Rookie - Writer

[Dragonfly54]

Hello, I've submitted five stories total, all still pending; two have been rejected and resubmitted.

Is rejection typical for a first time writer? I don't think it's my story content; I'm on a learning curve regarding proper use of quotations and how to make a character talk.

My writing style varies between being first person, being a narrator or story teller. Getting my subjects to speak does not come easy to me.

Did anyone else find this difficult at first?

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Everyone finds it difficult at first, but eventually you get the hang of it. Stories are rejected for several reasons -

1. Animal Sex... Not allowed. Beasts do not EVER have sex, even with each other.

2. Underage Sex.. Not allowed. People under the age of 18, never ever heard the word "sex" let alone have engaged in it.

3. Really bad grammar. Typically, if you have some typos, it will get posted. If the grammar is really bad, it will be rejected, depending on the editor who reviews the story. Improper punctuation in quotations is a big killer because it's really so easy. Look in the Writer's Resources for an article by Quint titled, "Making Your Characters Talk". Another good one is an article by KillerMuffen on making grammar easy.

You will find that story writing is a lot different than what you were taught in school, even college. Lit is a good place to learn the craft, so don't give up, dude.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Yes, everyone finds it difficult at first.

If you abide by the guidelines and you write fairly grammatical stuff, you should be posted within about a week.

If you want some comments, post some of your rejected stories here and we'll take a look.

 

[Dragonfly54]

Everyone finds it difficult at first, but eventually you get the hang of it. Stories are rejected for several reasons -

1. Animal Sex... Not allowed. Beasts do not EVER have sex, even with each other.

2. Underage Sex.. Not allowed. People under the age of 18, never ever heard the word "sex" let alone have engaged in it.

3. Really bad grammar. Typically, if you have some typos, it will get posted. If the grammar is really bad, it will be rejected, depending on the editor who reviews the story. Improper punctuation in quotations is a big killer because it's really so easy. Look in the Writer's Resources for an article by Quint titled, "Making Your Characters Talk". Another good one is an article by KillerMuffen on making grammar easy.

You will find that story writing is a lot different than what you were taught in school, even college. Lit is a good place to learn the craft, so don't give up, dude.

Thanks appreciate it. I'll put your suggestions to good use.

 

[Dragonfly54]

Yes, everyone finds it difficult at first.

If you abide by the guidelines and you write fairly grammatical stuff, you should be posted within about a week.

If you want some comments, post some of your rejected stories here and we'll take a look.

I think I have fixed most of my errors in quotations etc. and resubmitted them, but should I get rejected again, I'll post here for your opinions and help.

Thanks

I wonder how the edit process is after your post is approved. I keep writing and re-writing after I have posted. Can you replace the entire article via edit and copy and paste?

Does it have to be approved again after each edit? Please advise.

Thanks again.

 

[damppanties]

I wonder how the edit process is after your post is approved. I keep wrtiing and re-writing after I have posted. Can you replace the entire article via edit and copy and paste?

Does it have to be approved again after each edit? Please advise.

Thanks again.

See this link for how the edit process works. Your story will be approved again after each edit, yes.

I suggest you use an editor for your work before submitting stories to Literotica. You can post and ask for an editor in the Editor's Forum.

Luck.

 

[Dragonfly54]

Yes, everyone finds it difficult at first.

If you abide by the guidelines and you write fairly grammatical stuff, you should be posted within about a week.

If you want some comments, post some of your rejected stories here and we'll take a look.

This is one of the stories I posted, I have re-written a lot of it and edited the grammer and quotations as needed. Please feel free to read and share your opinions. I hope to learn to be a better writer, have my intent for the story be understood and give the right amount of detail (not too much and not too little) and provide a constant storyline and flow. Thanks

Gilmore Girls - Full Moon

Lorelei Gilmore missed her daughter Rory in many ways and for many reasons, but she was glad to finally be alone.

“Now where did I put that thing and I wonder it is fully charged?” she asked herself.

