Sick of "rejected - spelling"

[Azshade]

I've currently got 3 works online, 2 sitting in pending. I think 3 of them (that's 3 of 5) have been rejected for spelling. I write everything in MS Word, spell checking on the fly and manually. I than copy the text and paste it as raw text when submitting, and Firefox also has a spell check.

The last story I submitted had the following "spelling mistakes" according to Firefox.

* Perved - Past tense perve, verb, to gaze at lustfully. Perhaps this is an Australian word only.
* Shh - As in, Shh, be quiet.
* fap - onomatopoeia for the noise of people having sex. Direct quote: "That wet sucking 'fap fap' noise was the only sound"
* jap (eye). Only the jap was shown as incorrect. I am specifically using it to refer to the penis opening.
* asshole - No explanation necessary.
* butthole - No explanation necessary.
* punked - To have a prank played against you.


7 words, in a 1439 word document, and it gets rejected for spelling.

I don't think one of those words were spelt incorrectly, were more so cultural differences. Should I change any reference of "mum" to "mom" as well, just to be safe (incidentally, mom shows up as a spelling error in Firefox).

 

[Handley_Page]

Perhaps an explanation that they are valid words in your part of the globe ?

 

[Azshade]

I changed almost all of them, and added notes to say 'hey, leave it alone'.

Honestly though, whilst I like my grammar and punctuation, spelling etc; I think this website should be a little more relaxed on the rules. Another is the space requirement between 2 characters speaking. I prefer this style.

---------
"No," said person A.
"Yes!" said person B.
---------

But literotica requires a blank line space.

---------
"No," said person A.

"Yes!" said person B.
---------

Which is fine, unless you have 2 characters having an argument. Than you end up with a series of one line sentences with a gap between each.

I'd actually prefer if this site was set up more like "Allpoetry.com" where you can post and edit the work on the fly. I realise the website wants to keep a quality control. but there's already tens of thousands of stories on here anyhow. Can't we have people what they wish, reviewers/readers use the rating system on the website, and let nature take it's course?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

We don't have on-the-fly editing because of the age and bestiality restrictions. That one is just never going to happen here.

though I do agree with lightening up on the spelling and punctuation restrictions. They seems out of whack when compared with a few of the lesser stories that have gotten posted here over the years.

 

[Weird Harold]

Another is the space requirement between 2 characters speaking. I prefer this style.

---------
"No," said person A.
"Yes!" said person B.
---------

But literotica requires a blank line space.

---------
"No," said person A.

"Yes!" said person B.
...

You might get some relief on the spelling and grammar, but this is a technicl issue in reformmatting as HTML. Lit interprets a single paragraph break as a manual line break in a fixed line length file and discards it to make the pages dynamically fit different resolution. Therefore, your preferred format gets rendered as, "No," said person A. "Yes!" said person B.".

 

[james_futuo]

I just think it's hilarious that you called the opening of the penis a "jap"...I've never heard that before and I about fell out of my chair.

 

[JackLuis]

Lit seems to be pretty lenient on my stories for spelling and my general fuck ups in my final submissions. but I post in Word and let them convert to HTML.

Of course I get flack form folks on my errors anyway and one fellow said he had dropped me a full point on stories because of it.

The items you pointed out are "PC" issues in some ways in the "US of A" and, as you say there are differing sensitivities, USA/Oz.

I don't think you are too wrong in use of vernacular, words or spellings, particularly in dialog. I didn't see anything that I "objected" to, but I have a high threshold of sensitivity to these type subjects.

I think you triggered some software that flagged your work, irrespective of your intentions. Perhaps If they just rejected it for "spelling", no humans ever looked at it?

 

[TxRad]

Perhaps If they just rejected it for "spelling", no humans ever looked at it?

This is very likely to be the case.

 

[lipsnlace]

"Perved," "fap," and "jap" are indeed not used in the States. I'm sure you'd be fine leaving Mum, though.

I bet what got your story rejected is your use of the word "jap" for the urethral opening. In the States, "jap" is a racial slur for the Japanese that originated in WWII and is now quite taboo and offensive. I understand that you probably weren't intending offense, but seeing as your story lacked spelling errors, it may have sent a red flag up.

