Formatting Issue

[Barefootandredheaded]

Hi, I'm in need of guidance. I've submitted a story 3 times and have been rejected each time. It is the same story and the reason I'm given is is formatting between paragraphs. They said to do a hard return twice for each paragraph. I've gone through line by line, I've moved the file to different doc types, tried uploading vs putting it in the body for submission. I don't know what else to do. They recommended I come here for help. Can someone help me please?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hi, I'm in need of guidance. I've submitted a story 3 times and have been rejected each time. It is the same story and the reason I'm given is is formatting between paragraphs. They said to do a hard return twice for each paragraph. I've gone through line by line, I've moved the file to different doc types, tried uploading vs putting it in the body for submission. I don't know what else to do. They recommended I come here for help. Can someone help me please?

Copy paste your content into the submit form, save the draft, and preview. That will show the content as it will appear when published.

You can edit in the form.

I suspect you've relied on Word paragraph formatting, which adds space at the end of each paragraph, but doesn't add the extra Return that you need for Lit. The rule of drafting for Lit: at the end of every paragraph, double Return.

 

[IWroteThis]

Without seeing the actual document, it's hard to diagnose, but I see one thing in your comment that might indicate a problem.

You said you went through line by line rather than paragraph by paragraph. Don't try to force paragraph width with hard returns inside the paragraph, as each line will be interpreted as a new paragraph. Hard returns should only happen at the end of a paragraph, and then in sets of two.

 

[ronde]

Copy paste your content into the submit form, save the draft, and preview. That will show the content as it will appear when published.

You can edit in the form.

I suspect you've relied on Word paragraph formatting, which adds space at the end of each paragraph, but doesn't add the extra Return that you need for Lit. The rule of drafting for Lit: at the end of every paragraph, double Return.

I don't trust Word for much other than to record what I write and do a spell check. I always double return after a paragraph and it's worked for me for years.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Just to get this straight, so your text formats like this?

Paragraph 1 111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111 111111 1111 111111111111111111 11111111111111111111 1111111111111111 1111111111 111111 1111111111111 11111111111111111111111 111111111111 11111111111111 1111111111111111111111 11 1111111111111 1111111111111111111111 1 11 1111111111111111111 11111111111111 11111111111111111 111111111111111 11 1111111111 111111111111111 1 111111111111111111
Paragraph 2 222222222 2222222 22222222222222222 22222222222222222222 222222222222222 222222 22 2 2222222222 222222222222222 222222222222222222 222222222222222 22222222222222222222 2222222 22222222222222 222222222222 2222222222 22222222222222 22 22222222 222222222222222 2222222222222 22222222 22222222 2222222222 222222222222 222222222222222222222222222222 2222222222 2222222 2222

And you need it to look like this ...

Paragraph 1 111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111 111111 1111 111111111111111111 11111111111111111111 1111111111111111 1111111111 111111 1111111111111 11111111111111111111111 111111111111 11111111111111 1111111111111111111111 11 1111111111111 1111111111111111111111 1 11 1111111111111111111 11111111111111 11111111111111111 111111111111111 11 1111111111 111111111111111 1 111111111111111111

Paragraph 2 222222222 2222222 22222222222222222 22222222222222222222 222222222222222 222222 22 2 2222222222 222222222222222 222222222222222222 222222222222222 22222222222222222222 2222222 22222222222222 222222222222 2222222222 22222222222222 22 22222222 222222222222222 2222222222222 22222222 22222222 2222222222 222222222222 222222222222222222222222222222 2222222222 2222222 2222

You do that like this ...