She had put on some soft music, lit candles and sipped some wine to get in the mood to have her way with herself and it was working. She put on her favorite Hello Kitty t-shirt, slipped off her panties and jumped into bed. “Damn I’m easy!!!” she said.

Lorelei was an old hand at pleasing herself; she felt that she deserved to feel good. She loved the way her breasts felt and how quickly her nipples responded to her own touch. Her pussy was as smooth as silk as she had just had it waxed. She hated to admit it, but she felt strangely turned on by the pain of being waxed. She felt so exposed and that was a good feeling.

Another strange habit she had was that she always sucked her thumb when she fingered herself. While her thumb was small compared to the dick size she craved …deserved, it served its purpose.

“Oh! You’re so hard” she said to her thumb.

Now all she had to do was think of an unsuspecting Star’s Hollow resident to mentally seduce. “There was always Taylor Doose, but no he’s too old and creepy, then there was Kirk. But no that would be wrong in so many ways and it would be too easy, she thought.

Hmmm!!... maybe Rory’s best friend Lane Kim would fit the mood, no that would be too kinky, too nasty, bad Lorelei, you bad naughty slut!” she giggled to herself.”

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Lane Kim sat in a bubble bath letting the water trickle from her hand held shower head down her breasts and pussy. She fantasized that she was making love to Lorelei and she was telling Lorelei what to do to her.

She said, “Rory’s mom, I love your big white breasts and I could eat your nipples like Dim Sum. Rory’s mom, you suck my little breasts now, please. Rory’s Mom you may go down on me you filthy whore, eat my pussy!”

In her fantasy Lorelei said, “Lane could you just call me Lorelei, it throws me off when you call me Rory’s mom.”

Lane replied “Shut up bitch this is my fantasy, now get on your knees and worship my pussy, you know you want it you slut.” Lane loved how bold she could be when she was alone.

Little did Lorelei know that Rory was home too and up in her room so she could enjoy some alone time too. There is just something about having three college roommates that makes it near impossible to pleasure yourself to the point of an orgasm with so many distractions. She often wished that they could all just have a four-way and get it over with, but they were all too different for that to happen.

There is no place like home to get her cookies. Rory missed all of the long winter nights where she could just lay in her bed under a pile of blankets naked and get intimate with her sock drawer and her favorite vibrator. Rory was fantasizing thinking about Dean, no Jess, no Dean, no Jess, then gave in and said, “Hello boys, you both can play!”

Rory preferred to sleep in the nude and was still learning the ins and outs of her 18-year old own body. Her breasts were small, with light pink quarter size nipples that looked like bullets when she got cold and when she was horny. She treated her pussy like it had a life of its own and had pet names for it that only she knew. Her pussy was cleanly shaven and adorned with peach hair that had begun to grow back after her last wax.

She loved that her body was so petite and loved watching herself in the mirror as she touched her private places. It made her feel like it was not actually her that was doing naughty things to herself. In her mind it was that other girl in the mirror being nasty, not her. The nasty girl in the mirror bit lightly on her lower lip as her fingers probed and massaged her swollen pussy.

“I wish I could eat your pussy you naughty mirror girl, would that be wrong? She asked herself and grinned.

She was not sure if it was OK to masturbate, it all seemed a little sleazy to her to be her own one-night stand. She wondered if she got lucky with herself without getting a movie and dinner, did that make her a cheap date.

“Boy this solo dating thing is really difficult,” she said out loud.

Lorelei and Rory were both sure that they were alone and just when things were just getting interesting when they heard a mysterious knock on the door. They each grabbed the nearest thing to a weapon they could find and sneaked quietly toward the foyer from different directions. With their weapon of choice held high ready to strike, Lorelei flipped on the light and came face to face with her daughter Rory.

The sight of each other did not scare them as bad as the realization that they each were holding large vibrators like they were Jedi light sabers and both screamed bloody murder. Frozen in proper dueling positions ready to strike, each of them were thinking how in the hell will I explain this. About that time the door swung open and another scream ensued.

