rejected story

[PyongTaek82]

I posted a story that was rejected, and I don't understand why. Instead of telling me specifically what was wrong with the story. The moderator simply posted general guidelines for the proper use of grammar. I have read many stories on this site that were so poorly written that they were basically incomprehensible, yet they were published. That wasn't the case for my story so I'm very perplexed.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It is not uncommon for a story to get rejected due to bad grammar or punctuation. You can always request help on the editor's forum. Depending on how long your story is, it shouldn't be too hard to find some help.

 

[BBlaketbv]

My first story was sent back as well.
especially the dialogue had some issues in my case.
Try to find an editor for your first story and ask them to explain what should get changed. Finding an editor here is easier than you might expect.
It helped me a lot, I am sure you will too

 

[ElectricBlue]

I posted a story that was rejected, and I don't understand why. Instead of telling me specifically what was wrong with the story. The moderator simply posted general guidelines for the proper use of grammar. I have read many stories on this site that were so poorly written that they were basically incomprehensible, yet they were published. That wasn't the case for my story so I'm very perplexed.

Don't worry about the grammatical standards of other stories here, just fix your own. You don't get specific feedback referencing your story - the site uses a set of generic rejection notices. So, if you got a notice saying, "Check your grammar," that's what you need to do.

I suggest you look closely at punctuation in your dialogue - that's where most people go wrong.

 

[BBlaketbv]

https://editorsmanual.com/articles/punctuate-dialogue/
This is a very helpful website for writing dialogue.

 

[K1tten92]

How long does it take from when you submit to it being posted?

 

[ElectricBlue]

How long does it take from when you submit to it being posted?

For a newbie, about a week. You'll get slightly tighter scrutiny for content compliance.

Once you get a bit of a track record, 2 - 3 days is typical (unless there's a contest closing and you're not in it).

 

[K1tten92]

For a newbie, about a week. You'll get slightly tighter scrutiny for content compliance.

Once you get a bit of a track record, 2 - 3 days is typical (unless there's a contest closing and you're not in it).

Thanks it took 2 days. So pretty quick then

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Shit slides by that shouldn't, like any other part of life. Laurel isn't omnipotent. Take the L and fix it.

 

[silkstockingslover]

My first story was rejected all those years ago.

They look at new writers more in depth in attempts to get a decent standard.

Stories take 2-7 days. Illustrated sometimes weeks.

Contest stories usually 1 or 2 days max.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I posted a story that was rejected, and I don't understand why. Instead of telling me specifically what was wrong with the story. The moderator simply posted general guidelines for the proper use of grammar. I have read many stories on this site that were so poorly written that they were basically incomprehensible, yet they were published. That wasn't the case for my story so I'm very perplexed.

If you stay away from the textual substitution suggestions, tools like Grammarly and proWriting Aide can be a big help with these issues.

Hi, I'm Shelby and I'm an addict, Commas and run on sentences are my drug of choice. I've been clean for about fifteen minutes.

 

[StillStunned]

Hi, I'm Shelby and I'm an addict, Commas and run on sentences are my drug of choice. I've been clean for about fifteen minutes.

I think we should start calling necroed threads "run-on threads".

 

[Rob_Royale]

My first story was rejected all those years ago.

Only two years for me, but I had the same experience. Don't work about what others have gotten away with, just make yours better. Isn't that the idea? To put out a good product?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Grammar need not be perfect. Simply adequate will do. Structure is important. Do not have two people speaking in one paragraph, that'll get you a send-back. If you use dialect spellings, moun'an instead of mountain, yestidy for yesterday, and such, make a note to the admin. Do not put punctuation marks outside the quotation marks. "Hello, my name is Millie," not "Hello, my name is Milie". As stated before, do not let Grammarly or ProWritingAid make changes for you. Use them to point out what needs to be changed.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Grammer need not be perfect. Simply adequate will do. Structure is important. Do not have two people speaking in one paragraph, that'll get you a send-back. If you use dialect spellings, moun'an instead of mountain, yestidy for yesterday, and such, make a note to the admin. Do not put punctuation marks outside the quotation marks. "Hello, my name is Millie," not "Hello, my name is Milie". As stated before, do not let Grammarly or ProWritingAid make changes for you. Use them to point out what needs to be changed.

YES!!!!!

 

[DiamondF2017]

I'm having this issue too. I've written my first story and this site has rejected it twice now. I've made the improvements required and even used Grammarly to help and guide me to make the necessary corrections on the whole thing and it still gets rejected.

