ISO an articulate, discerning reader to give me 'overview critique'

Hello to everyone.

I've written a series of erotic short stories with a loosely linking, common thread. None of them are very long and would not require more than ten minutes of anyone's time to read through.

I'm not looking for in-depth analysis but rather a general 'reaction', to consist of:

1. whether you (honestly) liked it and

2. maybe a suggestion or two regarding what, in your view, would improve it.

All in all, not a hugely demanding ask!

Ideally I'd prefer a female viewpoint as I feel I can see things already from the male perspective... but this is not a deal breaker. Please PM me if interested.

David

Well, this is a pity. And such a trivial request, too.

It brings to mind the warning I had about this site from the person who directed me to it.

Really? No takers?

Has this work been posted to Lit yet?

You might offer some additional information to drum up interest:

1. Are the stories in what you regard as finished form?
2. What are they about, roughly?
3. What category do you anticipate submitting them in?
4. What erotic interests/kinks are covered? This is important because readers/authors here can be picky and may be completely uninterested in the subject matter.
5. How many total words of story/(ies) do you want someone to read?

Fleshpoint said:

Well, this is a pity. And such a trivial request, too.

It brings to mind the warning I had about this site from the person who directed me to it.

Really? No takers?

Click to expand...

Negging is not an attractive look.

AwkwardMD said:

Has this work been posted to Lit yet?

Click to expand...

And the reason you think I have any interest in 'posting it to Lit' is..?

SimonDoom said:

You might offer some additional information to drum up interest:

1. Are the stories in what you regard as finished form?
2. What are they about, roughly?
3. What category do you anticipate submitting them in?
4. What erotic interests/kinks are covered? This is important because readers/authors here can be picky and may be completely uninterested in the subject matter.
5. How many total words of story/(ies) do you want someone to read?

Click to expand...

Fair comment generally.

I didn't want to overburden people but rather keep my OP short and to the point.

On balance I think it best to say that my humble stuff is fairly wide ranging and therefore I need someone with a catholic outlook, able to appreciate and offer an opinion on a diverse range of topics...

... and not a narrowly 'picky' individual...

I shall not be 'submitting' anything.

Bramblethorn said:

Negging is not an attractive look.

Click to expand...

Shrugs. I can only say it like I see it. There's no deliberate attempt to offend.

I'm new here but what I have seen of the site bears out very fully what I was told.

Very...

Fleshpoint said:

And the reason you think I have any interest in 'posting it to Lit' is..?

Click to expand...

Asking for a volunteer to help with your story would suggest you are going to post it here at Lit. If you aren't planning to do that, then don't ask here. That's not what the volunteer program is for.

_Lynn_ said:

Asking for a volunteer to help with your story would suggest you are going to post it here at Lit. If you aren't planning to do that, then don't ask here. That's not what the volunteer program is for.

Click to expand...

Sorry..?

Why does it 'suggest' that? Should such a requirement not be made clear?

Where in the wording of 'Editor's Forum' is it stipulated that people who write purely for their own interest are either forbidden or unwelcome here? There's nothing to that effect. Given that fact, any unbiased, third-party observer would support me in saying that your 'suggestion' concept is unfounded.

If non-submitters are personae non gratae here, perhaps you had better re-name the forum so as to make this sad, parochial attitude explicit.

Fleshpoint said:

Sorry..?

Why does it 'suggest' that? Should such a requirement not be made clear?

Where in the wording of 'Editor's Forum' is it stipulated that people who write purely for their own interest are either forbidden or unwelcome here? There's nothing to that effect. Given that fact, any unbiased, third-party observer would support me in saying that your 'suggestion' concept is unfounded.

If non-submitters are personae non gratae here, perhaps you had better re-name the forum so as to make this sad, parochial attitude explicit.

Click to expand...

This thread has made my week.

Fleshpoint,

You have received responses from four experienced authors on this site, all of whom have offered helpful suggestions you might want to follow if you really want feedback. Your response is to be defensive, incredulous, nonresponsive, and disparaging of the site.