Of all people in the world, it was Lorelei’s mother Emily Gilmore with her usual sour puss look on her face. She seemed to be totally numb by the sight of her nearly naked daughter and totally naked granddaughter both holding pink vibrators like they were dueling swords.

“Good lord! Emily shouted, put those things away, we all have them, but there is no need to wave them about in such a vulgar manner.”

Lorelei could not contain herself, had her mother just admitted to having a vibrator?

When Emily could not take any more of Lorelei’s smirking, she reached into her bag and produced her own vibrator that was equal in size, shape and color to theirs.

Rory was so badly embarrassed she was about to turn purple and said, “So what does that make us the three Musketeers?”

With that they all pointed their devices to the ceiling and said in unison “All for one and one for all.”

“So if you both had these, why did I have to find out about them on the streets; OK not the streets, but from Paris Geller?” Rory asked.

Lorelei said “You may not remember, but I bought you your first vibrator. I was the only cool mom on the block that did not take away your Harry Potter vibrating witch’s broom from you like the other mothers. I just insisted that you stopped riding it around the city square and in front of Luke’s Diner front window.”

“Yeah, whatever happened to my broom woman?” Rory said in an accusing voice.

Lorelei grinned and said “Well Rory your mommy rode your broom one time too many and I think I short circuited it and it went bye bye.”

Rory looked sad into her empty cup.

After all of the evidence was carefully stored away in case a fourth Musketeer suddenly appeared. Everyone changed into their pajama’s and hung out in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies. They barely spoke and never made direct eye contact.

Emily had a fight with Richard was spending the night and was first to head off to the guest room and to bed. Lorelei was next to go to bed and then Rory still in shock by the evening’s events and secrets disclosed slowly climbed the stairs in total disbelief.

“Those horny old bitches,” she said with a puzzled look on her cute face.

The house was deafly quiet and then moments later a faint humming sound could be heard if you listened closely. Rory was naked again and in the middle of her second orgasm when she noticed that the glass of water on her night stand was shaking violently and the walls themselves were responding with the same pulse. There is no getting around it, three Gilmore Girls in the same house on metal frame beds, hard wood floors and three vibrators going at the same time was bound to make some vibrations.

Emily was an old pro at using her special friend. She had the same fantasy every night. She fantasized that she was a young and beautiful French au pair girl, dressed in traditional French maid attire. It was complete with an extremely short skirt, no panties, fish net garter belts and her cleavage was prominently displayed. She worked for Mr. Richard Gilmore who would use her sexually like an old dish towel and then he passed her around to the hired help like a stale French tart on a desert tray.

First she would be forced to give head to the black butler, then the Italian chef and then the Latin gardener would take her to the plant shed where he would strip off all of her clothes and fuck her in the dirt until she begged for more. Then Richard, who loved to watch, would pretend to catch them, fire them all and hire new staff for her break in.

Emily broke in female staff pretty much the same way, but they did not feel the need to fire them as quickly or as often. It was a fantasy that she and Richard shared and it often was the topic of their bedroom conversations. Emily loved telling Richard in detail how she would have sex with all of the staff leaving no detail out as if she was reliving each moment. Little did Richard know, but Emily had been living the fantasy for most of their marriage.

The next morning they awoke to the sound of the washing machine in full spin cycle. Lorelei and Rory slowly opened the laundry room door and there sit Paris naked on top of the machine inserting a waxed English cucumber in and out of her pussy.

“Paris what are you doing here?” Rory asked.

Paris said “Wait just a second and made some soft cooing sounds. Then yelled hell yes, oh yeah, oh my God, oh yes, that’s what I’m talking about!!!”

They closed the door and went back into the kitchen. “What the hell was that?” Lorelei asked. “Just Paris being Paris,” Rory replied.

As they sipped coffee from their over-sized cups, Kirk walked into the kitchen wearing only Lorelei’s Hello Kitty T-shirt with his wiener wagging in the wind. He kissed Lorelei on the cheek and spanked her butt on his way out the door.

