Strange editing?

[mtnman2003]

I just went to my lastest story "published" on lit.

I was reading it, something to do for a bit.

I noticed what I thought were the strangest editorial changes to my story. Commas were added all over the place in the character speaking parts. Either I need to review my use of quotes for defining "speaking parts" or I am totally confused.

A comma even replaced the question mark at the end of a question. Help? What is the requirement for editorial expertise?

This subject has probably been done weekly, under editorial, but I am here.

Anybody?

Mtn

 

[Jenny _S]

There are two resources readily available to you on Lit. In the Writers Resource Forum there is an article titled, "How to Make Your Characters Talk" that explains the use of punction in dialogue rather well. Also there is an article by Killer Muffin (I think) titled, "Punctuate Like a Pro" that is also really good.
Read them... Live them...

 

[MathGirl]

Dear Mtn,
I've never heard of anything like that. All my mistakes have always been left intact. Could it be the way the text was formatted? Are there some rogue HTML formatting commands? Basically, I have no idea and probably should not have replied.
MG
Ps. Have you been drinking too much? Have you not been drinking enough?

 

[gauchecritic]

securite?

It may have something to do with something I noticed when sending feedback to someone.

I was asked to copy a password when I pressed send. I was then presented with another password and happened to notice that lots and lots of character had been added to my feedback text. I shrugged and did as I was told.

Gauche

 

[Guest]

Mtnman, when you submitted the story did you upload it via the online form, or did you attach or file? It could have been via email I guess?

If you submitted it via the form, after copy and pasting the text did you check through how it looked on the form? I've noticed strange things happen to some of my text before, when pasting it into the form. This is only relative if you use Word, I must point out, but basically Word produces text in an html format, and a lot of that is often lost or gets screwed up when pasting into a plain text box.

I don't know if any of that helps.

Lou

 

[Pure]

Hi mtnman,

Yes, that is truly weird:


“I am surprised to see you here on a weekday morning. Doesn’t class start about now,” I inquired? {!!}[my !!, inserted by pure]

“Can you keep a secret,” she said as she looked around. “I am playing hooky today, and I needed some fruit to eat. So a mad dash to the store was required,” she continued.

“What is the secret worth,” I chuckled. My eyes wandered over her body again, sucking in as much as possible. My mind started turning various scenarios over in my head. “How about a cup of coffee,” I asked? {!!}
=====

Some of it is just plain wrong, i.e., displacing the question mark to the end of the sentence, after the naming of the questioner, as in the second, and last sentence [which I have] marked {!!}

Similarly, it's almost an error to remove the question marks at the end of quoted questions, and replace them with commas,

Should be,
"...Doesn't class start about now?" I inquired.

Perhaps Laurel is trying to give work to person who doesn't speak English, or she just fell asleep and kept typing.

J.

You can fix it and re submit. as 'edited'

PS. I'm no computer wizard, but, imo, the problems could not have arisen in 'translation' as Lou suggests. Those errors tend to be systematic, like replacing every ? with an @.

I suppose they could have arisen in an 'intelligent' correction engine that doesn't quite work.

I bet it's a human's doing.

J.





====
I just went to my lastest story "published" on lit.

I was reading it, something to do for a bit.

I noticed what I thought were the strangest editorial changes to my story. Commas were added all over the place in the character speaking parts. Either I need to review my use of quotes for defining "speaking parts" or I am totally confused.

A comma even replaced the question mark at the end of a question. Help? What is the requirement for editorial expertise?

This subject has probably been done weekly, under editorial, but I am here.

Anybody?

 

[mtnman2003]

more information........

MG:

Not drinking at all...... may be problem..... naw......

I submitted word file. I was so surprised by the physical number of the commas, I compared my original with the published version. The commas were added. And actually replaced question marks, etc.

Oh well, I will review the bible on quotation marks as suggested by jenny.

Mtn

 

[Guest]

Re: securite?

I shrugged and did as I was told.

¡Aye, carumba!

Perdita


Excuse me, Mountain, could not resist that.