I just think it's hilarious that you called the opening of the penis a "jap"...I've never heard that before and I about fell out of my chair.

I hadn't heard that one, either.

 

[Azshade]

wait what?

I spoke to an American friend, and I guessed that you didn't have perv (or perve).... but no jap eye? Wow. Thought that was global.

Wonder what other words / euphemisms we don't share.

 

[slyc_willie]

wait what?

I spoke to an American friend, and I guessed that you didn't have perv (or perve).... but no jap eye? Wow. Thought that was global.

Wonder what other words / euphemisms we don't share.

I'm sure there are quite a few.

The problem I suspect you're running into is that, by cutting and pasting the story into the text field on the submissions page, it's being scanned by a robot program looking for certain things (underage sex, bestiality) and counting spelling errors. Apparently, it is American-specific.

Every story I have up on Lit was submitted as a .doc file, which means it had to be read by one of Laurel's editors. I had a story that used a lot of intentionally misspelled and shortened words, to reflect the characters' Appalachian life. It got through no problem.

 

[secretme]

This is meant as constructive, so please take it as such.

I read the thread and thought, "Well, with all the weird names I use and the gaelic I tend to add in here and there I know that I have way more miss spellings than this guy is claiming. I know my stuff is far from perfect. I always post first drafts."
Then I noted that your posts included grammar issues like using "than" when you meant "then". (A very common mistake and one I often make myself) But... I decided to check out what you posted and see what you might be talking about. I know that the rejected stuff might have said "spelling" but there may have been some other things adding to the rejection. I had a hard time with the train of thought and the comma splices (btw I had to double check myself cuz I never remember which is coma and comma). My point is that you may be jumping the gun. There might have been more to it than the spelling. Try getting an editor and see what he/she might have to tell you.

 

[Azshade]

Secretme, where you referring to my posts?

I do tend to get a few than/then problems, but I do proof read a few times (for spelling/grammar and general story flow). However I'm sure a few cracks will come through. I tried to use an editor two times, both times I got no reply.

I guess it'll be best now to upload in .doc(x?), rather than give myself to the 'bots and fail a few times over.

 

[markelly]

Don't give up on an editor. There are many out there but some get overwhelmed with the amount of authors looking for an editor. I know one that agreed to edit for a person and he in turn sent her a two hundred plus pages of story.

That in itself is enough to turn any editor off. It may also help if you keep your search for an editor aimed at those that live in the America. Since they can easily spot the abbreviated or slang words and flag them for you to either explain or change.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I'm reading THE BIG SLEEP by Raymond Chandler. In 1939 pornographers and smut peddlars were taboo, and self respecting gangsters didnt associate with such degenerates. They were quote, 'stranger than a fag birthday party.'

Every generation demonizes something or somebody new. And many people arent really happy unless theyre upset about something.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6806502.ece

 

[michchick98]

Secretme, where you referring to my posts?

I do tend to get a few than/then problems, but I do proof read a few times (for spelling/grammar and general story flow). However I'm sure a few cracks will come through. I tried to use an editor two times, both times I got no reply.

I guess it'll be best now to upload in .doc(x?), rather than give myself to the 'bots and fail a few times over.

I know I'm not the person you were addressing, but I can address parts of this. As an author, I always have someone else proofread my work. It helps because after you read it for the gazillionth time, you're going to miss something. Your eyes will see it as you intended it to be and not how it is. A fresh set of eyes, be it an editor or just someone to read over your work, is always a bonus.

As far as getting an editor, don't use the Volunteer Editor's list here on Lit. Your best bet is to use the Editor's Forum. The active editors usually post there. You can post your own message in that forum as well, asking for an editor. In my opinion, every author needs an editor. Look at some of the crap that gets through when the author isn't using an editor or proofreader....even from some of the best authors on this site.

With the rejection of your story, read through the rejection message again. Usually it's in the form of a question. If a live person didn't look at your story, it might have been run through a spell checker and caught the mistakes. Put a note in the notes field stating that you use the UK/European style for the word. Putting a note there will bring it to the attention of a live person.