“What the hell was that?” Rory asked. Lorelei just smiled and said “It must have been a full moon in Star’s Hollow last night.”

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Dude, you need to find an editor to help you. I suggest you go to the Editor's Form and ask for one in there.

Going through just the first few paragraphs of your story - my notes are in red.

Gilmore Girls - Full Moon

Lorelei Gilmore missed her daughter, Rory, in many ways and for many reasons, but she was glad to finally be alone.

“Now where did I put that thing and I wonder it is fully charged?” she asked herself.
This is a run-on sentence. It should be written something like: “Now where did I put that thing?” she asked herself. “And I wonder if it is fully charged?"

She had (drop the word “had” - this is already in past tense) put on some soft music, lit candles and sipped some wine to get in the mood to have her way (No! Someone “has their way” with you. You masturbate. Try not being so obvious. Use something like, “…what she had in mind.” with herself . (Instead of “an it was…. Say “Her preparations made her feel…. “ and it was working. She put on her favorite Hello Kitty t-shirt, slipped off her panties and jumped into bed. “Damn I’m easy!!!” (ONE exclamation point and only one. Actually, in this place it’s inappropriate. The exclamation point indicates she is yelling) she said.

Lorelei was an old hand at pleasing herself; (I would put a period her and start a new sentence. The semicolon is awkward.) she felt that she deserved to feel good. She loved the way her breasts felt and how quickly her nipples responded to her own touch. Her pussy was as smooth as silk as (as…as…as …she…she…she…- redundant) she had just had it waxed. She hated to admit it, but she felt strangely turned on by the pain of being waxed. She felt so exposed and that was a good feeling.

Another strange habit she had was that she always sucked her thumb when she fingered herself. While her thumb was small compared to the dick size she craved …(This should be a dash (-) not an ellipsis. An ellipsis indicates and incomplete thought in dialogue.) deserved, it served its purpose.

“Oh! You’re so hard,” she said to her thumb.

Now all she had to do was think of an unsuspecting Star’s Hollow resident (“Hallow resident” makes not sense at all.) to mentally seduce. “There was always Taylor Doose, but no he’s too old and creepy, then there was Kirk. But no that would be wrong in so many ways and it would be too easy, she thought. (This sentence needs to be - “There was always Taylor Doose,” she thought. “But no. He’s too old and creepy. Then there was Kirk, but that would be wrong in so many ways. Besides, it would be too easy.”

Hmmm!!…(No exclamation point. No ellipsis!) Maybe Rory’s best friend, Lane Kim, would fit the mood. No, that would be too kinky, too nasty. Bad Lorelei. You bad, naughty slut,” she giggled to herself.”

 

[Dragonfly54]

Dude, you need to find an editor to help you. I suggest you go to the Editor's Form and ask for one in there.

Going through just the first few paragraphs of your story - my notes are in red.

Gilmore Girls - Full Moon

Lorelei Gilmore missed her daughter, Rory, in many ways and for many reasons, but she was glad to finally be alone.

“Now where did I put that thing and I wonder it is fully charged?” she asked herself.
This is a run-on sentence. It should be written something like: “Now where did I put that thing?” she asked herself. “And I wonder if it is fully charged?"

She had (drop the word “had” - this is already in past tense) put on some soft music, lit candles and sipped some wine to get in the mood to have her way (No! Someone “has their way” with you. You masturbate. Try not being so obvious. Use something like, “…what she had in mind.” with herself . (Instead of “an it was…. Say “Her preparations made her feel…. “ and it was working. She put on her favorite Hello Kitty t-shirt, slipped off her panties and jumped into bed. “Damn I’m easy!!!” (ONE exclamation point and only one. Actually, in this place it’s inappropriate. The exclamation point indicates she is yelling) she said.

Lorelei was an old hand at pleasing herself; (I would put a period her and start a new sentence. The semicolon is awkward.) she felt that she deserved to feel good. She loved the way her breasts felt and how quickly her nipples responded to her own touch. Her pussy was as smooth as silk as (as…as…as …she…she…she…- redundant) she had just had it waxed. She hated to admit it, but she felt strangely turned on by the pain of being waxed. She felt so exposed and that was a good feeling.

