New Writer First story

[DarkRaven13]

Do I like writing? Yes, of course, I do! And I will continue to write because I do it for myself! I'm just not sure I care much for those who criticize me for the things I write!

By the way, what else do you have on the stove cooking? Do you anticipate submitting something else soon?

 

[ShadedLady]

By the way, what else do you have on the stove cooking? Do you anticipate submitting something else soon?

I have been working on a follow-up to my first story. I am always writing something; I just now got the nerve to actually post something. We will see if I chose to post. I much prefer if someone is going to be negative about my stories, they not judge it on the subject matter and judge it more on... mistakes I may have made in grammar, spelling and stuff like that.

 

[DarkRaven13]

I have been working on a follow-up to my first story. I am always writing something; I just now got the nerve to actually post something. We will see if I chose to post. I much prefer if someone is going to be negative about my stories, they not judge it on the subject matter and judge it more on... mistakes I may have made in grammar, spelling and stuff like that.

I followed you so I'd get a notice when you publish it

 

[MillieDynamite]

The name ShadedLady just popped into my head when I was deciding on a handle for here. I am glad it evoked a memory. Thanks for your reply!

A woman commented on a story of mine yesterday, and her handle is theWollstonecraftWoman, which made me wonder if she knows anything about Mary Shelly and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft. Sometimes Mary Shelly is credited as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly. They were the preeminent feminist of their times. she doesn't have any stories and appears to be a brand new Lit member.

​

 

[ShadedLady]

Someone commented on my story, and he corrected an error, where I accidentally left out a word. Should I go and fix the error and resubmit? I think maybe I need to get a proofreader. Someone who can read the story before submission and help with catching errors?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Someone commented on my story, and he corrected an error, where I accidentally left out a word. Should I go and fix the error and resubmit? I think maybe I need to get a proofreader. Someone who can read the story before submission and help with catching errors?

I wouldn't bother with trivial edits like that. We all have them. But yes, do the best copy editing you can before submitting.

Here some tips to help do that:

- change the font, size and colour of your draft, so it looks different when you read it again. It really helps.

- run the spell check of whatever word processing software you use - it might not catch everything, but It should catch blatant misspellings.

- some folk run their text through Grammarly or similar, but remember those programs are aimed more at business writing, not fiction, so don't slavishly follow the program suggestions.

- write at night when you turn yourself on, edit in the morning when you''re back down to earth.

 

[DarkRaven13]

I wouldn't bother with trivial edits like that. We all have them. But yes, do the best copy editing you can before submitting.

Here some tips to help do that:

- change the font, size and colour of your draft, so it looks different when you read it again. It really helps.

- run the spell check of whatever word processing software you use - it might not catch everything, but It should catch blatant misspellings.

- some folk run their text through Grammarly or similar, but remember those programs are aimed more at business writing, not fiction, so don't slavishly follow the program suggestions.

- write at night when you turn yourself on, edit in the morning when you''re back down to earth.

Those are great editing hints. I also:

- do a word search for words that can be spelled differently and make sure I am using the correct one. For instance I search out there, their, they're. And other homynyms too, like hour and our.

- someone on Lit mentioned searching out the word "that", as many times it can be deleted without changing the meaning of the sentence. I think this is a good one that I will start doing.

As for editing for small errors, I will defer to others with more experience on Lit. (I have found 2 - 3 minor errors on the one story I have submitted, but have not resubmitted a corrected version as of yet.)

 

[ElectricBlue]

- someone on Lit mentioned searching out the word "that", as many times it can be deleted without changing the meaning of the sentence. I think this is a good one that I will start doing.

As for editing for small errors, I will defer to others with more experience on Lit. (I have found 2 - 3 minor errors on the one story I have submitted, but have not resubmitted a corrected version as of yet.)

"and then" was one of my tics for a long time, until I realised that in most cases you can use one or the other word, but rarely need both. Thist's on my "find and decide" list, and I usually catch it in draft, now.

Since edits are low priority for the site, my practice is to not bother, unless there's been such a spectacular cock-up you must fix it.

Most readers are pretty forgiving if you only have a few errors. Sure, there are some clowns who gloat when they find more than one error, but if that's the best they can do with their life, who's the sad one? They're invariably anons or, if they do have an account, they've written... nothing at all.

 

[FifthEstate]

My father, in his youth, hung out at a bar in Denver or a suburb called the Shady Lady. It sounds like a strip club, but it wasn't. However, if the stories told by his friends are accurate, my dad had plenty of hot tales he could tell from those days. Your handle, ShadedLady sparked my memory about the bar. again, may the muse and you have many happy hours creating all kinds of fantastic tales.

Many moons ago, just after college, I lived with some buddies outside of Sacramento. We used to frequent a local watering hole called the Satin Lady…it was a strip club .

 

[FifthEstate]

Someone commented on my story, and he corrected an error, where I accidentally left out a word. Should I go and fix the error and resubmit? I think maybe I need to get a proofreader. Someone who can read the story before submission and help with catching errors?

I read your story and enjoyed it…I gave it 5 stars and left you a nice comment! I hope you don’t let some of those mouthbreather commenters keep you from publishing again. This site needs more good authors, especially in the IR category. I’m certainly not a qualified editor, but I do have a pretty good eye for typo’s, missed words etc. If you’d like, I’d be happy to proof any upcoming submissions you have.

 

[DarkRaven13]

I’m certainly not a qualified editor, but I do have a pretty good eye for typo’s, missed words etc. If you’d like, I’d be happy to proof any upcoming submissions you have.

