Is there a way to get feedback on part of a story before "publishing it."

[Madd_Maxxine]

I'd love to present the first part of the work I'm doing to see if I'm on the right track, but not yet ready to publish it since I'm still editing the beginning as I go along. Is there a way to do this?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yes, if you find a beta reader.

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

Is that something I can find here? If so, where to look?

 

[karina_jayde]

Is that something I can find here? If so, where to look?

I would try the Editor's Forum, where editors/beta readers offer their services, or you can post if you're looking for one

https://forum.literotica.com/forums/editors-forum.9/

 

[MillieDynamite]

You can, but my betas aren't from here, so I don't know how you go about that. A request in the Editor's Forum probably is a good place to start.

 

[mildlyaroused]

You can also post excerpts (but not whole stories) in the Feedback forum, if you want feedback on more stylistic choices. But yeah, for macro-level stuff, best find someone who can read the whole thing. Good luck!

 

[KeithD]

You can also post excerpts (but not whole stories) in the Feedback forum, if you want feedback on more stylistic choices. But yeah, for macro-level stuff, best find someone who can read the whole thing. Good luck!

Three paragraphs is what is accepted here for works not yet published. Not too helpful if it's short dialogue, of course.

 

[mildlyaroused]

Three paragraphs is what is accepted here for works not yet published. Not too helpful if it's short dialogue, of course.

"Just three?"
"Just three."
"Ugh."

And CUT.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I've had good luck asking for beta readers in the author's hangout. I always give the title, description, category, and a brief summary because people often care what they're volunteering to read.

You might also consider writing a shorter story or two to let people know your style. I'd be scared of committing to reading something of that size for an unknown author. (I tried looking you up but Google doesn't know your author page yet.)

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'd love to present the first part of the work I'm doing to see if I'm on the right track, but not yet ready to publish it since I'm still editing the beginning as I go along. Is there a way to do this?

Welcome

It’s 200,000 words, right?

I doubt anyone will commit to reading that without a good idea about you as an author.

You could see if someone wants to read the first 20,000. But be clear about the type of kinks in order to get someone sympathetic to them.

Good luck!

Emily

 

[Britva415]

see if I'm on the right track

Can you say anything about what you mean by "right track?"

Do you want to know whether you can write at all? Do you want to know whether your piece will fit in any particular Literotica niche? Do you want to know if it will pass editor scrutiny for getting published? Something else?

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

Can you say anything about what you mean by "right track?"

Do you want to know whether you can write at all? Do you want to know whether your piece will fit in any particular Literotica niche? Do you want to know if it will pass editor scrutiny for getting published? Something else?

I'm pretty confident that the story is good, and I know what genre it should go in. I continue to work on my storytelling/writing.
I'm most concerned about editor scrutiny now after reading some posts here about challenges that people have faced.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm most concerned about editor scrutiny now after reading some posts here about challenges that people have faced.

What's your main concern? The AI scrutiny, or something else?

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

I have no reason to worry about the AI scrutiny since every sentence is my own and I haven't even used a grammar checker other than what is built into LibreOffice.

I guess my concern is that there seems to be some strong views on correct formatting, but not always the same view. I don't know how picky the editing review is.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have no reason to worry about the AI scrutiny since every sentence is my own and I haven't even used a grammar checker other than what is built into LibreOffice.

That's what a lot of people have said, you can read the threads for yourself.

I guess my concern is that there seems to be some strong views on correct formatting, but not always the same view. I don't know how picky the editing review is.

With dialogue, a separate paragraph for each speaker is always safest, and punctuate dialogue correctly. English English or American English, it doesn't matter, just get it right - and know the difference between quoting someone and dialogue. The other big error many new writers make is inadvertent tense shifting, and too frequent head-hopping. They're the basics to get right.

It's not so much the submission review that will get you, it's the grammar Nazis if you get it wrong.

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

That's what a lot of people have said, you can read the threads for yourself.