Another strange habit she had was that she always sucked her thumb when she fingered herself. While her thumb was small compared to the dick size she craved …(This should be a dash (-) not an ellipsis. An ellipsis indicates and incomplete thought in dialogue.) deserved, it served its purpose.

“Oh! You’re so hard,” she said to her thumb.

Now all she had to do was think of an unsuspecting Star’s Hollow resident (“Hallow resident” makes not sense at all.) to mentally seduce. “There was always Taylor Doose, but no he’s too old and creepy, then there was Kirk. But no that would be wrong in so many ways and it would be too easy, she thought. (This sentence needs to be - “There was always Taylor Doose,” she thought. “But no. He’s too old and creepy. Then there was Kirk, but that would be wrong in so many ways. Besides, it would be too easy.”

Hmmm!!…(No exclamation point. No ellipsis!) Maybe Rory’s best friend, Lane Kim, would fit the mood. No, that would be too kinky, too nasty. Bad Lorelei. You bad, naughty slut,” she giggled to herself.”

Thanks, it's worse than I thought. Guess I better get an editor or find a new hobby.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Thanks, it's worse than I thought. Guess I better get an editor or find a new hobby.

Just find an editor. We all have them. Story writting is a world different than what you are taught in schoo. There is a learning process that you have to go through. We all have gone through it.

An editor can either correct your mistakes, or teach you what you've done wrong. I've had both types. The latter type is far more valuable.

Then, after you get the hang of that, you will discover there is a second level of editing, that is not for spelling, grammar, etc, but for content, flow, wording and so on.

You'll get the hang of it.

 

[Dragonfly54]

Just find an editor. We all have them. Story writting is a world different than what you are taught in schoo. There is a learning process that you have to go through. We all have gone through it.

An editor can either correct your mistakes, or teach you what you've done wrong. I've had both types. The latter type is far more valuable.

Then, after you get the hang of that, you will discover there is a second level of editing, that is not for spelling, grammar, etc, but for content, flow, wording and so on.

You'll get the hang of it.

Any recommendations for an erotic story submission web site that is more about having fun and less about sentence structure? I don’t mind making an effort to spell check and make an overall effort to write and edit a good story, but it seems like the writing criteria here is closer to writing a term paper than having fun.

By the time an editor got through editing my work, it would seem more like collaboration than my telling a story. You know what they say about old dogs...we are too smart to learn new tricks.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Any recommendations for an erotic story submission web site that is more about having fun and less about sentence structure? I don’t mind making an effort to spell check and make an overall effort to write and edit a good story, but it seems like the writing criteria here is closer to writing a term paper than having fun.

By the time an editor got through editing my work, it would seem more like collaboration than my telling a story. You know what they say about old dogs...we are too smart to learn new tricks.

Thanks for your help.

I post on at storiesonline.com occasionally. But they are just as anal about writing. I believe most are the same.

Edited to add: I think you are taking this too much to heart. Writing is easy. Writing well is hard at first but gets a lot easier as you write. The advice in Writers Market the writer's bible is: "Keep writing and read a lot." All the best writers on Lit and elsewhere are ravenous readers.

An editor will help you learn, not rewrite your story for you. We've all been there. Just don't give up. Lit is one of the best places on earth to learn the craft of writting.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Dragonfly54, welcome (Jenny meant to say that but forgot).

Please don't go away. Most sites that accept 'stories' are just porn sites that want a bit of justification. You are much better than that.

Jenny is right in what she says, but you make a serious mistake in saying that editors 'steal' your baby. Every published author has an editor to guide, counsel and advise. Hell, even Bill Gates puts his creations into beta testing.

There are two parts of the 'edit' process - first is to get rid of the grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes we all make and are often hard to spot reading our own text. The second job is to advise the author that certain pasages seem a bit long-winded, irrelevant to the story, or maybe confusing.

