Rejected on 4th story, looking for an editor

[cottonnightie]

Hi,

Got rejected on my 4th story with a request I check my spelling. 7641 words in the story, one legitimate misspelling (proped -> propped). It's posted under Romance.

The volunteer editors link does not work for me, claiming access denied for some reason. What do I do next?

CN

 

[CWatson]

Can you provide a link to the story, if it's up?

 

[cottonnightie]

Stuck the text up here: http://freetexthost.com/nvaxn4fhbl

 

[sr71plt]

I scanned about 1,000 words into it and didn't come up with enough that should disturb the Web site's spelling check. The closest I saw was "8am," which should be at least separated (8 am) but would be better as "8:00 am." If there's a lot of this, it might have been seen as a garble. Your "wooly" is preferred as "woolly," although yours is accepted as a secondary spelling. Publishing wouldn't use the hyphen with "semi" words. Webster's uses "Web site" rather than your "website," although your spelling is often used--and is gaining ground on publishing world acceptance--and I couldn't see that disturbing the spell checker.

There are more punctuation problems I saw than spelling problems. (Publishing uses the serial comma, for instance. I don't know if the Web site imposes it, though.)

Maybe you should just resubmit it with a note in the "Notes" box that it originally was rejected for spelling problems but you haven't found any of any significance. (Although you might get rid of the "8am" construction.)

 

[cottonnightie]

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the time you took to read it.

 

[Dream_Operator]

Looks like the link is dead. I had quick read of part of it this morning before work, and one thing that stood out to me was the number of sentences that began with "She". There were a ton of them, sometime three or four sentences in a row. This makes for a very repetitive and boring read.

Try varying your sentence structure and word choice.

 

[cottonnightie]

Thanks! I took the link down when I resubmitted as suggested.

I will take a look at varying the sentence structure as you suggest. If that was the problem, it would have been nice for the editor that rejected it to make mention of it.

 

[_Lynn_]

Thanks! I took the link down when I resubmitted as suggested.

I will take a look at varying the sentence structure as you suggest. If that was the problem, it would have been nice for the editor that rejected it to make mention of it.

Laurel is the one who reads/accepts/rejects submissions. Giving specific reasons for each rejection would take forever on a site this size.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't think that either not varying the sentence length enough or starting a sentence with the same word noticably would be a reason the site editor rejects anything.

 

[Dream_Operator]

I don't think that either not varying the sentence length enough or starting a sentence with the same word noticably would be a reason the site editor rejects anything.

I don't either. I was just trying to give some constructive criticism on the part that I was able to read.

 

[_Lynn_]

I don't either. I was just trying to give some constructive criticism on the part that I was able to read.

I noticed the excessive amount of "she" sentences as well and find the repetition becomes boring for sure.

 

[cottonnightie]

Thank you all for your help!

I've tried to vary the sentence structure, updated the wooly->woolly, website -> web site,
and the 8am -> 8:00 AM.

The serial comma is what I think of as the Oxford comma, correct? Such as this, that, and the other? I'm still hunting those down now, but will definitely watch for that in the future.

http://freetexthost.com/ovhc1mvib3

I've updated my submission with this version in the interim. If anyone else has any suggestions, I would appreciate any other feedback or comments.

Thanks again!
CN

 

[Laurel]

I personally prefer the Oxford comma for clarity, but we don't reject a story for its use or non-use.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Thank you all for your help!

I've tried to vary the sentence structure, updated the wooly->woolly, website -> web site,
and the 8am -> 8:00 AM.

The serial comma is what I think of as the Oxford comma, correct? Such as this, that, and the other? I'm still hunting those down now, but will definitely watch for that in the future.

http://freetexthost.com/ovhc1mvib3

I've updated my submission with this version in the interim. If anyone else has any suggestions, I would appreciate any other feedback or comments.

Thanks again!
CN

cottonnightie, I feel sorry for you. Whist the comments by dream operator and mistress L are good advice, they don't quite address your problem.

Just like sr, I don't see anything in your story sufficient to warrant a rejection, Sure, there are a few spelling mistakes; 'circumcized' for 'circumcised', 'pusling' for 'pulsing', 'clippsers' for 'clippers', 'slingbacks' for 'sling-backs', 'canceling' for 'cancelling' and 'slided' for 'slide'. However,there are a load of stories posted on the site with many more spelling problems than yours.

I have an agnostic view on the serial, AKA Harvard, AKA Oxford, comma. As I understand, the punctuation mark ',' replaces 'and' or 'or' and is only needed to avoid ambiguity.