With dialogue, a separate paragraph for each speaker is always safest, and punctuate dialogue correctly. English English or American English, it doesn't matter, just get it right - and know the difference between quoting someone and dialogue. The other big error many new writers make is inadvertent tense shifting, and too frequent head-hopping. They're the basics to get right.

It's not so much the submission review that will get you, it's the grammar Nazis if you get it wrong.

I guess I'm going to be adding a shite-ton of white space to my document! : )

 

[lustychimera]

I guess I'm going to be adding a shite-ton of white space to my document! : )

I've haven't had any rejections for dialogue, and I'm definitely not one who's really keen to hop into a new paragraph if the narration that follows is relevant. Really fucks up the pacing, IMO. Worst case, you submit it, they reject it, you add in the breaks and resubmit it, no harm no foul.

Unless it's a Lit specific rule that I've been somehow getting around, all that the style guides tell you is to start a new paragraph after every new speaker-- though I think it's also good to get off that paragraph ASAP for readability.

For the critique, you've gotten a lot of good advice about the editor forums here, my advice would be to find a group that you regularly share with.

Any feedback is extremely valuable, but you'll get incomparably better feedback from people who understand what you're after and you mesh well with.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

my advice would be to find a group on Discord or Guilded (there's tons) that you regularly share with.

How would you recommend someone do that? (I've only accidentally been invited into discord groups. I don't know how to go looking for them.)

 

[lustychimera]

How would you recommend someone do that?

I deleted that part. While it wasn't links or spam, I don't know how picky they are about mentioning other sites like that.

I'll PM.

 

[StillStunned]

I guess I'm going to be adding a shite-ton of white space to my document! : )

Remember that you don't need to begin a new paragraph to separate dialogue from action. This is perfectly acceptable, for instance:

I'd just wormed my hand under her bra and was kneading away at the warm globe I encountered there when her phone binged insistently. Aisha pulled away, a confused look on her face. "That's my calendar," she said, reaching for her phone.

"Probably telling you it's time to take off those clothes." I didn't let go.

But she was shaking her head. "Fuck! I have a lecture. I forgot. Last week's was rescheduled."

"What?" I couldn't believe it. "Now?" Groaning, I sat up. Aisha wasn't going to miss class. She took her course too seriously for that. "At least tell me it's online."

"It's online," she replied, straightening her clothes and giving me a quick kiss. "But it starts in a minute. Will you... will you be alright?" The look on her face was one of genuine concern.

I affected a martyred sigh and rose, adjusting myself deliberately. "That's alright. I'll be waiting in the other room."

As long as only one character is speaking in each paragraph.

But another word of warning: this is online. People read on tablets and phones. Even a normal paragraph in a regular book will look like a wall of text on such a small screen. So keep them short. My rule of thumb is 2-4 sentences per paragraph, or around 70-90 words. This is particularly important early on, and in descriptive passages.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I just got the first 10k-ish words and I wanted to share the synopsis in case it interests anyone else:

Synopsis: Shy college student, Cassidy Collins is chosen by her Anthropology professor for a summer internship on a remote island to study the sexual practices of the patriarchal indigenous tribes there. This is the story of her lengthy training to be a proper submissive and her adventures on the island. In the process she discovers the joys and perils of sexual slavery. But what else will she discover about herself in the process?

The story was inspired by the stories of captv8td, particularly the stories "Anthropology" and "Leopard Girl." It briefly references one of the characters from those stories. It is a novel length story with lots of character development. It has a little bit of everything, psychology, humor, romance, adventure, BDSM, and lots of wild sexual situations.

Story codes: F/F, F/F+, F+/F, F+/F+, M/F, M/F+, M+/F, M+/F+, reluctant, consensual (mostly), NC (brief), romantic, humorous, exhibitionism, spanking, toys, bondage, lesbian, D/S, B/D, slavery, orgasm denial, health insurance.

Emphasis mine. Got my attention!

 

[jehoram]

I think that the best way is to find another writer whose work reflects the kind of stories you'd like to write, and offer to do a mutual beta-read of each other's stuff. That's sort of how I got started. We ended up being editors of each other's work as well, and the relationship has worked smoothly for years now.