SL - if you've read Fifth's stories you'd see he is being modest. He is an excellent writer!

 

[FifthEstate]

T

SL - if you've read Fifth's stories you'd see he is being modest. He is an excellent writer!

Thanks DR13, I’m here on the west coast laying in bed enjoying my first cup of coffee and you just made my weekend…

 

[ShadedLady]

I wouldn't bother with trivial edits like that. We all have them. But yes, do the best copy editing you can before submitting.

Here some tips to help do that:

- change the font, size and colour of your draft, so it looks different when you read it again. It really helps.

- run the spell check of whatever word processing software you use - it might not catch everything, but It should catch blatant misspellings.

- some folk run their text through Grammarly or similar, but remember those programs are aimed more at business writing, not fiction, so don't slavishly follow the program suggestions.

- write at night when you turn yourself on, edit in the morning when you''re back down to earth.

Those are all excellent suggestions! Thanks so much for the input! I do have Grammarly (the free version) I am surprised it did not catch that mistake in post-editing. I am actually going to copy all these suggestions and put them in a file for reference!

 

[ShadedLady]

Those are great editing hints. I also:

- do a word search for words that can be spelled differently and make sure I am using the correct one. For instance I search out there, their, they're. And other homynyms too, like hour and our.

- someone on Lit mentioned searching out the word "that", as many times it can be deleted without changing the meaning of the sentence. I think this is a good one that I will start doing.

As for editing for small errors, I will defer to others with more experience on Lit. (I have found 2 - 3 minor errors on the one story I have submitted, but have not resubmitted a corrected version as of yet.)

Thanks so much, DR13. I will certainly add your suggestions to the list!

 

[ShadedLady]

I read your story and enjoyed it…I gave it 5 stars and left you a nice comment! I hope you don’t let some of those mouthbreather commenters keep you from publishing again. This site needs more good authors, especially in the IR category. I’m certainly not a qualified editor, but I do have a pretty good eye for typo’s, missed words etc. If you’d like, I’d be happy to proof any upcoming submissions you have.

Thanks so much, FifthEstate! I have been working through your stories as I have time! You are certainly a brilliant writer! I am so glad you enjoyed my story. I don't know about a good writer; I just write what I enjoy, and hope others enjoy it too. I may take you up on your offer when I get something finished.

Also, thanks so much for the kind comment on my story! It makes me all warm and fuzzy to know you read it and enjoyed it!

 

[ShadedLady]

SL - if you've read Fifth's stories you'd see he is being modest. He is an excellent writer!

I know right! He definitely knows how to tell a good juicy story!

 

[FifthEstate]

I have to admit this doesn’t suck too bad having two new female authors extolling my literary talents…! Thanks ladies!

 

[DarkRaven13]

I have to admit this doesn’t suck too bad having two new female authors extolling my literary talents…! Thanks ladies!

Acts like a 12 year old and says, "you said 'suck'"....and laughs like a dork.

 

[ShadedLady]

I have to admit this doesn’t suck too bad having two new female authors extolling my literary talents…! Thanks ladies!

*Thinks he doth have sucking on the brain*

 

[ShadedLady]

I have gotten a lot of feedback on my story, and I want to say thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed the story and also say that I do appreciate all the positive feedback. It truly means a lot. I have had a few make some corrections that they found and as a result, as soon as I figure out how to resubmit the story with the corrections I may very well do so. I have also had several comments about how well the story is rating saying that it's nearly 4.5 which is good for a first-time submission. I guess that means I have potential!

 

[DarkRaven13]

Yayyyyyyyy SL!!!

 

[Rustyoznail]

I have gotten a lot of feedback on my story, and I want to say thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed the story and also say that I do appreciate all the positive feedback. It truly means a lot. I have had a few make some corrections that they found and as a result, as soon as I figure out how to resubmit the story with the corrections I may very well do so. I have also had several comments about how well the story is rating saying that it's nearly 4.5 which is good for a first-time submission. I guess that means I have potential!

Hi SL - well done for your first story. I strongly suggest you take EB's advice - don't resubmit unless there's a huge clanger that you couldn't live with yourself if it stayed.

 

[Duleigh]

Don't worry about the edits, in my first story I had a character change name and I never noticed it. Keep your original file, make the corrections, and look up the FAQ for correcting a story.

Oh, and welcome aboard.

 

[SudoGentleman]

Hey SL. I read your story, and I like it because it runs close to some of the kink that I enjoy. I gave it a 5*, but I didn't leave a comment (yet?) because, well, I typically don't. You posted a solid story that you, yourself enjoyed, well done.

Also, I'm rooting for you because I have myself a first story in the pending hopper, written in C19 isolation. I feel like you're in the lead car of a roller coaster that has begun it's fiery plunge, and I'm in the caboose. Hopefully, I'll see you in the terminal.

 

[ShadedLady]

Hey SL. I read your story, and I like it because it runs close to some of the kink that I enjoy. I gave it a 5*, but I didn't leave a comment (yet?) because, well, I typically don't. You posted a solid story that you, yourself enjoyed, well done.

Also, I'm rooting for you because I have myself a first story in the pending hopper, written in C19 isolation. I feel like you're in the lead car of a roller coaster that has begun it's fiery plunge, and I'm in the caboose. Hopefully, I'll see you in the terminal.

Be sure to post a link to your story when it publishes! I'd be happy to give it a read!