Nobody gets paid to do any of this. Everyone's busy. Authors offer their editing services both because they want to be helpful and because they hope to reap the reciprocal benefit of receiving the advice of other authors. You come charging into this forum with the expectation of being served yet don't say anything specific about your story and say you have no intention of submitting stories as an author here.

What do you expect? Seriously?

I think you'll find if you peruse other threads on this forum and on the story feedback forum that many authors are only too happy to offer helpful feedback on published and unpublished stories. To get that feedback you might want to rethink how you ask for it.

Fleshpoint said:

Sorry..?

Why does it 'suggest' that? Should such a requirement not be made clear?

Where in the wording of 'Editor's Forum' is it stipulated that people who write purely for their own interest are either forbidden or unwelcome here? There's nothing to that effect. Given that fact, any unbiased, third-party observer would support me in saying that your 'suggestion' concept is unfounded.

If non-submitters are personae non gratae here, perhaps you had better re-name the forum so as to make this sad, parochial attitude explicit.

Click to expand...

I'm suggesting you read the guidelines for volunteer editors (which is posted to the site and isn't difficult to find). Specifically, I suggest you read the following paragraph (which supports my post).

*The Literotica Editor's program exists to help writers improve their writing. It is against the rules to use this service to advertise services, products, or other websites. Doing so is grounds for removal from the site. Also, this system is for the benefit of Literotica authors only. Do not use it to proofread stories that are not for Literotica.*

SimonDoom said:

Fleshpoint,

You have received responses from four experienced authors on this site, all of whom have offered helpful suggestions you might want to follow if you really want feedback. Your response is to be defensive, incredulous, nonresponsive, and disparaging of the site.

Nobody gets paid to do any of this. Everyone's busy. Authors offer their editing services both because they want to be helpful and because they hope to reap the reciprocal benefit of receiving the advice of other authors. You come charging into this forum with the expectation of being served yet don't say anything specific about your story and say you have no intention of submitting stories as an author here.

What do you expect? Seriously?

I think you'll find if you peruse other threads on this forum and on the story feedback forum that many authors are only too happy to offer helpful feedback on published and unpublished stories. To get that feedback you might want to rethink how you ask for it.

Click to expand...

I hear what you say and yet can not take it seriously when you, like others, are apparently unable or unwilling to read my posts without putting your own gloss on things or even, for that matter, ignoring their basic gist.

My offering was scarcely pages long or a difficult read. Quote: 'I've written a series of erotic short stories'... and yet you immediately refer to 'my story' as if I had only the one to offer.

I am not intending to submit anything for publication - fine, you've understood that correctly. So kindly point out to me where it says that this debars me from posting on this forum. I've asked for this information on my last post and I note that you have neatly side-stepped the issue.

Finally, if I've appeared at any time 'disparaging of the site', this is only as the result of the relatively small and doubtless unrepresentative overview I have managed to get so far. I'm sure that the overwhelmingly intelligent, skilfully crafted and beautifully presented offerings that the site contains in terms of postings and stories will become obvious any time now...

My OP was put up seriously and in a friendly way. I shall withdraw it if this is the reception it's going to get.

Ignore what Lynne said. Keep asking, and definitely keep asking in the same tone you have been. It's probably gonna reward you with a response any second now

_Lynn_ said:

I'm suggesting you read the guidelines for volunteer editors (which is posted to the site and isn't difficult to find). Specifically, I suggest you read the following paragraph (which supports my post).

*The Literotica Editor's program exists to help writers improve their writing. It is against the rules to use this service to advertise services, products, or other websites. Doing so is grounds for removal from the site. Also, this system is for the benefit of Literotica authors only. Do not use it to proofread stories that are not for Literotica.*

Click to expand...

Fine... and now I understand. Thank you... finally... even though I was not at all asking for any 'proofreading', but let's forgive you that one.

You seem incidentally to expect that 'guidelines for volunteer editors' would of course be read by those not having the remotest interest in being a volunteer editor.

Ok, great logic.

All in all I begin to see why things might be the way they are here. No further interest.

AwkwardMD said:

Ignore what Lynne said. Keep asking, and definitely keep asking in the same tone you have been. It's probably gonna reward you with a response any second now

Click to expand...