The author reads the advice and makes her own decision whether to accept it or not. There is no question of losing ownership.

I've read your story. I think it has promise and I buy into Jenny's comments. That's not contradictory.

My views are not that important, but just tell me you are going to give Lit a go and I will post them.

 

[mjl2010]

One thing you need to keep in mind is that you asked for feedback simply by posting on the feedback forum. So we give you feedback.

Something you need to understand and I don't think it was covered by Jenny or Elfin: You write and people read. If no one reads, then why write?

A lot of the errors Jenny corrected for you make it very difficult to read your story. People will read a little ways, get confused or a headache and backclick and look for something else.

The grammar checker in word helps, but its wrong sometimes and doesn't catch everything.

You show promise. Don't give up. Quitting is the worst thing you could do. You wrote and had the courage to submit. Took me a long time to get the courage part.

MJL

 

[Guest]

It's not easy - both the wait and the realization that even a hobby must be worked at to do well.

I think of it as a labor of love. Yes, it's work, but the rewards are well worth it for me.

Clarification, Jenny?

What about people that turn into beasts? Do they fuck?

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

It's not easy - both the wait and the realization that even a hobby must be worked at to do well.

I think of it as a labor of love. Yes, it's work, but the rewards are well worth it for me.

Clarification, Jenny?

What about people that turn into beasts? Do they fuck?

Actually, Babygrrl,

I believe that is the only exception to the rule, but the beast, the human the beast came from and the object of his/her desire must be over the age of 18 and the story has to be posted in either Non-human, Horror or Sci-Fi.

Also, a disclaimer helps, because most guys turn into beasts when they date me

 

[Dragonfly54]

One thing you need to keep in mind is that you asked for feedback simply by posting on the feedback forum. So we give you feedback.

Something you need to understand and I don't think it was covered by Jenny or Elfin: You write and people read. If no one reads, then why write?

A lot of the errors Jenny corrected for you make it very difficult to read your story. People will read a little ways, get confused or a headache and backclick and look for something else.

The grammar checker in word helps, but its wrong sometimes and doesn't catch everything.

You show promise. Don't give up. Quitting is the worst thing you could do. You wrote and had the courage to submit. Took me a long time to get the courage part.

MJL

I haven’t given up and I’ll definitely try using an editor’s help. I just want to recognize the finished product as my original story. I have an art background and I’m not fond of having to stay within the lines. Too much structure makes feel like I’m doing a “paint by numbers” painting instead of original art work. Writing is art, but has more rules that any other form of art. It may not be my calling.

 

[Guest]

Also, a disclaimer helps, because most guys turn into beasts when they date me

Funny - I definitely see that. *grin*

the disclaimer and full-out naming of ages didn;'t help my ageplay story. I did send something into L&M about a month ago now?

Oh well -I'm sure they are busy, contests and all. The new story I'm working on I posted in Sci-fi-fantasy - we shall see if it's accepted, although there had been no shape-changing - yet...

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I haven’t given up and I’ll definitely try using an editor’s help. I just want to recognize the finished product as my original story. I have an art background and I’m not fond of having to stay within the lines. Too much structure makes feel like I’m doing a “paint by numbers” painting instead of original art work. Writing is art, but has more rules that any other form of art. It may not be my calling.

It's not really bad, Dargonfly. After you learn the rules, you learn when you can break them. I do that all the time.

The Art is conveying what you have in your head to any unknown reader in a way that the images you have flow directly. When you can do that you are there and you find the same knid of freedom that you find in any art form.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Also, a disclaimer helps, because most guys turn into beasts when they date me

So why d'you send them onto me afterwards?

Dragonfly

Editing falls into two distinct parts.

Part one is just proofreading. "Did you really mean to call Einstein a genus or did you mean genius?"

The second, most helpful, part is acting like someone looking over your shoulder. The editor acts like a beta tester. In your head you know things about your characters but you may not have explained them. By being obsessed, you may have included too much detail, description or ancillary characters.

