Submitting a piece in html

[sporkfina]

I would like to lessen the load on the site editors.
If I want italics, bold and basic formatting in my stories, do I just use html tags for italics and bold in the text, or do I need to do the whole head, body thing?

 

[AwkwardMD]

Just html tags for the modified text. <i> and <b>, etc.

 

[sporkfina]

Thanks mate..

 

[Handley_Page]

Or do your whole thing in a Word Proc like "Word" and load it all up and let their machine do it for you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Be aware that html errors can go horribly wrong, either by not activating for whatever reason, or cocking up when they hit a Lit page break. I got all excited when I discovered how to use html for occasional italics. After half a dozen stories or chapters went wrong for a variety of reasons (my errors or the site not converting), my use these days is very limited. I found it too much of a hassle to get 100% right, and not worth the bother.

 

[RelentlessOnanism]

I've always uploaded my stories as a Word document. It's not perfect (despite my remorseless urging, EVERY SINGLE TIME I post a story, the tech people at Literotica seem to be completely incapable of placing the chapter numbers in the centre of the page, like I ask them to), but it's certainly a lot less fiddly. I use quite a lot of italics to highlight certain words and phrases in my stories (perhaps too much, it's been remarked upon in the comments), and I can't imagine how much of a pain in the arse it would be trying to use HTML code instead.

One slight problem, Literotica only accept certain types of file. I write all my stories on an iPad, and I used to have Microsoft Word. But since buying the latest iPad, Word won't work (apparently it's only free up to certain screen sizes and, in what must surely only be a coincidence, the new iPad screen size is just that little bit too big). I could email a copy of the story to my work email address and upload it there, but of course with Coronavirus working its cruel magic, I'm not at work, so I can't do that. Therefore, at the moment, unless they start accepting stories in the Apple Pages format, and despite having a story pretty much ready to go, I'm in Literotica limbo...

 

[sporkfina]

Actually the last two submissions worked pretty well. I guess the editor/s missed the italics/bold etc in the docx file that I submitted this time around. I have no issues with them, they are doing a great job for free.

That is why I thought I could do some of the work for them. But if there are errors when the site generates pages, maybe I should hold off on html tags?

On a side note, I use Reedsy for writing (check it out!) because it is great even when I am writing on the go and on the laptop. Once done, I copy it into Word and submit the file here.

 

[Rustyoznail]

One slight problem, Literotica only accept certain types of file. I write all my stories on an iPad, and I used to have Microsoft Word. But since buying the latest iPad, Word won't work (apparently it's only free up to certain screen sizes and, in what must surely only be a coincidence, the new iPad screen size is just that little bit too big). I could email a copy of the story to my work email address and upload it there, but of course with Coronavirus working its cruel magic, I'm not at work, so I can't do that. Therefore, at the moment, unless they start accepting stories in the Apple Pages format, and despite having a story pretty much ready to go, I'm in Literotica limbo...

I had the same issue with my iPad, so I now use Google Docs. When I'm ready to publish I download a *.DOCX file and upload that to Lit.

Caveat - I only use italics and bold, no other formatting.

 

[RelentlessOnanism]

I had the same issue with my iPad, so I now use Google Docs. When I'm ready to publish I download a *.DOCX file and upload that to Lit.

Caveat - I only use italics and bold, no other formatting.

I'm not a hundred percent sure how Google Docs work, so this is pushing at the boundaries of my technical know-how. But I may look into it.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I'm not a hundred percent sure how Google Docs work, so this is pushing at the boundaries of my technical know-how. But I may look into it.

It's pretty simple. Flick me a PM and we can go through it offline, if you want.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That is why I thought I could do some of the work for them. But if there are errors when the site generates pages, maybe I should hold off on html tags?

The problem with the Lit page breaks is you won't always know where they'll be (depends how you submit). I had one story where the italics html "on" was on one page, but the page rolled over exactly where the "off" code was, and the whole next page was thrown into italics. I've seen other writers suffer the same problem.

After using html for maybe half a dozen stories and suffering different problems, I gave up completely. It's easy enough to tweak your style so you don't need to rely on format to serve your story's purpose.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Also, take into account that most stories are read with the Lit App on android phones or devices. The Lit App strips out all html. In fact it sometimes strips out html which isn't ever there.

