Need help with editing please

[cheex]

Hi all,
I love the forums and looking forward to become an active helpful member. I just finished my first story and it was rejected. I was never an English major but have always had a good imagination.

My story is about 5000 words and I entered it in the "First Time" section. it was rejected because:

1. Please break up the very long paragraphs in your story into smaller ones (make them 4-8 sentences long, depending on sentence length). Reading on a screen is different from reading from a book or magazine, as the flicker from computer monitors is tiring on the eye. Excessively long paragraphs are hard on readers' eyes.

2. Please break up your dialogue. The convention is one speaker per paragraph, so whenever someone new says something, start a new a paragraph. The essay "How to Make Characters Talk" in our Writer's Resources section has more information on the paragraph formatting of dialogue if you have further questions.

3. Please fix the punctuation of your dialogue. The convention is that you include periods, commas, exclamation points, or question marks inside the quotes. The essay "How to Make Characters Talk" in our Writer's Resources section has more information on the formatting of dialogue if you have further questions.



some of the above I can fix myself but I'd rather have my first submission looked at by a professional so I get it right from the get go.

I appreciate any help you can give.

 

[Todger65]

PM sent

 

[_Lynn_]

Hi all,
I love the forums and looking forward to become an active helpful member. I just finished my first story and it was rejected. I was never an English major but have always had a good imagination.

My story is about 5000 words and I entered it in the "First Time" section. it was rejected because:

1. Please break up the very long paragraphs in your story into smaller ones (make them 4-8 sentences long, depending on sentence length). Reading on a screen is different from reading from a book or magazine, as the flicker from computer monitors is tiring on the eye. Excessively long paragraphs are hard on readers' eyes.

2. Please break up your dialogue. The convention is one speaker per paragraph, so whenever someone new says something, start a new a paragraph. The essay "How to Make Characters Talk" in our Writer's Resources section has more information on the paragraph formatting of dialogue if you have further questions.

3. Please fix the punctuation of your dialogue. The convention is that you include periods, commas, exclamation points, or question marks inside the quotes. The essay "How to Make Characters Talk" in our Writer's Resources section has more information on the formatting of dialogue if you have further questions.



some of the above I can fix myself but I'd rather have my first submission looked at by a professional so I get it right from the get go.

I appreciate any help you can give.

OK, I want to correct this. Lit offers a volunteer editor program. The people are not paid, they are not, for the most part, professional editors. You might get someone who knows a great deal about publishing guidelines, or you could find someone who knows less than you do but believes they know more. You take your chances. But all are volunteers.

This isn't intended to discourage you but to make you aware of how the program works.

I would encourage you to look at a person's forum posts and even their profile for multiple errors, typos, and incorrect punctuation. And be sure to communicate what you expect from them.

Have fun writing!