dismay when it was rejected. I am trying not to let it knock me too much but I also need to know what to do to have it approved.

Apparently I need to check my spelling and also my conversations....I think I put punctuation in the wrong places, though I'm not sure.

Has anyone here had a story rejected on similar grounds? And this is the biggie....is there anyone here who has editorial skills and would look at it for me please?

 

[the captians wench]

Hey everyone,

I guess I should be posting this in the authors hangy outy place, but I don't really know anyone there and wanted to pick your brains.

I have written a couple of stories now, as tasks that my Master has set me.
This time he wanted me to submit it for publication on Lit. I lack confidence in my writing skills, so you can imagine my dismay when it was rejected. I am trying not to let it knock me too much but I also need to know what to do to have it approved.

Apparently I need to check my spelling and also my conversations....I think I put punctuation in the wrong places, though I'm not sure.

Has anyone here had a story rejected on similar grounds? And this is the biggie....is there anyone here who has editorial skills and would look at it for me please?

Try searching for an editor in the editor's boards, that's what I did and now have a pretty steady editor, when my writing is steady anyway.

I always send my stories thru atleast one editor, because my spelling is just so bad, I want to make sure that the person understood what I was trying to say.

I'm not much for spelling, but I'm pretty good at gramar and structure, I'd be happy to give my thoughts on you story hun.

 

[minx1]

Try searching for an editor in the editor's boards, that's what I did and now have a pretty steady editor, when my writing is steady anyway.

I always send my stories thru atleast one editor, because my spelling is just so bad, I want to make sure that the person understood what I was trying to say.

I'm not much for spelling, but I'm pretty good at gramar and structure, I'd be happy to give my thoughts on you story hun.

Thanks Wenchie

Its good to know I am not alone in either the spelling or the rejection stakes! lol

I don't want to change the content of it too much as I need to keep it as near as dammit the same as the one I wrote for my task.

 

[HoHoBomb]

Let me know when it is finally approved, I would love to read it!

 

[catalina_francisco]

They must be getting picky these days to reject on spelling and dialogue!! I have seen plenty in the past which had extremely bad spelling, grammar and dialogue. I don't as a rule use spellcheck so have occasionally submitted with a typo or 2 which I pick up later on rereading, but never been rejected for that. If you still want someone to read through, let me know. I also have an aversion to editors as many of them do want to change themes or directions in the story and I write to please me, not fit a stereotypical model of what should be included etc., to be popular.

Catalina

 

[DVS]

Hey everyone,

I guess I should be posting this in the authors hangy outy place, but I don't really know anyone there and wanted to pick your brains.

I have written a couple of stories now, as tasks that my Master has set me.
This time he wanted me to submit it for publication on Lit. I lack confidence in my writing skills, so you can imagine my dismay when it was rejected. I am trying not to let it knock me too much but I also need to know what to do to have it approved.

Apparently I need to check my spelling and also my conversations....I think I put punctuation in the wrong places, though I'm not sure.

Has anyone here had a story rejected on similar grounds? And this is the biggie....is there anyone here who has editorial skills and would look at it for me please?

It's difficult for anyone to write AND edit their own story. It's possible, but at least in the beginning the person who writes something is much less likely to find a problem with it than someone else. That's why the editing process is necessary. Professional writers do it, newpapers and magazines do it. It's a standard thing, in the writing field.

So, if you were rejected for punctuation and spelling, those aren't that difficult to fix. Now, if you had been rejected for content, that would be a problem. Find yourself an editor.

If this is something you are just doing for a little fun, just find you an editor that will proof your story, and be done with it. But, if this writing thing is something you want to get into, you should be picky that you find an editor that understands your style of writing and isn't just going to fix your spelling and be done.

All editors can edit anything for spelling, grammar and puctuation, but to fit your writing style amd become a partner with you in your writing, they must also enjoy the story content they're editing.

An editor that's made for your style of writing can also make suggestions that might make the story better. Redoing a few words or phrases here and there can sometimes work wonders.

