Free MS Word Conversion Tool for Literotica Authors

[Cee2ShiningCee]

I've written a tool to help convert MS Word documents into Literotica story submissions. I am making it available to other authors for free, no ads, no tracking.

The tool is called Story Text Preparation (STP). You can find the tool here: https://www.atp-tool.com

There is an instructions page linked from the URL above that explains why I wrote it and what it does. The instructions page includes a link to download an example MS Word document you can use to demonstrate what STP does.

STP does what I need it to do, and I tried to make it 100% compatible with what LE requires. If it is not, or if you have other questions or comments, please reply here. Thanks.

 

[SoCalAshley]

So I am a brand new writer and submitted my first 2 stories using MS Word. Both got published without any problems. Why would I need an MS Word converter?

 

[Rustyoznail]

Just had a quick look. Interesting idea, particularly the search for common word substitutions. I plan to use left / right justification for text messages in a story I'm writing, so I'll give your program a shot and see what happens.

Cheers!

- Edit. L/R justification didn't work.

 

[SimpleEnigma]

Just tested this with a chapter of a story we are working on. Bravo! We do use Word to write, but do not like to upload the Word document because there is always the chance of identifying metadata tagging along with it. Therefore, we usually just hand code italics using html so the Lit software will interpret it correctly. In our test, your STP easily converted the italicized words to HTML tags and kept formatting the way we wrote it. Will use it when we finish the chapter and put it to real world use, but it looks very, very promising. Many thanks.

 

[Duleigh]

Is this a text converter or a grammar checker? I don't see any text conversion happening in the instructions and Word already has a built-in grammar checker. Why would I need this?

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

So I am a brand new writer and submitted my first 2 stories using MS Word. Both got published without any problems. Why would I need an MS Word converter?

If you are happy to submit your MS Word document, then you don't need it. As explained on the Instructions page, I don't want to submit MS Word documents for several reasons. First, I include other notes in my Word documents, things for my own use only, such as a cast of characters, an outline, etc. STP includes tools for ignoring those parts (anything prior to a "Story:" keyword). Second, as mentioned below, Word has a habit of including things you may not be aware of, such as identifying information.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

Just had a quick look. Interesting idea, particularly the search for common word substitutions. I plan to use left / right justification for text messages in a story I'm writing, so I'll give your program a shot and see what happens.

Cheers!

- Edit. L/R justification didn't work.

I do not know if MS Word includes anything in the HTML that indicates left / right justification. It's probably wrapped in one of the interminable styles that Word defines, and if so, it's probably a lot of work to find where it applies... I'll take a look, but I am not confident.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Is this a text converter or a grammar checker? I don't see any text conversion happening in the instructions and Word already has a built-in grammar checker. Why would I need this?

I tried it out on a story that is already in draft mode. It seems to work okay when I saved the output as plain text as I usually do. I'm not sure if there is an advantage to simply pasting the text into the submission window. Usually I add the HTML codes (there's not that many that work) either in the document or the submission process.

I use the Word grammar checker because it's there, but I then use Grammarly later which does a better job. Even that requires judgment calls and close proofreading in addition to the program itself.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

Is this a text converter or a grammar checker? I don't see any text conversion happening in the instructions and Word already has a built-in grammar checker. Why would I need this?

STP is not a grammar checker. As you pointed out, Word has one of those. However, grammar checkers sometimes fail to identify misused words. It depends on the context.

If you are content to submit an MS Word document to LE, then this tool is probably not for you. As I mentioned in a prior reply, I keep other things--cast of characters, outline, notes--in my Word documents and I don't want the submission to include those parts. I don't want to submit MS Word documents because an MS Word document may include things that you don't want to share. (I am not comfortable with the opague MS Word docx format.)

if you use some styled text (italic, bold), use Heading styles for headings, and some other common story formats, this tool will ease the transition from Word to a plain text submission.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

Just had a quick look. Interesting idea, particularly the search for common word substitutions. I plan to use left / right justification for text messages in a story I'm writing, so I'll give your program a shot and see what happens.

Cheers!

- Edit. L/R justification didn't work.

OK, it's actually relatively easy to detect justified text. MS WOrd exports this HTML for a justified paragraph:

<p style='text-align:justify'>

However... How should that be sent to LE in plain text? I don't think LE will accept paragraph ("P") elements in the plain text, and that's how justified text is done in HTML. If you know what LE expects, let me know.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

I tried it out on a story that is already in draft mode. It seems to work okay when I saved the output as plain text as I usually do. I'm not sure if there is an advantage to simply pasting the text into the submission window. Usually I add the HTML codes (there's not that many that work) either in the document or the submission process.

I use the Word grammar checker because it's there, but I then use Grammarly later which does a better job. Even that requires judgment calls and close proofreading in addition to the program itself.

STP handles the common HTML codes that work, STRONG, EM, B, I. Word doesn't include STRONG or EM as far as I know, but STP handles them anyway. Word does include B (bold) and I (italic) so STP saves you from (A) having to find and replace them in plain text or (B) including the HTML codes in your Word text. Just style the text as normal in a WYSIWYG editor.

 

[Bramblethorn]

So I am a brand new writer and submitted my first 2 stories using MS Word. Both got published without any problems. Why would I need an MS Word converter?

If you're trying to do something fancy with formatting, the conversion Literotica does on Word docs is sometimes a bit glitchy, and you can't preview how a story is going to look when you submit it that way.

For fancy stuff it's sometimes preferable to submit it with HTML coding. I could compose a story in Word, use this tool to convert the standard stuff like italics into HTML coding, and then I'd just have to go through it and manually edit whatever I needed to do that STP didn't handle - usually this would be relatively minor.

