A thank You For the Advice

[GriffyD_Boy]

A little while ago I started this thread:

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1139243

I was seeking advice leading up to submitting my first story. All six parts have been submitted and were accepted. I figured I'd make this thread to thank everyone who answered me. It was appreciated and helpful.

Here's a link to the first of the six parts in case you're interested in checking out what you helped out with:

https://www.literotica.com/s/monicas-art-class-ch-01-02

The biggest lesson I learned from posting this story is that I'm nowhere near as good a proofreader as I thought I was. Every submission was proofread at least three times and there are still way too many errors that I missed.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Most LIT writers come with egos as immense as Hillarys ass.

 

[GriffyD_Boy]

Most LIT writers come with egos as immense as Hillarys ass.

If this was directed at me I apologize. I wasn't trying to come across as arrogant. I was honestly trying to thank the people who I felt helped me.

I'm sorry if this thread came across as something else.

 

[glynndah]

A little while ago I started this thread:

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1139243

I was seeking advice leading up to submitting my first story. All six parts have been submitted and were accepted. I figured I'd make this thread to thank everyone who answered me. It was appreciated and helpful.

Here's a link to the first of the six parts in case you're interested in checking out what you helped out with:

https://www.literotica.com/s/monicas-art-class-ch-01-02

The biggest lesson I learned from posting this story is that I'm nowhere near as good a proofreader as I thought I was. Every submission was proofread at least three times and there are still way too many errors that I missed.

No one's EVER as good a proofreader as they think. I've read mine over dozens of times and think it's perfect. However, the second it's published, the errors jump out like a 3-D jack in the box. A blinking, flashing, neon-colored jack in the box.

 

[GriffyD_Boy]

No one's EVER as good a proofreader as they think. I've read mine over dozens of times and think it's perfect. However, the second it's published, the errors jump out like a 3-D jack in the box. A blinking, flashing, neon-colored jack in the box.

Yeah, I've now certainly discovered how true that statement is.

 

[Darkniciad]

Tips to improve your proofreading. Even if you have a second set of eyes for everything as I do, it makes the job easier for them when you catch everything you can catch first.

1) Let the story sit for a few days before the first read. For best results, write something else during the interim. This helps dull your memory of what you meant to write, so you see what's actually on the page instead of what you thought you put there.

2) Change the font size and face to something very different from what you write in before you begin the read. Changing the position of the words on screen this way can make things jump out at you that you'd have otherwise missed.

3) Read aloud if that's an option. If you're stumbling over it while trying to say it, there's probably something that needs tweaked. If you happen to have a text-to-speech program, that can help as well.

4) Utilize the spelling and grammar checkers. Don't depend on them, and don't take everything they say at face value. They're designed more for technical writing than creative writing. A lot of times, what it stops to tell me about isn't what I see and correct. These pull out and highlight small sections when they find a "problem", and that's another version of #2.

I actually use three of them I run it through Wordperfect first, because that's the program I write in. Then I paste it into Word and give it a go. Then there's an online one here https://prowritingaid.com/en/Home/Index that I use almost exclusively for the Repeated Words report.

They're all different, and home in on different criteria.

After all of that, I send it off to my editor.

By all means, read it one last time in the Preview after you submit. This is yet another change in the way the text is positioned, and if you've used any formatting such as italics, you can make sure it's doing what it's supposed to do.

 

[GriffyD_Boy]

Tips to improve your proofreading. Even if you have a second set of eyes for everything as I do, it makes the job easier for them when you catch everything you can catch first.

1) Let the story sit for a few days before the first read. For best results, write something else during the interim. This helps dull your memory of what you meant to write, so you see what's actually on the page instead of what you thought you put there.

2) Change the font size and face to something very different from what you write in before you begin the read. Changing the position of the words on screen this way can make things jump out at you that you'd have otherwise missed.

3) Read aloud if that's an option. If you're stumbling over it while trying to say it, there's probably something that needs tweaked. If you happen to have a text-to-speech program, that can help as well.

4) Utilize the spelling and grammar checkers. Don't depend on them, and don't take everything they say at face value. They're designed more for technical writing than creative writing. A lot of times, what it stops to tell me about isn't what I see and correct. These pull out and highlight small sections when they find a "problem", and that's another version of #2.

I actually use three of them I run it through Wordperfect first, because that's the program I write in. Then I paste it into Word and give it a go. Then there's an online one here https://prowritingaid.com/en/Home/Index that I use almost exclusively for the Repeated Words report.

They're all different, and home in on different criteria.

After all of that, I send it off to my editor.

By all means, read it one last time in the Preview after you submit. This is yet another change in the way the text is positioned, and if you've used any formatting such as italics, you can make sure it's doing what it's supposed to do.

Thanks for the advice.