You might ask around in the hangout for a good editor for your kind of story. Or better yet, there is an Editor's forum where you can probably find all of your answers.

 

[NALA CAYENNE]

Minx, I'm a volunteer editor for Lit. I would be honored to edit what you have if you still need some help.

Hey everyone,

I guess I should be posting this in the authors hangy outy place, but I don't really know anyone there and wanted to pick your brains.

I have written a couple of stories now, as tasks that my Master has set me.
This time he wanted me to submit it for publication on Lit. I lack confidence in my writing skills, so you can imagine my dismay when it was rejected. I am trying not to let it knock me too much but I also need to know what to do to have it approved.

Apparently I need to check my spelling and also my conversations....I think I put punctuation in the wrong places, though I'm not sure.

Has anyone here had a story rejected on similar grounds? And this is the biggie....is there anyone here who has editorial skills and would look at it for me please?

 

[BiBunny]

I'll be glad to help, too, minx, if you need it, though I've been called a grammar Nazi more than once. *Sheepish face* If that would bother you, maybe you shouldn't send it to me.

 

[Velvet Bubbles]

<raises hand> I'd be happy to help, hon. I'm a little obsessive at times though. I like perfection when I can get it.

 

[minx1]

oh thanks guys for your help and offers I will definitely be taking someone up on it! Thankyou so much

Catalina, thankyou. I did pop over to the editors forum and coincidently there was a post there from someone who had been rejected on the same basis as me. They were discussing whether it was because they had followed UK punctuation principals or USA *shrugs* perhaps that has something to do with it. Personally I don't think I have used either! *laugh*
I am a little lazy when it comes to dotting the i's and crossing the t's!

DVS, thanks for your advice. The whole reason I began writing was becasue they were tasks set by my Master, though the more I do it the more I enjoy it and I would certainly like to write some more. So I take your point about finding someone to work with on a regular basis.

I so wanted this to be right. Its his birthday tomorrow and I thought it would make a nice present....but unfortunately thats out of the window now.

Its not the best I have written either, perhaps because the others I wrote were for his eyes only; they were written for him. I knew whilst I was writing this one that he would ask me to publish it and on that basis found it difficult. It didn't flow so well.

This whole exercise will do me good though. I am quite a shy person when it comes to sharing personal things like writing. I guess for many reasons...first of all....its a bit rude!! *blushes*, I lack confidence in my skills, I am a bit of a perfectionist and my own worst critic; I am not particularly good with rejection or criticism.
So doing this is certainly going to push me in terms of exercising my negative demons. lol. I think thats partly why he wants me to do it.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Evil_Geoff]

All I will say is this.

My ex-wife returned to college while we were married. She wrote the papers, I edited them. She graduated with a 4.0. She didn't get dinged on a single paper she turned in after I got through with it.



Nuff said.

 

[catalina_francisco]

All I will say is this.

My ex-wife returned to college while we were married. She wrote the papers, I edited them. She graduated with a 4.0. She didn't get dinged on a single paper she turned in after I got through with it.



Nuff said.

LOL, maybe it is a Gemini thing. When I went through uni, I more often than not handed in my first drafts which I had at best skimmed to proof read, usually didn't get time as I ended up doing all nighters the night before they were due..and surprisingly, I often topped the class, and on one I topped the whole year level by a mile and that was done just after being in hospital and still recovering and believing I would fail and really too sick to care. Like many of my high school teachers, more than a couple of lecturers said they looked forward to my papers just for the sheer joy they brought them in reading. The downside was, once my reputation began to grow, my papers were often stolen by those in lower years, so I missed seeing the comments and suggestions...the uni began photocopying them so they could prove plagerism if anything remotely resembling previous papers turned up in the next couple of years.

Catalina

 

[minx1]

All I will say is this.

My ex-wife returned to college while we were married. She wrote the papers, I edited them. She graduated with a 4.0. She didn't get dinged on a single paper she turned in after I got through with it.



Nuff said.

*giggles* wow...burly and macho, sensitive AND hot at punctuation too