Sent Back

[Minax99]

My first story has been sent back twice.
My original version had dialogue between two people that I didn't really feel needed spelling out who said what, but after the first time it was sent back I added to make it clearer.
Now I'm not sure if this was the actual reason it was rejected as the note is very general about punctuation and dialogue. It may be something else that I don't know to fix?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Is your dialogue punctuation correct?

Does each speaker's spoken words have their own paragraph?

If the rejection notice says dialogue punctuation is the issue, it's not going to be something else.

 

[Minax99]

Thank you.

 

[Tinman_1903]

I'd be happy to take a look if you want. Also, did they send you some kind of file with the rejection? I normally get a writer's hint page or a rules page when they reject a story.
Tin Man

 

[Minax99]

Yes but I didn't know if it was just a standard reply. I'll take another look x

 

[Tinman_1903]

They don't normally give many details, normally just a cut and pasted copy of rules or something along those lines.

 

[Minax99]

Yes. I think I understand why now. I've used British punctuation of dialogue. I didn't realise it was different in American which is what I need to do.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Yes. I think I understand why now. I've used British punctuation of dialogue. I didn't realise it was different in American which is what I need to do.

it's a bugger when that happens.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yes. I think I understand why now. I've used British punctuation of dialogue. I didn't realise it was different in American which is what I need to do.

No, that won't be it. The site allows English English as well as American English.

Just make sure the punctuation is correct, in whichever convention you use.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

It's possible to get that error message when there's strange formatting problems you can't see. I always got it when trying to upload a file (LibreOffice).

Take your doc and save the text in Notepad, strip out anything odd, then copy n paste the story into the box on the Lit website. Scroll through to check it looks OK.

British punctuation, even with a few errors, won't be the problem.

 

[Todger65]

No, that won't be it. The site allows English English as well as American English.

Just make sure the punctuation is correct, in whichever convention you use.

It does appear that as British speech has the punctuation outside the quotation marks and not inside as the American method, the bots reject it. It is always safest to use the American version even though both are correct.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It does appear that as British speech has the punctuation outside the quotation marks and not inside as the American method, the bots reject it. It is always safest to use the American version even though both are correct.

I've written English English all my life, and submitted a million words here, and I've never punctuated outside the quotation marks. What method of punctuation is this? I've never seen it - it just sounds like incorrect punctuation, to me - but there might be a subtlety I'm missing.

 

[Todger65]

I've written English English all my life, and submitted a million words here, and I've never punctuated outside the quotation marks. What method of punctuation is this? I've never seen it - it just sounds like incorrect punctuation, to me - but there might be a subtlety I'm missing.

I will admit that it is little used now as the American version has crept into our schools, but I was taught in the 50’s and 60’s the original British one.

See Page 16 in https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/University of Oxford Style Guide.pdf

Both are correct,

 

[ElectricBlue]

I will admit that it is little used now as the American version has crept into our schools, but I was taught in the 50’s and 60’s the original British one.

See Page 16 in https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/University of Oxford Style Guide.pdf

Both are correct,

The Oxford Style Guide, page 16, refers to a situation where someone is quoting someone else's words, not speaking their own. If you study the examples given, the punctuation of the self-spoken dialogue is all within the quotation marks.

These are two different grammatical constructions. They're not the same thing. I've seen this confusion before - a quotation of someone else's dialogue is not the same as dialogue. It's a subtlety, but it's two different grammatical constructs.

 

[Minax99]

I've been published , Thanks everyone for the help..

 

[McSmoothie]

I'm an editor and the difference between American English and English is astounding.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm an editor and the difference between American English and English is astounding.

But that's irrelevant for getting content published here on Lit. Either convention will do, so long as it's grammatically correct.

 

[McSmoothie]

But that's irrelevant for getting content published here on Lit. Either convention will do, so long as it's grammatically correct.

Who says it's grammatically correct? The grammer in American is often very diffrent to English.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Who says it's grammatically correct? The grammer in American is often very diffrent to English.

Correct in terms of the American English or the English English convention, whichever is being used.

It doesn't matter if the grammars are different, what matters is that the writer is correct within the grammar they are using.

I, for example write in English English with whatever Australian conventions may also apply (let's call it Australian English). I don't need to worry about what American grammar may or may not do. All I need to worry about is being grammatically correct within my grammar of choice. I've published over a million words on Lit, with no submission issues, ever, and no push back because, in terms of my Australian English grammar, I punctuate correctly.

That's the point here. I see too many threads where people keep saying, or implying, that you must use American English to get published on Lit. That is simply not true. But you do need to be grammatically correct.