Okay, I have a question.

[Brynn_Ametza]

I have, many years ago posted a couple of stories. I've found the desire to try my hand again. I would love some input/advice as to how to best do so now.

Is it easier to write the story in Lit and then take it to an outside program for a rough edit or to create a template in that program, do the story and then submit? I just want to get a story done in he most efficient way.
Also, any advice on best ways to post a text only story would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[NotWise]

I have, many years ago posted a couple of stories. I've found the desire to try my hand again. I would love some input/advice as to how to best do so now.

Is it easier to write the story in Lit and then take it to an outside program for a rough edit or to create a template in that program, do the story and then submit? I just want to get a story done in he most efficient way.
Also, any advice on best ways to post a text only story would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

It's probably best to write your story in your favorite word processor and upload it to the site when you're done with it.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I have, many years ago posted a couple of stories. I've found the desire to try my hand again. I would love some input/advice as to how to best do so now.

Is it easier to write the story in Lit and then take it to an outside program for a rough edit or to create a template in that program, do the story and then submit? I just want to get a story done in he most efficient way.
Also, any advice on best ways to post a text only story would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

You'll probably get 20 different answers, no two of which entirely agree with each other. I'm not sure I entirely understand the question. It sounds to me like you may be significantly over-complicating it. You can:

• Write it in Word or Google Docs or some other word processor and attach the file to submit it.
  
• Write it in Word or Google Docs or some other word processor, copy the text and paste it into the textbox on the submission page to submit it.
  
• Write it on the submissions page and submit it from there.

I don't know why you would take it back out of the Lit draft area and put it in something else once it was already written, and that's why I'm not sure I understand what you're really asking.

In my opinion, option no.1 is easiest. You don't have to mess with HTML tags for formatting that way.

 

[Voboy]

Concur with the other two responses. Just type it in Word, edit to your heart's content, and then upload when you submit.

 

[Damoiselle]

For the record, Scrivener is a goddess send for those of us who get really bogged down in world building. I use it for the actual writing process, then I use google docs to confer with my editors, then finally make a word doc for uploading to Lit.

 

[Jada59]

It's probably best to write your story in your favorite word processor and upload it to the site when you're done with it.

That's what I do.

 

[Brutal_One]

I write the draft in pages (iPad) and then copy all and paste into draft in lit. I will review and edit in lit draft because this let’s you see what the published story looks like and I can edit to remove white space or simple typos or dialog tag edits e.g missing quote marks etc.

In pages I often add image or gif in pages related to the story so this creates the white space when posting into lit draft which I edit out.

Brutal One

 

[Rustyoznail]

I use Google docs, mainly because I can write on anything. I save it as a Word docx file and upload that. I don't worry too much about formatting apart from the occasional bold or italics.

 

[jaF0]

Word adds a tunnacrap and should be avoided at all costs.

Notepad is simple and clean, but no spell checker.

Wordpad is also simple and clean with a few more features like Indent, but still no spell checker.

LibreOffice is far more complex if you need that, but also basic and simple if you don't.

More to the point of your question, do ALL writing offline. Save it locally, then copy and past the clean, basic text in to the submission form.

 

[sirhugs]

Add me to those who write in a word processor and edit before submitting. I do cut and paste however, rather than submitting a file.

 

[Handley_Page]

It's probably best to write your story in your favorite word processor and upload it to the site when you're done with it.

I quite agree

 

[MelissaBaby]

Add me to those who write in a word processor and edit before submitting. I do cut and paste however, rather than submitting a file.

I write in Pages and then c/p. I do a quick read through in Preview and almost always catch some little error.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Used to use Word, but have moved to Google Docs because I write on multiple devices. I'm an oddball who prefers cloud saves versus keeping it all on my computer after a history of hard drive failures.

After I copy and paste, I scan the raw text document for errors. The change in font/style helps me find a few. Then I read through the preview for the same reason and typically find a few more mistakes. Finally, I hint submit and hope no one complains too much about all the mistakes I still managed to miss.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

Word adds a tunnacrap and should be avoided at all costs.

Notepad is simple and clean, but no spell checker.

Wordpad is also simple and clean with a few more features like Indent, but still no spell checker.

LibreOffice is far more complex if you need that, but also basic and simple if you don't.

More to the point of your question, do ALL writing offline. Save it locally, then copy and past the clean, basic text in to the submission form.

What is it that Word adds? I always upload Word files and have never had any formatting issues. I actually asked once, in the comments box on the submission form about what format was easier for her to work with, but I never got a response.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

What is it that Word adds? I always upload Word files and have never had any formatting issues. I actually asked once, in the comments box on the submission form about what format was easier for her to work with, but I never got a response.

Yeah, there is a bot that takes care of the conversion process from Word to Text with html tags. Just as Smashwords as its bot that converts your Word doc to any or all of the formats that it uses.

So, Laurel might never have seen your note or if she did she just shrugged her shoulders as it was after the fact of your story being published.

 

[SimonDoom]

I am so accustomed to Word from years of use that I do all my writing and editing in it, and when my story is ready I upload it to the site, ready to go. It would make no sense for me to do things any other way.