As a friendly parting shot and since your misspelling of her name rather neatly encapsulates most of the impression I've gained of this... truly wonderful website...

... allow me to point out the sublime wonders of using the correct English term

... 'going to'.

Damn! I have been bested in grammatical combat. According to my code, I must now award you 12 billion internet points. I hope they serve you well in whatever echo chamber you came from!

AwkwardMD said:

Damn! I have been bested in grammatical combat. According to my code, I must now award you 12 billion internet points. I hope they serve you well in whatever echo chamber you came from!

Click to expand...

I was going to let you have the final word on this absolutely ridiculous thread, because it likely has come to an end and you deserved it, but I had to give you kudos for this.

Fleshpoint said:

Fine... and now I understand. Thank you... finally... even though I was not at all asking for any 'proofreading', but let's forgive you that one.

You seem incidentally to expect that 'guidelines for volunteer editors' would of course be read by those not having the remotest interest in being a volunteer editor.

Ok, great logic.

All in all I begin to see why things might be the way they are here. No further interest.

Click to expand...

Have a great day.

Fleshpoint said:

As a friendly parting shot and since your misspelling of her name rather neatly encapsulates most of the impression I've gained of this... truly wonderful website...

... allow me to point out the sublime wonders of using the correct English term

... 'going to'.

Click to expand...

Oh dear. You have more to learn about the English language than anybody here can teach you.

You may want to start by buying yourself a dictionary and using it to look up words before getting snotty about them. English doesn't actually have any definitive arbiter of what words are "correct" vs. "incorrect", but a dictionary could at least tell you that "gonna" is widely recognised as an English word and has been in the language for more than two hundred years.

English has several different conversational registers applicable to different situations. "Gonna" is generally recognised as part of the informal register; you wouldn't want to use it for a government report or an academic paper, but it's perfectly okay for chatting on an Internet forum.

One of the strengths of the English language is that there are usually many different "correct" ways to express a given concept, each offering a slightly different nuance. If you limit yourself with the idea that only formal English should ever be used, you'll cripple yourself as a writer.

In this case, you're also being quite the hypocrite:

All in all, not a hugely demanding ask!

Click to expand...

While "ask" can be used as a verb in formal English, using it as a noun like you did here is very much informal English.

As long as I'm giving out free English tips...

I'm not looking for in-depth analysis but rather a general 'reaction'

Click to expand...

As a professional editor - which I am, though it's not my main job - I would strike out the quotes around reaction. Quote marks are used to indicate quoted speech, or to refer to a word itself, or sometimes for the author to distance themselves from a word. None of those seem to apply here.

And the reason you think I have any interest in 'posting it to Lit' is..?

Click to expand...

Informal register again. For somebody who overuses ellipses as much as you do, it's worth knowing that an ellipsis is always exactly THREE dots. No more, no less.

Sorry..?

Click to expand...

Again, should be three dots.

Fair comment generally.

Click to expand...

Sentence fragment. Again, that's OK in informal English, but puts you in "people in glass houses" territory if you're going to require formal register from everybody else.

My OP was put up seriously and in a friendly way. I shall withdraw it if this is the reception it's going to get.

Click to expand...

Yeah, your OP was fine. It's all your follow-up posts that give the impression of a talking fedora.

Bramblethorn said:

Yeah, your OP was fine. It's all your follow-up posts that give the impression of a talking fedora.

Click to expand...

Bramblethorn, the next time you mention hats, can you please make sure you issue it with a coffee swallow warning. My screen is now freshly clean, thank you.

I must say, I thought "twat" was spelt with a T, but I now see I was quite wrong.

What an entertaining person. We haven't had a drive-through like this since that fellow who tutored us all in English, several months ago now.

Now I really want to read the stories!

This thread is gold! I'm loving it.



^ the drama banana

So glad to know the OP wasn’t afraid to be as brash in public as he was in private. Primarily, that anyone would have the audacity to assume he would want to publish aforementioned stories on Lit merely because he posted in the Editor’s Forum on Lit requesting someone read and provide “overview critique” of his work. How dare we!