 

[ishtat]

I have lived in OZ on and off for 25 years and have never heard of "fap" or "jap"(eye) though the last is brilliant . Is jap a Bazza Mckensie derivative?

Does Azshade come from WA or Queensland because Australian vernacular varies a fair bit between different parts of the country.

Perve & perving are used everywhere here tho'.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I have relatives named 'Jap;' its an abbreviation of Jasper. It's also an euphemism for Jewish American Princess. We call our school buses 'Yellow Perils.'

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Fap is more of an internet thing than any particular location in the world.

 

[thebullet]

It's been a while since I've posted, but seems to me I always posted in MS Word Rich text format. Why do you cut and paste? That can only cause problems, imo.

My guess is, if you submit either a standard MS Word document or a MS rtf document, you'll be okay.

I've seen plenty of submissions that are loaded with errors get posted.

Don't know the problem with yours, but I'd say the document type is the culprit.

 

[Verdad]

"Fap" is an onomatopoeia. It's used in comics, and sometimes in parlance, to signify masturbation—fap, fap, fap.

Urban Dictionary entry, here.

"Jap eye" meaning "penis slit" is in Urban Dictionary also, here.

To the OP, as others told you, the non-standard words must have tripped the bot. You don't need to change them; you only need to alert a human editor there are some in your submission. However, it is possible you've made proper errors, too. It wouldn't hurt to have someone proof your piece before resubmitting.

 

[Weird Harold]

It's been a while since I've posted, but seems to me I always posted in MS Word Rich text format.

A word of warning about RTF format: Make sure you submit a clean copy that has all of the edits and revisions cleaned up. RTF files that still contain tracked changes/"undo" information can cause a lot of rejections that don't have any relationship to the final text of the story.

 

[michchick98]

It's been a while since I've posted, but seems to me I always posted in MS Word Rich text format. Why do you cut and paste? That can only cause problems, imo.

My guess is, if you submit either a standard MS Word document or a MS rtf document, you'll be okay.

I've seen plenty of submissions that are loaded with errors get posted.

Don't know the problem with yours, but I'd say the document type is the culprit.

I myself actually used to just upload .doc or .rtf files until two chapters of one of my stories were seriously butchered because I didn't use the HTML formatting codes. So now that I use them, I just copy and paste my own text, that way if it gets screwed up or if I missed one of the codes, I can preview it before submitting and avoid the problem of parts of a story/chapter completely missing.

 

[champagne1982]

It's been a while since I've posted, but seems to me I always posted in MS Word Rich text format. Why do you cut and paste? That can only cause problems, imo.

My guess is, if you submit either a standard MS Word document or a MS rtf document, you'll be okay.

I've seen plenty of submissions that are loaded with errors get posted.

Don't know the problem with yours, but I'd say the document type is the culprit.

That's my thought, too.

Azshade, If you want to C&P into the submissions block, I suggest that you try pasting it to notepad, making certain your " and -- are simply formatted. Sometimes the MSWord or WordPerfect translations into HTML (as Wierd Harold mentioned) will dump some strange characters into the story. So, once you've pasted to Notepad, reselect and copy from that file, then paste it to the submission block for literotica.

Or follow the advice quoted above for worry-free data transfer.

 

[Azshade]

Few things:

1: "Fap" by internet definition means to masturbate (I think specifically males). However the way I used it was simply onomatopoeia. (Words used to imitate sound) Think "Klunk! Shazam! Thunk!" from comics.

2: Jap eye (or lesser used piss eye) is common here in NSW.

3: Thanks for the advice on Editor forum (before I used the volunteer list). My stories are all shorter stories and chapters (my current series is 5 chapters and 26pages, but I upload each chapter individually).

4: I was copying into notepad and than the block, but I think there still may have been errors. Dunno? From now on though I'm going to upload in .doc format and skip the bot. It clearly doesn't like my Australian accent or kangaroo riding, knife sizing, Fosters drinking, shrimp burning, thieving ways.

EDIT:
Q: Since you Americans (Seppos) don't have perve to mean: To gaze at lustfully... What word do you use? Check out? Is there another?