OK, it's actually relatively easy to detect justified text. MS WOrd exports this HTML for a justified paragraph:

<p style='text-align:justify'>

However... How should that be sent to LE in plain text? I don't think LE will accept paragraph ("P") elements in the plain text, and that's how justified text is done in HTML. If you know what LE expects, let me know.

See this story by @AwkwardMD for an example of justified text, and here for how she coded it.

 

[KeithD]

The KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method has worked just fine for me for a decade and a half. I compose in Word in essentially the same stripped-down format Lit. publishes in and mark the italics and bold (of which there won't be much) myself. Then I just cut and paste in the submissions box provided. Simple, fast, effective.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

See this story by @AwkwardMD for an example of justified text, and here for how she coded it.

That author used DIV and BR elements to right-align half of a text message conversation. I wasn't aware that LE would accept the HTML DIV and BR elements. I thought Rustyoznail wanted text justification, not right-aligned text. Justified text is like newsprint where the right-edge is even and achieved by hyphenating words and/or adding space between letters and words to equalize line-length.

I see a lot of stories with text message exchanges in them and I think many readers expect text messages to be split left and right as seen on smartphones. So, handling right-aligned text would be useful if STP can detect it from the HTML. I'll do a test.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

The KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method has worked just fine for me for a decade and a half. I compose in Word in essentially the same stripped-down format Lit. publishes in and mark the italics and bold (of which there won't be much) myself. Then I just cut and paste in the submissions box provided. Simple, fast, effective.

For me, "simple" and "manual" are not synonyms.

Anyway, if your stories use few if any inline styles (italic, bold) or other formatting, you don't have any real converting to do, and putting HTML in the Word text--which I would avoid--is acceptable to you. For authors who use inline styles or other formatting, manual text conversion is more complicated than automatic conversion via a tool.

 

[KeithD]

For me, "simple" and "manual" are not synonyms.

Anyway, if your stories use few if any inline styles (italic, bold) or other formatting, you don't have any real converting to do, and putting HTML in the Word text--which I would avoid--is acceptable to you. For authors who use inline styles or other formatting, manual text conversion is more complicated than automatic conversion via a tool.

Literotica is a rolling anthology. All of the stories should follow the same basic formatting, and Literotica has chosen a stripped-down format. You shouldn't be putting a lot of fancy formatting in your stories. Submitting to Literotica need not be a complicated matter and your stories shouldn't have--or try to have--a lot of extra bells and whistles in them. There is limited reason to be using either italics or bolding in a Literotica story even.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

Literotica is a rolling anthology. All of the stories should follow the same basic formatting, and Literotica has chosen a stripped-down format. You shouldn't be putting a lot of fancy formatting in your stories. Submitting to Literotica need not be a complicated matter and your stories shouldn't have--or try to have--a lot of extra bells and whistles in them. There is limited reason to be using either italics or bolding in a Literotica story even.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I don't consider using bold and italics to indicate emphasis as "bells and whistles". LE stories include dialog, and dialog often includes emphasis. Meanwhile, LE has specifically allowed bold and italics in their rules. You are free not to use STP, or bold and italics, but that won't influence my choice.

 

[KeithD]

We'll have to agree to disagree. I don't consider using bold and italics to indicate emphasis as "bells and whistles".

Neither do I, nor did I post that. I use italics for emphasis among other things (e.g., book, song, vessel titles) and have no trouble with the KISS method. Just seems to be a possible solution in search of not much of a problem. I'll have to go off and see how many stories you've posted here to see how much of a problem you were solving.

Ah, three stories (five submissions) over a year.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

Neither do I, nor did I post that. I use italics for emphasis among other things (e.g., book, song, vessel titles) and have no trouble with the KISS method. Just seems to be a possible solution in search of not much of a problem. I'll have to go off and see how many stories you've posted here to see how much of a problem you were solving.

Ah, three stories (five submissions) over a year.

Ah, ad hominem.

 

[KeithD]

Ah, ad hominem.

Well, no. The point is that not everything needs fancy "solutions" for which there is little problem. The Literotica story file is a rolling anthology. Formatting styles are uniform across anthologies for uniformity and keeping readers from being distracted. Literotica has chosen a very basic formatting style to realize this standard presentation mode. What's important here is the content of the story not how fancy it can be dressed up to look in contrast to other stories around it.

 

[KeithD]

And this is relevant because? You get extra brownie-points after you've passed a certain threshold? Only people with more than ten stories a year are allowed to disagree with you?

No. It indicates that the KISS method wouldn't have been much of a problem with this poster--certainly not enough to spend effort in devising a possible solution to a not-much-existing "problem."

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

No. It indicates that the KISS method wouldn't have been much of a problem with this poster--certainly not enough to spend effort in devising a possible solution to a not-much-existing "problem."

The next time I need advice on how to spend my free time I'll be sure to contact you.

 

[SimpleEnigma]

Cee2, I for one see the value and use cases for this tool, even though others may not. Lauren and I intend on using it to see how it goes.

Thank you for the effort in providing us with yet another FREE tool in our toolbox, which we are free to use or not.

Your time and contribution here is greatly appreciated.

 

[KeithD]

The next time I need advice on how to spend my free time I'll be sure to contact you.

And if you do, I'll be polite and spend my time trying to be helpful to you.

 

[Cee2ShiningCee]

Cee2, I for one see the value and use cases for this tool, even though others may not. Lauren and I intend on using it to see how it goes.

Thank you for the effort in providing us with yet another FREE tool in our toolbox, which we are free to use or not.

Your time and contribution here is greatly appreciated.

You're welcome, and thanks for the encouragement.

I just updated STP to include support for text alignment and line breaks where the author uses shift+enter rather than enter. Both of those changes were inspired by the comments of Rustyoznail and Bramblethorn.