Paragraph 1 111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111 111111 1111 111111111111111111 11111111111111111111 1111111111111111 1111111111 111111 1111111111111 11111111111111111111111 111111111111 11111111111111 1111111111111111111111 11 1111111111111 1111111111111111111111 1 11 1111111111111111111 11111111111111 11111111111111111 111111111111111 11 1111111111 111111111111111 1 111111111111111111[return]
[return]
Paragraph 2 222222222 2222222 22222222222222222 22222222222222222222 222222222222222 222222 22 2 2222222222 222222222222222 222222222222222222 222222222222222 22222222222222222222 2222222 22222222222222 222222222222 2222222222 22222222222222 22 22222222 222222222222222 2222222222222 22222222 22222222 2222222222 222222222222 222222222222222222222222222222 2222222222 2222222 2222[return]
[return]

Note the extra return on the blank line between the paragraphs.

 

[TheLobster]

The rule of drafting for Lit: at the end of every paragraph, double Return.

I know this is true for plain text submitted directly through the form (copy-pasted into the browser), but does it actually apply to Word files uploaded separately?

AFAIK Word already has a notion of paragraphs, and whenever you press Enter you’re by default creating a new one. Pressing it twice would create two paragraphs, then, one of which is empty, and it seems to me it shouldn’t be necessary for Literotica to convert the Word paragraphs 1:1 to HTML ones.

 

[StillStunned]

I always double return after a paragraph and it's worked for me for years.

When I was a newcomer here, I added the double return manually. Then someone - sorry, I don't remember who - recommended doing Find & Replace: ^p for ^p^p.

Now I do this as the final step before copying the text into Lit's submission form, then I go back and undo the double returns in the Word doc.

 

[Writer61]

I suspect you've relied on Word paragraph formatting, which adds space at the end of each paragraph, but doesn't add the extra Return that you need for Lit. The rule of drafting for Lit: at the end of every paragraph, double Return.

Was not aware of that rule.

I write in Word and follow its norm, i.e. a single hard return (¶) at the end of each paragraph.

Over 40 stories in and never had a problem. I upload in DOCX or RTF.

 

[Writer61]

know this is true for plain text submitted directly through the form (copy-pasted into the browser), but does it actually apply to Word files uploaded separately?

I don't think so. Certainly, I have never had a problem. See above

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Then someone - sorry, I don't remember who - recommended doing Find & Replace: ^p for ^p^p.

Maybe it was me because I have offered that advice in the past.

Interestingly, this thread made me realize that with my last several stories uploaded as *.docx files, I have neglected to add the extra returns before submitting and they all got published looking fine. Maybe Laurel likes me and makes the corrections for me?

Ha!

 

[MrPixel]

.doc and .docx double returns are suppressed in the translator.

I agree that it sounds like the OP is trying to force their own line breaks. One return = one paragraph. We'll need to hear back from @Barefootandredheaded to verify.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

AFAIK Word already has a notion of paragraphs, and whenever you press Enter you’re by default creating a new one. Pressing it twice would create two paragraphs, then, one of which is empty, and it seems to me it shouldn’t be necessary for Literotica to convert the Word paragraphs 1:1 to HTML ones.

I write in Libre and I just make sure that that feature is off and do my own carriage returns.

 

[TheLobster]

Maybe Laurel likes me and makes the corrections for me?

Based on what @Writer61 said, uploaded Word files have their innate paragraphs handled correctly (i.e., converted to Lit's paragraphs in the rendered story). No need to double-up on the return (¶) characters; in fact, doing so would be wrong and introduce empty paragraphs, except Lit's publishing pipeline seems to correct for that, as per the post #11 above.

In general, I think folks are needlessly confusing themselves and the issue by writing in a formatted text editor, like Word, and then copy-pasting the text into the submission form. Not only none of the formatting carries over (you need the <em>'s and other HTML tags), but you also get this different handling on line feeds because plain text only has lines, not lines and paragraphs.

If you're planning to use the submission form text field rather than uploading a file, I suggest you use a simple, plain text editor instead of Word. Not necessarily Notepad, there are plenty of better alternatives (just google "windows/mac plain text editor" and try a few). I write all my stuff in Ghostwriter, for example, and can readily recommend it. (It's technically a Markdown editor, which Lit doesn't support, but it highlights HTML formatting just fine).