I strongly prefer to compose offline, not online, so I don't use things like GoogleDocs unless it's a collaborative project. Since I usually work alone, at a desktop computer, working offline with Word works for me.

I've never had any problems with formatting or uploading doing it this way.

 

[Emirus]

Used to use Word, but have moved to Google Docs because I write on multiple devices. I'm an oddball who prefers cloud saves versus keeping it all on my computer after a history of hard drive failures.

After I copy and paste, I scan the raw text document for errors. The change in font/style helps me find a few. Then I read through the preview for the same reason and typically find a few more mistakes. Finally, I hint submit and hope no one complains too much about all the mistakes I still managed to miss.

I write using Pages on my iPhone and Pc and when you do it on one it immediately syncs with the other. When finished I check it. I then download and convert to Word (because I don’t use a Mac) and save it in My Stories file. After checking again upload it to submissions.

The same as Nyx, I’ve never had a problem with Word and my stories have always appeared on Lit as the original.

 

[HappySpouse]

I use Microsoft Word, but I've never much cared for it. I have to pay for it to do other things so might as well. The upload process might avoid this, but the first time I tried to copy/paste in a story, it was all out of whack with way too much white space and too long paragraphs. To avoid that I do the following: remove space after paragraph, single line spacing (1.0), switch the view to web layout, and shrink the window horizontally until it roughly matches the line length of a Literotica page. This seems gives me a pretty accurate representation of how everything will appear on the site. The three that I have submitted were published in just 2 or 3 days. So, I guess it is a pretty straightforward process for the site as well.

 

[Emirus]

I use Microsoft Word, but I've never much cared for it. I have to pay for it to do other things so might as well. The upload process might avoid this, but the first time I tried to copy/paste in a story, it was all out of whack with way too much white space and too long paragraphs. To avoid that I do the following: remove space after paragraph, single line spacing (1.0), switch the view to web layout, and shrink the window horizontally until it roughly matches the line length of a Literotica page. This seems gives me a pretty accurate representation of how everything will appear on the site. The three that I have submitted were published in just 2 or 3 days. So, I guess it is a pretty straightforward process for the site as well.

I’ve never bothered with copy/paste. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never had a problem. Uploading it as a file from the list of completed stories on my pc takes about ten seconds, if that, and it’s always appeared exactly as I submitted it. But everyone to his own and as long as the finished published story is right then no worries.

 

[sporkfina]

For the initial drafts, I use reedsy. It gives me the flexibility to write on my laptop or my phone. I'm seriously impressed with how simple it is to write on the phone with it, at times I prefer to write on it even if my laptop is nearby. Plus it is free, completely.

Then I c&p into word and do all the edits.

 

[SimonDoom]

I always write at a desktop computer, and always write using MS Word. It's easy, has lots of functionality, including grammar and spell checkers, and it's easy to upload the finished product to the site in .rtf or .doc format.

 

[_Lynn_]

I started with MS Word and never changed to anything else. Even though others complain about it, I find it easy to use. When I'm done with a story, I copy/paste it into the submissions box, scroll through it to be sure everything looks right, and send it through.

 

[stickygirl]

I work on Mac at home and use Word for Mac for any writing/editing. I've learned that when I've finished, to save it out of Word in rtf or simple text format and upload that. I've found some weird font & formatting hiccups with .docx

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

IMHO, if you're going to work with an editor, Google Docs is the best option. The cloud eliminates the need to send files back and forth, and the Commenter role is head and shoulders above Word's Track Changes. The editor makes suggestions, and the author can reply to, accept, or reject those suggestions with a single click. Then you can save it and attach it to the submission form or copy and paste at your discretion.

 

[PennameWombat]

I have, many years ago posted a couple of stories. I've found the desire to try my hand again. I would love some input/advice as to how to best do so now.

Is it easier to write the story in Lit and then take it to an outside program for a rough edit or to create a template in that program, do the story and then submit? I just want to get a story done in he most efficient way.
Also, any advice on best ways to post a text only story would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Just to bandwagon... I use Google Docs across multiple devices (laptop, iPad and Phone) to write and edit all of my stories (a few key scenes written on my commute on the train in pre-Covid days). I have a default template that uses Times New Roman, size 12 font, 1.5 spacing within paragraphs and double spacing between paragraphs. I used Header 3 for section headings and sometimes Header 4 for special cases. For some other uses I have initial line of paragraph set to indent but don't do that for Literotica stories because the standard story display is (in my mind) narrow. The beta reading format is better but I don't know how many folks use that.

On rare occasion I might use a second font, e.g., Courier, for monospace to highlight something like a text message conversation my characters are having. That's rare.

Prior to submission, I download from Google Docs onto my laptop in Word format but use Libre Office to do the final edit/proofread (no Word license). I then upload that file to Literotica as an attachment. I also upload this submitted version to Google Docs to have it on the cloud.

I never edit nor write anything on Literotica's submission screen, just fill it in and attach the file. The site absorbs my file and the published versions look fine.