Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

Katiecat said:

...Now, if stories slip through with atrocious spelling and grammar, ridiculous characters, impossible sexual feats, and improbable plots, then the author will hear it loud and clear from the readers -- at least, from the ones who expect something more than amateur porn. So, no worries.

Click to expand...

Eliminate all of that, and I'd never be able to post a story.

Katiecat said:

...at least, from the ones who expect something more than amateur porn. So, no worries.

Click to expand...

How are we defining "amateur"? Is that to mean "not paid to produce" or "inexperienced"? If you mean "inexperienced" then there is hope that someday I will be producing professional porn! If it is the other, then I submit there are plenty of amateur porn producers on this site that produce some really quality stuff...even better than some "professionals" I've read.

I see amateur as more on the short end of the stick of experience and fundamental training than the opposite of professional. Just different tracks.

sr71plt said:

I see amateur as more on the short end of the stick of experience and fundamental training than the opposite of professional. Just different tracks.

Click to expand...

Yes. The definition I'm using is the opposite of "expert", not the opposite of "paid professional".

am·a·teur
ˈamədər,ˈaməˌtər,ˈaməCHər/

inept or unskillful.
"it's all so amateur!"
synonyms: incompetent, inept, unskillful, inexpert, amateurish, clumsy, maladroit, bumbling
"their amateur efforts"

Katiecat said:

Yes. The definition I'm using is the opposite of "expert", not the opposite of "paid professional".

am·a·teur
ˈamədər,ˈaməˌtər,ˈaməCHər/

inept or unskillful.
"it's all so amateur!"
synonyms: incompetent, inept, unskillful, inexpert, amateurish, clumsy, maladroit, bumbling
"their amateur efforts"

Click to expand...

Thank you for the clarification M'Lady. While I am new at writing, especially erotica, I know I'm not as good as most of you here. Hopefully I'll be better when I've learned a thing or two, but I like to think I won't be an amateur forever since I never charge for my stuff!

PTWaters1 said:

Thank you for the clarification M'Lady. While I am new at writing, especially erotica, I know I'm not as good as most of you here. Hopefully I'll be better when I've learned a thing or two, but I like to think I won't be an amateur forever since I never charge for my stuff!

Click to expand...

That's why we're here...well, I should say many of us are...to hone our craft, sharpen our writing skills. That, and the instant gratification of getting our stories in front of an immediate audience and obtaining those coveted votes and comments

Seriously, there are some incredible writers that post here, and some have even gone on to publish their work, so you never know...

Again, if Lit wants to be a place where anyone can post a story in any form and get comments and feedback, that's fine. But that's not what it sets out to be. There is a submission and approval process, there are volunteer editors, and I know that I and any number of other people have had stories held up or rejected due to bad punctuation or spelling.

And all of that is good, if the goal is to provide the readers with a certain base level of quality or at least allow readers to know they're not going to be expected to parse lines like this to get their quick amateur porn fix.

"That being back to the dumb ass standing in the door, his being a dumbass caused me think that maybe he had set an airplane was on fire."

I ask anyone to tell me that they could read that line, which is only three paragraphs in to a very short flash story, and tell me that this story didn't need another pass through an editor, or even just a basic proofreading. So if Lit is going to reject stories based on spelling and grammar and is going to hold up other authors on those grounds it needs to be done consistently. And this story is still up, meaning that the report function is useless for these purposes too. If there are too many stories to be read and checked or to check on those reports, than either the process needs to be slowed down, more people need to be involved, or it needs to become just a free for all like some people clearly want. The current system isn't working.

But you caught me. I typed that last post on my phone and it auto-completed the wrong word. You're right, that completely invalidates everything I've said, so no one should ever proof read anything, because occasionally while posting in a forum people dash off a quick post without noticing a mistake.

I see the submission and approval process more as a safety net to ensure nothing that violates the rules gets through. The volunteer editors are only available if someone wants them. From reading the author's defense of his writing style, I don't think he cares, and quite a few readers have favorited that hot mess, so they don't seem to care, either. I've never had a piece rejected for spelling or punctuation here; if I had, I would try to appreciate that the editor thought enough of it and paid enough attention to make sure it was polished.

Obviously, the story in question needs major work or needs to be scrapped, and the author has gotten several comments to that effect. Why is it bothering you so much? Either write a critique -- constructive or not -- or skip it and move on to another story.

frontlinecaster said:

But you caught me. I typed that last post on my phone and it auto-completed the wrong word. You're right, that completely invalidates everything I've said, so no one should ever proof read anything, because occasionally while posting in a forum people dash off a quick post without noticing a mistake.

Click to expand...

Now that's just silly. Everyone should proofread what they write very carefully -- especially if they are criticizing someone else for not proof reading.

It does seem to be an old complaint here. Laurel overreacts to some things while completely missing others. I guess that's the only real middle ground though, between getting more help and throwing standards out the window. Plenty of rules in plenty of places are enforced only by spot checking a fraction of the things.

The story I submitted last week got rejected over something silly. It made me a little grumpy, but you fix it and move on. I don't have the energy to get upset at the person who provides this nice site for all of us.

Accepting the crazy task of screening all the stories alone (shudder), it is absurdly easy to imagine how standards may vary.

Laurel has a refreshing sleep, a great breakfast and goes to the computer with a pep in her step and a gleam in her eye. Editorial powers...activate! (thunder and lightning special effects)

Laurel has a lousy night's sleep, wakes up to discover the cat has puked in the clean laundry she hadn't put away and lurches off thru a day filled with grinding little irritants. Bleary and slumping, she figures she'd better get a few stories screened before hitting the sack. Editorial powers...where did I leave them...bugger it...

Fair? Equitable? Impartial? Maybe not. But it is something every single human experiences or inflicts on others despite all efforts. Deal with it.