 

[nice90sguy]

When I was a newcomer here, I added the double return manually. Then someone - sorry, I don't remember who - recommended doing Find & Replace: ^p for ^p^p.

Now I do this as the final step before copying the text into Lit's submission form, then I go back and undo the double returns in the Word doc.

Atcually, the correct way to do this :
Repeatedly search and replace ^p^p with ^p until Word cant find any more.

THEN do replace ^p with ^p^p.

If you just do what @StillStunned says, you can end up with three instead of two ^p in some places.

 

[StillStunned]

Atcually, the correct way to do this :
Repeatedly search and replace ^p^p with ^p until Word cant find any more.

THEN do replace ^p with ^p^p.

If you just do what @StillStunned says, you can end up with three instead of two ^p in some places.

Fair enough. Myself, by the time I'm ready to copy the story into the submission box, I've read it so many times that I'm pretty certain there aren't any double returns.

Another editors' tip: do a Find & Replace for double spaces. They're cunning little bastards, even sneakier than typos.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Was not aware of that rule.

I write in Word and follow its norm, i.e. a single hard return (¶) at the end of each paragraph.

Over 40 stories in and never had a problem. I upload in DOCX or RTF.

This didn't use to be the case as I had my first story (2014) sent back to correct the line spacing. Subsequent stories with the two hard returns for paragraphs never presented a problem.

Now, it appears that either method for paragraphs works since my last few stories had single returns when submitted.

 

[TheLobster]

Another editors' tip: do a Find & Replace for double spaces. They're cunning little bastards, even sneakier than typos.

Also quadruple dots and isolated double dots.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I know this is true for plain text submitted directly through the form (copy-pasted into the browser), but does it actually apply to Word files uploaded separately?

AFAIK Word already has a notion of paragraphs, and whenever you press Enter you’re by default creating a new one. Pressing it twice would create two paragraphs, then, one of which is empty, and it seems to me it shouldn’t be necessary for Literotica to convert the Word paragraphs 1:1 to HTML ones.

I've always drafted in a Word clone, and have always done double returns, regardless if I copy paste, or (way back when) I submitted .doc .docx .txt or .rtf files. Double returns always work for Lit (regardless whether or not the Lit processing gets rid of one of them).

For the last five years I've copy pasted into the submission form, and have never had format problems - I've found it to be 100% reliable.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

In general, I think folks are needlessly confusing themselves and the issue by writing in a formatted text editor, like Word, and then copy-pasting the text into the submission form. Not only none of the formatting carries over (you need the <em>'s and other HTML tags) ...

I always use plaintext with embedded HTML, but the above does not appear to be true. Lots of the writers here use Word or RTF for all their formatting.

 

[TheLobster]

I always use plaintext with embedded HTML, but the above does not appear to be true. Lots of the writers here use Word or RTF for all their formatting.

But that’s because they upload those Word or RTF files, right? I’m talking about typing up the story in Word etc., and then taking that whole text and putting it into the Lit form, no files involved.

That’s not gonna carry the italics etc. over, because the form only takes plain text and your browser will strip the rich formatting before pasting.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I've never uploaded a file. Always pasted into the submission form and did a manual preview/review.

I've caught a LOT of formatting and spacing errors that way that are easily corrected.

 

[Writer61]

I do not understand why anybody would write directly in the submission form.

And when you can upload in DOC or RTF, why hand-code HTML?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I don't write directly into it.

I write in LibreOffice, WordPad or even just Notepad, then paste into the form.

Uploading files could well be where some of the false positive are coming from due to the crapcode included in them.

 

[Voboy]

I’ve always uploaded as a doc or docx file. Never had a single formatting problem.

OP, you should be golden as long as you skip a line and DON’T indent.

 

[Writer61]

I don't write directly into it.

I write in LibreOffice, WordPad or even just Notepad, then paste into the form.

Uploading files could well be where some of the false positive are coming from due to the crapcode included in them.

Do you hand-code HTML?