It takes the fun out of writing erotic content.

 

[MillieDynamite]

To avoid rejections for suspected AI use, do not let Grammarly change your work. Do not write in past perfect tense. He began... and whatever follows reads as AI. Write in past tense (for present if you like) and avoid The string of words that indicate what someone began. They just do it. He began to thrust harder and with more urgency, sounds, AIish. They don't begin to thrust harder; he thrusts harder with urgency. Don't repeat phrases; her fingers danced over the glass, her fingers danced across his arm, this is how AI does things, so don't do it that way. Grammarly is good for spelling and grammar (don't be a slave to it even in that).

 

[DiamondF2017]

Thank you for the advice Its being rejected for its dialogue formatting but I don't understand it. I made the corrections myself first then consulted Grammarly incase I was being thick and missing something.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thank you for the advice Its being rejected for its dialogue formatting but I don't understand it. I made the corrections myself first then consulted Grammarly incase I was being thick and missing something.

Read up on dialogue grammar and punctuation rules, and figure out what you're doing wrong. Don't use Grammarly, you'll make it worse (you run the risk of a rejection for using AI).

"My guess is your punctuation is outside the quotation marks, or you're using periods instead of commas". He said.

Something like that ^^^^ (which has two mistakes).

 

[gunhilltrain]

YES!!!!!

Yeah, it's okay to find specific errors with Garmmarly, usually spelling and punctuation, but I don't take every suggestion it makes. Some of those are judgement calls and you can reject them if they don't "sound" right - or change the tone, in other words.

I started using it when another site rejected me for bad grammar too. They specified that I try Grammarly. That site has rejected my stories at times, but at least they are very clear on what bothered the moderator. I think I told a story about that on AH once.

 

[gunhilltrain]

To avoid rejections for suspected AI use, do not let Grammarly change your work. Do not write in past perfect tense. He began... and whatever follows reads as AI. Write in past tense (for present if you like) and avoid The string of words that indicate what someone began. They just do it. He began to thrust harder and with more urgency, sounds, AIish. They don't begin to thrust harder; he thrusts harder with urgency. Don't repeat phrases; her fingers danced over the glass, her fingers danced across his arm, this is how AI does things, so don't do it that way. Grammarly is good for spelling and grammar (don't be a slave to it even in that).

I guess I understand why Lit rejects AI, but they get a bit paranoid about it. (We just had a thread on paranoia.) I suspect that they are fighting a losing battle in the long run.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I guess I understand why Lit rejects AI, but they get a bit paranoid about it. (We just had a thread on paranoia.) I suspect that they are fighting a losing battle in the long run.

You don’t know that Lit is acting paranoid.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I understand it, but as a person who wrote a whole story in the past perfect tense, I can say even that isn't a sure bet it is AI.

I guess I understand why Lit rejects AI, but they get a bit paranoid about it. (We just had a thread on paranoia.) I suspect that they are fighting a losing battle in the long run.

 

[StillStunned]

I started using it when another site rejected me for bad grammar too. They specified that I try Grammarly. That site has rejected my stories at times, but at least they are very clear on what bothered the moderator. I think I told a story about that on AH once.

I don't mean to sound snobbish, and this isn't directed specifically at you, but whatever happened to knowing at least basic grammar and spelling? They're the tools of the trade for a writer, like pruning shears and potting soil are for a gardener or paints and brushes are for a painter.

People go on about wanting to become better writers, but somehow this doesn't seem to extend to the nitty-gritty of understanding how words and sentences and paragraphs work. They spend days researching some minute aspect of 1950s fashion or train timetables, but it's too much trouble to learn punctuation.

And then they get bent out of shape because they've relied on a machine to do these basics for them and their story gets flagged as AI. Just learn a handful of rules, and save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache, and in the long run probably a lot of time too.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I don't mean to sound snobbish, and this isn't directed specifically at you, but whatever happened to knowing at least basic grammar and spelling? They're the tools of the trade for a writer, like pruning shears and potting soil are for a gardener or paints and brushes are for a painter.

People go on about wanting to become better writers, but somehow this doesn't seem to extend to the nitty-gritty of understanding how words and sentences and paragraphs work. They spend days researching some minute aspect of 1950s fashion or train timetables, but it's too much trouble to learn punctuation.

And then they get bent out of shape because they've relied on a machine to do these basics for them and their story gets flagged as AI. Just learn a handful of rules, and save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache, and in the long run probably a lot of time too.

This.