Quick question about submitting edits . . .

[trieste]

So after dicking around on a variety of writing projects forever, I got to thinking it was probably time to throw something up here on Lit. A test, as it were, of the submissions process, formatting quirks, etc. I posted a throw-away, little vignette I'd written years ago to the nonhuman category. Kind of your standard non-human business that I didn't expect to shatter any worlds. Whatever.

As soon as I posted this bit that has been sitting stagnant on my computer for years, (of course!) an idea comes to me fully-formed for fleshing it out into a full-fledged story, which I'm currently doing. I went ahead about five days ago and submitted a second chapter that I guess will post soon.

My issue is this: the first submission is taking it in the ass on votes. Although it's possible I just suck that bad and this is foreshadowing for the whole of my Lit career , I have a feeling the biggest reason is that it's more of a short vignette than a plotted story, so there's little character development and it's not overwhelmingly erotic. It's only one Lit page. I'd chalk it up to "okay, duly noted" except that I wonder if I've not hugely shot myself in the foot for the rest of the story by starting it out in such a stupid way.

Not that I had any idea it was going to turn into a full story at the time. Sigh.

Anyway, for those of you with more experience here, what do you think? Is it worth submitting an edit that will combine the text from what are currently two submissions into one, and editing the second submission to replace with the next . . . oh, three or so Lit pages' worth of story? Basically, get rid of the vignette quality currently plaguing the first part?

That wouldn't cause the edits to show up in the new story list, would it? Hmm. So maybe it wouldn't make much difference, then, if the story's already seen the majority of views it's going to see. Do you suppose, if I just leave it as-is with the (arguably deserved) crappy score on the first part, that anyone finding subsequent chapters on the new list might be more forgiving once they find there is, in fact, more story?

If I do decide to edit, I just do that as a new submission with "Story Title - EDIT" in the title box, right?

Thanks in advance for the advice .

 

[Darkniciad]

Yep, you have the editing process down. I would suggest putting the URL to the story in the "Notes" section along with saying that you're editing the story, as that is unique to the story and can help eliminate human error.

As you move forward with new chapters, new eyes are going to go back to the first, so it's a good idea to clean up the beginning of the story before you continue.

I would suggest combining the two existing parts as you've detailed here in an edit. That will not show up in the New list. Keep in mind that once the "Edit" submission vanishes, it usually takes at least 24 hours for the changes to appear on the public side.

At the same time, rather than editing the chapter 2, since it will be entirely new content, I would delete the original Ch. 2. Same process as editing, except you use DELETE after the title. You can then copy/paste a simple delete request in the "story text" and "notes" sections to fill those in, because the form won't let you submit without something in the "story text" section.

Use the time waiting for the delete submission and edit to process to keep writing forward in the story.

Once those things process, submit your new chapter two, which will then appear in the New list. You'll want this to happen, as it's new content. That's why I suggest going with delete-new chapter rather than editing. You can add an author's note to the beginning of the chapter briefly explaining what you've done for any readers you've already attracted to the story. That should eliminate any confusion amongst your existing readership.

From there, just move forward with new chapters until you complete the story

 

[sr71plt]

I suggest you delete everything you have (crappy scores aren't worth preserving), write the story you now want to make it (the whole story), and then resubmit as a fresh story.

 

[trieste]

Awesome. Thanks, both of you, for the advice. If I do delete both current submissions (the already published and the one that says 'pending') and resubmit as a new story, will there be any snag if I use the same title? I guess I don't have to; I'm just curious.

Freakin' figures. I lurk for years in the hopes of not making a rookie mistake, and what do I do?

Oh, on the currently pending one. Can I do anything about it right now to stop it from posting at all? I know if I click 'pending' that will send it to the back of the line, right? If I were to do that and then submit 'Story Title - Ch. 2 - DELETE' would that overlap and kill it in the womb, so to speak? Not the end of the world if it posts and then promptly deletes, I suppose, but it might be less confusing for my two readers.

Anyway, thanks again!

 

[sr71plt]

No problem with the title.

I'll leave response to the second question to those who have done it and know what works best.

 

[Darkniciad]

If it hasn't been approved yet, you should be able to click the "Pending" link to bring the submission up again.

If I'm remembering correctly, at the bottom of the page, you should see an option to delete the submission before it even posts. That would speed things right up. When you delete a story before it's approved, it happens instantly, and will never see the light of day.

Once a title is no longer part of your published or pending stories, you can use it again.

If you do decide to delete all the originals, I would suggest an author's note at the beginning of the newly posted version ( which will appear in the New list ) saying that you're reposting a new and improved version of the story as you move forward with new chapters.

Otherwise, you may very well have accusations of stealing the story and complaints about "reposting the same story" from people who read it the first time.

 

[sr71plt]

Once a title is no longer part of your published or pending stories, you can use it again.

I don't think there's anything going here to prevent duplicate titles.

 

[Darkniciad]

I don't think there's anything going here to prevent duplicate titles.

In your own submission list, there is. The form will reject any title that is identical to one you already have.

You can use the same title that someone else has used, but not one of your own.

 

[trieste]

Oh, good. Good on all counts. You two are the wind beneath my wings.

 

[Etaski]

Looks like the two gents already covered all the bases.

In that case, I can only contribute one way...

Hm.

"American Gothic" indeed.

Yes, definitely, do delete and repost what you have if this is being fleshed out much more. What you have already posted doesn't suck, it's quite interesting. I like the style; the internal dialogue has an edgy flow that actually works despite it being inserted into the narrative itself (I don't see that very often).

I agree the score probably reflects that it wasn't what people might've expected and it was too short to really get much out of it. But the writing is good, so go forward. Good luck.

 

[trieste]

Looks like the two gents already covered all the bases.

In that case, I can only contribute one way...

Hm.

"American Gothic" indeed.

Yes, definitely, do delete and repost what you have if this is being fleshed out much more. What you have already posted doesn't suck, it's quite interesting. I like the style; the internal dialogue has an edgy flow that actually works despite it being inserted into the narrative itself (I don't see that very often).

I agree the score probably reflects that it wasn't what people might've expected and it was too short to really get much out of it. But the writing is good, so go forward. Good luck.

Oh, hey, just saw this. Thanks for the compliment and for confirming my suspicions on the scoring. Live and learn, right? Been working on the full-length version all weekend, so hopefully I'll be reposting soon.

 

[Chiara23]

Sucky scores

I've had a few dogs myself. I have one up for the Valentine's Day story contest right now. I've also done a complete rewrite of one of my stories and gotten a better response on the second try. It's your story, if you don't like the way it went go back and change it.

On my one rewrite I had a great idea but after I got it I went into a deep depression and still tried to write it and lost my vision of it. (I have Bipolar disorder so I have highs and lows even on meds)
When I hit my next high I got the itch to fix it and it came out more like I had originally intended it to be.

I've had a story or two removed as well because they truly did suck and the scores reflected it. My current failure will probably die the same death but maybe not. I do like my above 80% ratings tho' lol