A good editor asks questions that make you look at your text more critically.

You can always ignore an editor's comments. The story always remains yours.

This site is pretty good because as well as letting us post our silly smut, there is a vibrant community who wants to give whatever assistance they can to new writers and there is a goldmine of useful stuff in the Writers' Resources section.

If you want to write stories without any help or advice, there are dozens of sites available. If, like most of us here, there is a certain cachet of passing the site requirements and feel we can improve and learn, you should stick around.

This is a help-each-other kind of place. Just like you got when DK answered your question about resubmitting. We've all been newbies, we've all struggled to find out how things work and a lot of us are still here.

If you've got a bit of pride, want some friends and want to write erotic stories, this is a pretty good place.

 

[dreamwriter1234]

One thing to remember is that there are good editors and bad ones. Even worse... an editor who is good for one writer may be horrible for another.

IMHO... the best editors are the most brutal. The point of an edit is not to re-write your work for you... but to A. improve it... and B. help you learn.

You don't actually learn much from an occasional punctuation fix, and a "good job with a few rough spots". You learn from having someone else tell you a sentence sucks... and why. If you disagree... leave it alone.

The second thing you learn is just from an outside perspective. What you write will ALWAYS make sence to you. You created it... you know everything about it. The test is when someone else reads it. Better that be an editor than a reader.

As for me.. give me the brutally honest editor every time.

 

[Foxee Browne]

Welcome Dragonfly,

I have been here about a year now, and I have learned tons of things about writing. I still can't spell, my grammar sucks, and punctuation ... well I'm working on them.

I have had hurt feelings sometimes from a brutally honest editor, but he is showing where I need to work on improving, so I suck it up and do so. My writing has improved because of this. My first story was rejected, I forgot to use quotes properly and space my paragraphs correctly. Once I corrected that, it was accepted.

I didn't kow about editors then, but I left the work untouched, so I can remind myself how far I have come over time.

What you ask is the point of all of this? If I can do it, you can. Don't give up. It's a worthwhile hobby. Sometimes it's more challenging than others. The work has always been mine, and I fix what I think needs fixed. No I don't use all of the editors ideas all of the time, but I do read what he says and then decide.

Good luck and keep on writing and evolving!

GC

 

[tickledkitty]

Hey there, Dragonfly.

Don't give up. After an editor has worked their magic, it's still your story, just better.

My editor is wonderful. Sometimes she makes me do a lot more work than I want to, but I always know my story is better for it in the end. Also, she simply makes suggestions, which I'm under no obligation to follow. Most of them I follow, and a few I don't. I don't ever get the feeling she's trying to make my work into something of her own. Sometimes I'm not ready to deal with it, so I set it aside for a day or two until I am.

The best part is that I think of things she's said as I'm writing now, so I don't make the same mistakes as often. I know I'm a better writer now after working with her on only two stories. It's happened for me that quick.

Hang in there.

 

[Dragonfly54]

Great advice from all. I really apprceiate ya'll taking the time to reply. I'm rather hard-headed and it has taken me a while to put down my defenses and absorb the information.

Of the original five stories, 3 have published. It is only now that I get what you were saying about the need for an editor and the importance of having one help you "before" you publish. As I had five in the hopper and my vigin status made me rush into it. As I read, the three published, I see a ton of errors and need to for an editor, added dialogue between the characters and sentence...structure of some kind.

Thanks again to all for your help!

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Great advice from all. I really apprceiate ya'll taking the time to reply. I'm rather hard-headed and it has taken me a while to put down my defenses and absorb the information.

Of the original five stories, 3 have published. It is only now that I get what you were saying about the need for an editor and the importance of having one help you "before" you publish. As I had five in the hopper and my vigin status made me rush into it. As I read, the three published, I see a ton of errors and need to for an editor, added dialogue between the characters and sentence...structure of some kind.

Thanks again to all for your help!

When we talk about an editor - you can self-edit. It's just a lot easier to get someone else to give you a critique. It's not selling out in any way.