I'm So Scared!

[Chanson_bleu]

I am about to take the plunge and submit my very first story. Reading the posts here has given me courage, though. Everyone has to do it the first time...

Questions:

In the Submission Guidelines, it said I need to indicate if I have any special formatting like italics. Do I just say "My story contains italics" in the body of the e-mail?

How does one add an acknowledgment at the beginning of a story? Unbeknownst to me at the time, I chose the 2000 Best Editor, Weird Harold. You have no idea how much time and effort he put into editing my story. It is a novel, 100 pages long. I HAVE to thank him in print!

Thanks in advance!

 

[KillerMuffin]

You can format it yourself. HTML codes are easy enough.

<I>My God, does that woman have three breasts?!</I> John thought, doing a double take.

will look like:

My God, does that woman have three breasts?! John thought, doing a double take.

The <I> is the opening command telling the page to display as italics, and the </I> is the closing one. If you do format your story this way yourself, do go through the preview and make sure you closed all your italics or it will italicize everything after the <I>.

The commands do not take up any space in the text translated onto the screen, so do not treat them as if they take up space in the story, no extra spacing or punctuation for them.

 

[Chanson_bleu]

KM, is that the only way? I have a TON of italicized text. Is there no way to preserve formatting from a Word document when it's translated to HTML?

Thanks!

 

[KillerMuffin]

I run word perfect, so I don't know. You can ask WH, he runs Word. Other than that, no, I don't know of any other way. And if you have tons of italics, then doing it yourself would be best. Laurel only has so much time and italics will slip through the cracks.

 

[p_p_man]

I type all my stories on MsWord using the various buttons for Bold, Italics and so on and save them in the usual way to my hard disk.

When I come to submit them to Lit I use the Browse section at the bottom of the submission form, find the file on my HD then press Save (also at the bottom of the submission form).

Everything gets uploaded with the correct formmating.

 

[bluntforcemama]

I can't tell you how much I want you to have faith in your abilities! So many people lack basic self-confidence when it comes to this. But believe me, it will always turn out better than you thought, sometimes better than you even hoped. We all started somewhere at one time... heck, I'm still starting, I think. But know that what you write is mostly for you, to make YOU happy. And sometimes that's all that matters.

 

[Chanson_bleu]

I have another question...

All you experienced authors, please help me:

HOW CAN I MAKE MYSELF STOP DIDDLIN' WITH MY STORY?!

Every night, I read it again, and find things to change. I really think I've found all the typos not caught by spell check. But now, I'm starting to agonize over certain descriptions or dialogue. I'm worried that my first chapter won't pull in the readers! Considering the story's so long, this is a very crucial aspect.

So how have you decided when the time's right to post or perish? Thanks!

 

[Ulyssa]

Don't get hung up on a perfect beginning if you haven't reached the end.

My suggestion is to keep writing and post when you're ready--for example--

I've posted Stephen 1, 2, and 3. Stephen 5 is in excellent shape, but Stephen 4 needs a total revamp. So it looks like I'm stuck as far as my postings are concerned (not really--just submitted "Smooth.")

Am I frustrated? You better believe it. Am I discouraged about it? Not really. It'll fall into shape eventually, although now I'm certain that I may have Stephen 6 ready by the time 4 is finally to my satisfaction. That's part of the nature of the work---don't get caught up in perfecting every comma or twist of a cliche. Move forward. Your second chapter may not be as highly polished as you think your first chapter is, but then again by chapter X you may have a lot more natural polish going for the piece than you could ever have managed in Chap 1.

If you wish to move forward as a writer--Keep writing. You can only polish for so long. Otherwise all you'll get is a high gloss on a second rate pair of shoes.

Good luck. Lyssa