rejected story??

[wildman187]

i recently submitted a story. it was rejected "due to poor punctuation." i have read many many stories on here where there was zero punctuation and the spelling was horrific.....and that was after it was edited by the volunteer editors. i am confused and not sure what they want. my sentence structure was good and precise and the story had zero sex with no under 18.
most of you that have read my writing knows i am consistent in my style and i write interesting stories. i do not understand what Laurel & Manu are reading but i will not use the editors when they do nothing to correct others.... my story will be available to anyone that wants to send me a request for a personal reading but i will not accept any editing

wildman187

 

[SynSlave]

Well, good luck with that. Not that anyone has to accept edits... shouldn't need to be said that an author can choose to accept what's offered. But you may want to rethink the way you present your request.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Well, I’ve never had a story rejected on punctuation. If you want a second opinion on that aspect only, I’ll take a look. I won’t edit it for you but I’ll highlight any punctuation flaws as Laurel might see them and leave it to you to do as you see fit. I’ll pm you my email address, I can take a quick look this weekend. Only if you’d like me too of course. Punctuation I can do

For that of course, you need to turn your pm on, or contact me with your email address. And keep in mind probably no one is going to contact you and ask to read your story. It’s harder still if there’s no way of contacting you. Better to meet Laurels requirements and get it in front of readers.

 

[Inkhorn]

i recently submitted a story. it was rejected "due to poor punctuation." i have read many many stories on here where there was zero punctuation and the spelling was horrific.....and that was after it was edited by the volunteer editors. i am confused and not sure what they want. my sentence structure was good and precise and the story had zero sex with no under 18.
most of you that have read my writing knows i am consistent in my style and i write interesting stories. i do not understand what Laurel & Manu are reading but i will not use the editors when they do nothing to correct others.... my story will be available to anyone that wants to send me a request for a personal reading but i will not accept any editing

wildman187

Will you accept constructive criticism?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

OK, incest isn’t my thing, so I haven’t read any of your stuff previously. I pulled up one of your top-rated stories and went through it.

I am not a grammarian, so I am not dumping on you. Yes, I found some fairly obvious grammatical errors, but some slip through in my stories, too.

Laurel is supposed to use some form of computer programme to do an initial scan of submitted stories, which is hardly surprising given the number submitted each day, so it is possible that the rejection was just an algorithmic thing, ‘too many errors per page’ or something. Moreover, the grammar programmes sometimes err.

I’ve had one or two stories bounced (although not for grammar). I was able to simply go back, resubmit without change and argue in the admin box why I thought it should be OK. They got published. So if you go through it, correct any errors you see and resubmit, it might well go through.

In the end however, I have to agree with SynSlave. This is after all Laurel’s site and her rules.

I would urge you to try again. Good luck!

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't understand why the OP would initiate this thread and then end it with "I will not accept any editing." A writer who will not accept editing is a foolish writer. All of us could use editing. If someone volunteered to edit one of my stories I'd happily accept the offer. And I consider myself a technically competent writer who has never been rejected because of problems with grammar, punctuation, or spelling.

I don't think it's a fair criticism of Laurel and Manu to say that they let some poorly punctuated stories slip, so why don't they let yours through? This is a mom and pop operation and they do the best they can. If you want to avoid this problem, make sure your story is properly punctuated, and if you are having problems with that, solicit help. If you submit a badly punctuated story, you take your chances. You are in no position to complain.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I don't understand why the OP would initiate this thread and then end it with "I will not accept any editing."

Cuz, it's rant in the vein of "I'm obviously being mistreated and none of this is my fault."
They seem to be a regular feature here.
Also, I took the line about sending it to people personally if they asked as a way to circumvent the rejection.

 

[OneAuthor]

I don't understand why the OP would initiate this thread and then end it with "I will not accept any editing."

That gave me a good chuckle. It's like having a story published on the site in which you allow for readers to post comments, and adding a note to the story which says "Please only reply with positive feedback. All other feedback will be deleted or ignored."

Such people clearly don't wish to acknowledge that their writing skills may be less than perfect.

 

[KeithD]

I don't know what Laurel's threshold was on the specific story rejected, but I looked at the first paragraph of your first-listed story and found two punctuation errors. I won't say that's representative of your work overall or give an opinion on how many punctuation errors is too many. That's for Laurel to decide. I just note that your punctuation isn't pristine even in very basic writing. Your delivery is quite basic (which is OK), so I could see that if your writing became complex or dense the punctuation errors could quickly multiply. (Re "editors" here: there is no vetting process for an "editor" here, and, yes, you could get "help" that knows no more and maybe a lot less than you do about punctuation and grammar.)

"I was wounded in combat while in Vietnam,[this created a run-on sentence. The comma should be a period.] I was sent to Ft Hood Texas to recover. I had enough shrapnel in my body that a magnet could pull me off the ground if that magnet was large enough. I have many scars and some difficult memories as a reminder of time served. This is not what my story is concerning. My story is about me,[this comma is erroneous. Should just be dropped]. The two elements connected are dependent.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

And your post leaves a lot to be desired. Try capitalizing at the beginning of a sentence and words like "I" when you type.

 

[jaF0]

And your post leaves a lot to be desired.

That's all I needed to see.

 

[JPGmvny]

I've had one story sent back; it had a coding error, which I've not made again.

I recently submitted a story with a different handle because it was pretty racy (BDSM) and I didn't print it out so was a bit sloppy. A commenter noted there were a few typos, to be charitable, and when I went through it I was shocked. And embarrassed. The corrected version is in the queue. And I put a comment noting my regret. That's a useful comment to me.

I've begun to use Grammarly, and it is helpful.

 

[Bramblethorn]

i recently submitted a story. it was rejected "due to poor punctuation." i have read many many stories on here where there was zero punctuation and the spelling was horrific.....and that was after it was edited by the volunteer editors. i am confused and not sure what they want. my sentence structure was good and precise and the story had zero sex with no under 18.
most of you that have read my writing knows i am consistent in my style and i write interesting stories. i do not understand what Laurel & Manu are reading but i will not use the editors when they do nothing to correct others.... my story will be available to anyone that wants to send me a request for a personal reading but i will not accept any editing

wildman187

Rejection for "poor punctuation" doesn't have anything to do with under-18s or whether the story was interesting. Just with the punctuation.

Yes, sometimes badly-punctuated stories slip through the manual process, but that doesn't mean they all should.

 

[Handley_Page]

i recently submitted a story. it was rejected "due to poor punctuation." i have read many many stories on here where there was zero punctuation and the spelling was horrific.....and that was after it was edited by the volunteer editors. i am confused and not sure what they want. my sentence structure was good and precise and the story had zero sex with no under 18.
most of you that have read my writing knows i am consistent in my style and i write interesting stories. i do not understand what Laurel & Manu are reading but i will not use the editors when they do nothing to correct others.... my story will be available to anyone that wants to send me a request for a personal reading but i will not accept any editing

wildman187

May one enquire if English is your First language ? It is too easy to make a mistake sometimes, especially in problems with "translation". A decent Word Processor, with an element of Grammar Checking, can help a great deal.

As far as I can see from your opening statement, may I take the liberty to remind you that most of we writers in English usually put a Capital letter at the start of a sentence and personal things like "I".

I further suggest you [a] reconsider your opposition to a Voluntary Editor (they tend to find the stilly errors one drops when concentrating on the bigger event, etc., and reconsider how you express your views.
Remember; it is Laurel's site; she can do it how she wants.