So, just be aware.

Manu did say they were going to rewrite the Lit App in the near future.

 

[sporkfina]

The problem with the Lit page breaks is you won't always know where they'll be (depends how you submit). I had one story where the italics html "on" was on one page, but the page rolled over exactly where the "off" code was, and the whole next page was thrown into italics. I've seen other writers suffer the same problem.

After using html for maybe half a dozen stories and suffering different problems, I gave up completely. It's easy enough to tweak your style so you don't need to rely on format to serve your story's purpose.

I guess you are right.

But, how would you suggest handling inner monologue for a character during a conversation with another person?

 

[Rustyoznail]

I guess you are right.

But, how would you suggest handling inner monologue for a character during a conversation with another person?

‘That’s an interesting question!’ Russ thought. “Well, one option is to change your punctuation. Just keep it consistent,” he yelled as EB sent the Punctuation Police after him.

 

[sporkfina]

‘That’s an interesting question!’ Russ thought. “Well, one option is to change your punctuation. Just keep it consistent,” he yelled as EB sent the Punctuation Police after him.

Interesting. I'll try it out next time!

 

[ElectricBlue]

‘That’s an interesting question!’ Russ thought. “Well, one option is to change your punctuation. Just keep it consistent,” he yelled as EB sent the Punctuation Police after him.

EB thought Rusty's way of doing it was a good one, because he'd used that technique himself a few times. But, being a simple fellow, he simplified it even further, as done here. "Who needs the extra punctuation?" he mumbled, "when a very close narrator will do the job just as well."

"He's right," said Adam, who knew his writer well. "You can always separate thoughts from spoken words through context. You don't need other fonts or indicators at all."

Suzie spun by. "See, a third protagonist, and everything's perfectly clear. I'm a context girl, myself."

Simon looked up and shook his head. That girl!

She grinned. "Someone else might have used italics there, but you don't really need to do anything fancy. Guttenberg didn't, and he published a bible."

She flitted away, wishing it was Sunday so she could pop in and see the vicar.

 

[Handley_Page]

She grinned. "Someone else might have used italics there, but you don't really need to do anything fancy.
Guttenberg didn't, and he published a bible."

He didn't have a 'typeface designer' working for him.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I do all of my writing in Word, on my (rather obsolete) desktop PC. When I am done writing, I copy and paste the text into the story field rather than submitting the entire document. 50+ submissions in, I am just habituated to using HTML coding for italics, bold and the very rare underlining. Only once have I ever had an error crop up, and I caught it as soon as I reviewed my story before submitting. In that case, page after page of italics gave away that I had not properly closed it...

There are two advantages to pasting your text into the field and submitting it that way rather than uploading your story as a file: It gets published faster (usually 2 days), and you can see what your text will actually look like on the site when you review the story before submitting it. That last part is where I usually catch a few mistakes that evaded my earlier editing. Something about seeing it in a different font and with different spacing seems to draw my eyes to mistakes I have missed before.

 

[ElectricBlue]

He didn't have a 'typeface designer' working for him.

Precisely. You don't need fancy typeface. The word should be enough to do the job, not what it looks like.

"Let there be light" seems to work okay in plain text .

 

[Rustyoznail]

Precisely. You don't need fancy typeface. The word should be enough to do the job, not what it looks like.

"Let there be light" seems to work okay in plain text .

True.

And the Angel of Typefaces is Arial.

I’ll go find some coffee.

 

[RelentlessOnanism]

I finally have access to Microsoft Word, so should be able to submit pieces again.

 

[Haulover]

Also, take into account that most stories are read with the Lit App on android phones or devices. The Lit App strips out ALL html. In fact it sometimes strips out html which isn't ever there.

So, just be aware.

Manu did say they were going to rewrite the Lit App in the near future.

^^THIS^^

I've often asked what percentage of stories are read on the Lit app, but never received an answer. But my gut tells me it may be a majority.

So I write with no HTML - i.e. no bold, no italics, etc ... just old-fashioned text, 'cuz that's all the Lit app readers will see.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'd be surprised if that many people read on the app. I imagine most just go to Literotica.com and have done. I didn't even know there was an app until someone here mentioned it a couple weeks ago.