For me, a list like, 'I like beer, wine and whiskey doesn't need the extra comma but if you write, 'I thank my parents, Barack Obama and Paris Hilton', unless you know something that you could sell for zillions, a comma after Obama is essential.

 

[cottonnightie]

Thank you for your reply, elfin_odalisque.

You say you feel sorry for me and mention my specific problem, but never seem to come out and say what you see it being. I don't pretend to be a professional writer, so I am honestly curious when I ask, what do you believe my particular problem is?

I did correct the other mistakes you pointed out and updated my pending submission. Thank you very much for pointing them out.

CN

 

[_Lynn_]

cottonnightie, I feel sorry for you. Whist the comments by dream operator and mistress L are good advice, they don't quite address your problem.

Nope, I didn't address the original problem. I addressed the issues/comments from the posts I quoted.

SR already gave the best advice to the OP with his suggestion to resubmit it with a note in the "Notes" box that it originally was rejected for spelling problems but you haven't found any of any significance.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Thank you for your reply, elfin_odalisque.

You say you feel sorry for me and mention my specific problem, but never seem to come out and say what you see it being. I don't pretend to be a professional writer, so I am honestly curious when I ask, what do you believe my particular problem is?

I did correct the other mistakes you pointed out and updated my pending submission. Thank you very much for pointing them out.

CN

Sorry, I only meant that you said your problem was that you were being rejected for spelling errors - which I don't understand. Your story is as good on spelling, if not better, than loads on the site. Your problem is understanding what the powers-that-be find so troubling. I can't see it. You could PM Laurel. She has given you the great tribute of posting to the thread.

The editing advice, whilst great, is not what you need to worry about to get posted. Take that on board, if you want, for next time.

I think you have an emotional, erotic, Romance story that will score well as soon as it gets posted.

 

[cottonnightie]

Ah, I misunderstood. Thank you for the words of encouragement!

CN

 

[sr71plt]

"canceling" is the preferred Webster's spelling over "cancelling" and the commerical term (it's not in the dictionary) is "slingbacks," not "sling-backs." (Goggle it) (any word with a hyphen is a suspect one these days).

 

[elfin_odalisque]

"canceling" is the preferred Webster's spelling over "cancelling" and the commerical term (it's not in the dictionary) is "slingbacks," not "sling-backs." (Goggle it) (any word with a hyphen is a suspect one these days).

Sling-backs, just as Web site, not website, is current usage.

As Merriam-webster explains, the doubling of consonants moves the stress to the penultimate syllable. 'preferred' would sound pretty silly without the second 'r'.

Most sources accept 'cancelling' with either one or 2 'l's but if you apply true phonetics you avoid the ugly 'canseling' by using the double 'l'.


When spelling, look where the emphasis lies.

BTW sling-backs has been in the dictionaries for ages.

 

[sr71plt]

Sling-backs, just as Web site, not website, is current usage.

As Merriam-webster explains, the doubling of consonants moves the stress to the penultimate syllable. 'preferred' would sound pretty silly without the second 'r'.

Most sources accept 'cancelling' with either one or 2 'l's but if you apply true phonetics you avoid the ugly 'canseling' by using the double 'l'.


When spelling, look where the emphasis lies.

BTW sling-backs has been in the dictionaries for ages.

You certainly do dance to your own drummer and live in your own little world, Elfin.

"sling-back" is not in Webster's (currently, let alone for ages. Nope, not in the American Heritage either). Googgling clearly indicates that "slingback" is preferred commercially.

And the preferred Webster's spelling when there are variants is the first listed one: canceled.

 

[lovecraft68]

I was working on a computer the other day that still has word 2000. I noticed it was underlining and asking me to hyphen a bunch of words, but in 2007 which I have at home it does not. I guess they have changed things up as time goes on.

 

[sr71plt]

I have every copy of Webster's going back to the seventh edition (1961). We are now in the eleventh edition. None of them list "sling-back" (they don't list "slingback" either, which is why I consulted commercial use).

This is just Elfin making it up as she goes along, as usual.

Computer spell check programs have hyphenation all messed up. They can't handle the volume of programing needed to reflect a dynamic and cobbled-together language like English. Just use the dictionary (which doesn't use hyphens unless it can't avoid doing so).

The point here is that if Elfin says you're doing something wrong and doesn't provide a citation backing her up, by all means go look for a second opinion.

 

[cottonnightie]

Yeah! My story's been posted!

Thanks for everyone who helped me revise my story.

http://www.literotica.com/s/a-new-closet

CN

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Thanks for everyone who helped me revise my story.

http://www.literotica.com/s/a-new-closet

CN

Congrats,congrats - I'll go off and read.