Javahead
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2019
- Posts
- 2,394
Sorry if this one has been done to death, but I did a quick topic search and it doesn't appear if these questions have been covered recently.
I've always self-edited my stories, then ran them though spell- and style- checkers. But although that can catch most typos, it doesn't help with logic errors, continuity, or just poor phrasing or a limping plot line.
For the spate of archived stories I just finished, I didn't need much input, beyond Laurel's pointing out that I needed adapt one story slightly to conform with Literotica guidelines - I rewrote the offending sections, resubmitted, and all was well. I find this sort of advice ("this doesn't work well for my, and here's why") very useful.
At the same time, judging by the "helpful" comments I've received on posted stories, I've learned that there's a thin line between "this could be done better" and "you should change the whole premise of your story because I don't like the way this story developed". Though I'd hope that volunteer editors would be less prone to this sort of thing, I'm also a subscriber to the TANSTAAFL philosophy - I figure that the closer it is to their own taste (and hence, enjoy the process) the less useful their advice will be.
So - among the more established writers here - who uses editors? Who doesn't? Who tried using editors, but went back to doing without?
I'm not sure I want to, really. But I just finished the first part (12.6 K words - about 4 Literotica pages) of what is outlined as a 3 part story and started work on part 2, and I find that it's just big enough that - for me - that I'm worried about missing a flaw. So I'm willing to try the process - I figure I can probably finish Part 2 and get stuck into Part 3 before I get feedback, and by then I might welcome the change of focus.
No "right" or "wrong" answers here - just soliciting feedback and advice from those who've been through the mill.
I've always self-edited my stories, then ran them though spell- and style- checkers. But although that can catch most typos, it doesn't help with logic errors, continuity, or just poor phrasing or a limping plot line.
For the spate of archived stories I just finished, I didn't need much input, beyond Laurel's pointing out that I needed adapt one story slightly to conform with Literotica guidelines - I rewrote the offending sections, resubmitted, and all was well. I find this sort of advice ("this doesn't work well for my, and here's why") very useful.
At the same time, judging by the "helpful" comments I've received on posted stories, I've learned that there's a thin line between "this could be done better" and "you should change the whole premise of your story because I don't like the way this story developed". Though I'd hope that volunteer editors would be less prone to this sort of thing, I'm also a subscriber to the TANSTAAFL philosophy - I figure that the closer it is to their own taste (and hence, enjoy the process) the less useful their advice will be.
So - among the more established writers here - who uses editors? Who doesn't? Who tried using editors, but went back to doing without?
I'm not sure I want to, really. But I just finished the first part (12.6 K words - about 4 Literotica pages) of what is outlined as a 3 part story and started work on part 2, and I find that it's just big enough that - for me - that I'm worried about missing a flaw. So I'm willing to try the process - I figure I can probably finish Part 2 and get stuck into Part 3 before I get feedback, and by then I might welcome the change of focus.
No "right" or "wrong" answers here - just soliciting feedback and advice from those who've been through the mill.