shopping for an editor, could it be you?

[katsilvry]

Hi all...... I'm shopping for an editor, any takers? I mostly write Erotic Coupling type stories. Not to let out any other options in the future... well I don't write about incest, torture....or gay males. No prejudice, just not my thing. I think I have good ideas....just not as good with grammar and punctuation. I'm a female writing from that perspective, so it may be good to have a male editor's input. katsilvry

 

[Dinsmore]

Looking for an editor

I have no problems with your themes. I don't enjoy scat, snuff or animals. Non consent is fine as long as it isn't pure stranger on stranger rape.

I'll be glad to take a look at your work. I have several other new writers with whom I'm working with varying degrees of success.

Send me the file preferably as a Windows Word .doc file, second choice would be as a Rich Text Format or .rtf. Please don't send pasted text. I use Word 2002 or MacWord; if you use an older version let me know so I save it correctly.

I recently received a file to edit---20 pages worth---with a hard line break at the end of every single line as opposed to word wrap. It took me an hour to reformat it; by then I had lost interest. Someone else pasted a story of similar size in an email. A Englishman sent me a story in a format that nothing I did could open.

Let me make a couple of suggestions based on experience; you can help me a lot by cleaning up some issues before you send me your file.

Overusing or misusing the three dot ellipsis. It tends to drive the editors of Literotica nuts and they will often reject stories because of it. Run on sentences and comma addiction---I used to have it, an editor broke me of it.

If two clauses are tied together by a comma lose the comma and replace with a period or semi colon as appropriate. If you use a conjunction such as and or but, the comma before it is not required. In general if in doubt, lose the comma. I taught school for a couple of years and the overuse of the comma seems to have become institutionalized.

Break you dialogue out into distinct paragraphs---one speaker per paragraph. Dialogue buried in a paragraph will always result in a reject from the editors. It doesn't matter if the paragraph is one word, for example:


"Do you come here often?" He inquired.

"Huh?"

The board doesn't accept underage (18) or snuff. I'm not crazy about scat or predominantly gay themes.

If you just want someone to just proof read, I may not be the person you are looking for.

Here's what I'll do. I use the Word Coment Insertion Feature to insert specific comments. If I get through the first page or so and see the same error over and over, I'll stop and send you back just the section I've edited with overall comments on the story. I'm not going to go through 20,000 words and fix a chronic error every time it occurs.

Also, watch out for tense and voice shifts. I tend to write in third person past tense from the perspective of the unseen omnipotent narrator. It allows me to 'show' the reader sights and thoughts that the characters may not be aware of.

Many new writers start out in first person---I did; I found it restrictive since I couldn't delve into the thoughts of the other characters. Thoughts are often hotter than actions. First person present tense is another matter. We've had several discussions of this on the editors and the authors board and the majority of us found that format difficult to read.

I have a basic formula: (1) paint the picture, i.e., create the visuals; (2) introduce and build the characters---to include their motivation for having sex; (3) tell the story, i.e., the narrative and (4) provide closure.

I have a tendency to have happy, romantic endings. First I like them and they provide closure. Secondly stories with real downer endings just don't get well received on this forum.

Often I will write a long and involved story in which the sex is not the dominant feature. Other times---often when I am tired of a long story which I need to set aside for a few days---I'll just bang out some good hot recreational smut to clear my head.

Another technique I like is to begin with the sex (it grabs the reader) then go back and tell the story of how the heck they got here.

Editing first time submisions is a mixed bag. Bluntly some folks think they want to write but they're too damned lazy to do it. When I send back an edited piece they're just not ready to do the work required. I never see a submission and never hear from them again.

My editor broke me of a number of bad habits on the first one she reviewed. Now she serves as just another set of eyes and often complains that, "I don't need her anymore". As I write more I make fewer dumb mistakes but it's always good to have a second pair of eyes. As a woman she can also alert me to improbable female perspectives in a story.

If I can help you send any reply to me at jim2@mindspring.com; I write for Lit as "Dinsmore".
Jim

 

[katsilvry]

editor found

I think I'm set on an editor now. Thanks to all who offered. katsilvry

 

[WhiteWave48]

You've said it all

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