 

[Guest]

Re: securite?

crap

 

[Pure]

//Oh well, I will review the bible on quotation marks as suggested by jenny.//

Instead, find out the 'helper's' (editor's) name and forward him or her a copy of this Bible. And suggest alternate employment till it's mastered.

J.

 

[gauchecritic]

Being devilish

Puer said:

Instead, find out the 'helper's' (editor's) name and forward him or her a copy of this Bible. And suggest alternate employment till it's mastered.

It would seem that Puer only takes his own advice and is sticking to his imaginary 'helper' and dismissing his own 'evidence' of mechanical substitution //an 'intelligent' correction engine that doesn't quite work.//

When it's fairly evident that an 'engine' would be more likely to 'invent' punctuation like {!!} and then repeat it. This would be a large evidentiary burden against the likelihood of the 'editor' being human.

Puer later uses the word "till", which, although technically correct (inasmuch as it can be found in dictionaries [OED, Funk & Wagnall's et al] with the correct definition) is in fact a common misuse of the abbreviation 'til from until.

Gauche

I still think it's a programming thing.

 

[Alex De Kok]

I wrote a 'How-To' on submitting.

Enough people have said nice things about it to let me believe it actually works for them. If anyone wants to check it out, go here.

Alex

 

[Pure]

Gauche said,

[assorted pettiness snipped]

//I still think it's a programming thing.//

Wanna wager a sawbuck on it?

J.

PS I have clarified, though I suspect you knew, that the {!!} is a mark added by me.

 

[Pure]

Gouache said,

"Puer later uses the word "till", which, although technically correct (inasmuch as it can be found in dictionaries [OED, Funk & Wagnall's et al] with the correct definition) is in fact a common misuse of the abbreviation 'til from until."

That's cute; where the dictionary won't back you, declare 'misuse' on your own authority!

Perhaps you should offer your skills and knowledge, such as they are, to the OED and others to help them upgrade their lexicographical projects.

J.

 

[gauchecritic]

Peur said:

Gouache <snip self quote>

That's cute; where the dictionary won't back you, declare 'misuse' on your own authority!

Perhaps you should offer your skills and knowledge, such as they are, to the OED and others to help them upgrade their lexicographical projects.

J.

If "own authority" includes 'common knowledge' then I accept the term.*

I really wish you had a sense of humour Peur. Can you even see the relevance of my mispelling(sp)?

And I hope that someday you grow the 'wit' to create amusement rather than thinly veiled insults.

Gouache (watching paint dry)

*If you'd bothered to consult your 'God' you would have found that 'til is etymologically incorrect, according to dictionary.com, even though they admit that it comes from the Old English "til" without the apostrophe and the common knowledge I speak of is actually apocryphal. But then of what use are facts in an arguement?

 

[Wills]

AdeK

Coo... I wish I had read that before I submitted a Word file link, I knew I could not paste Word into the box. Any idea what happens to the formatting when you upload through a link? Italics is really important for 2POV in the story.

Will's

 

[KillerMuffin]

Usually, stories that do not use proper dialogue punctuation are rejected, however sometimes a search and replace will be run if the word processor can distinguish between opening and closing quotation marks.

The proper way to do it:

"Hello," he said.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Joe!" he yelled.

If you do not use a question mark, exclamation point, or a dash with attributives in your dialogue, you must use a comma in order to be correct.

You submitted your story with bad punctuation and it was semi-fixed so it could be published without a bajillion emails/PMs from recently rejected persons who were asked to punctuate their dialogue correctly.

 

[KillerMuffin]

AdeK

Coo... I wish I had read that before I submitted a Word file link, I knew I could not paste Word into the box. Any idea what happens to the formatting when you upload through a link? Italics is really important for 2POV in the story.

Will's

Your formatting will be retained. You shouldn't have any difficulties with it. Hundreds of people submit stories exactly the way you did with the same requirements for italics every month. Very few of them are ever disappointed by the lack of italics, though mistakes do happen.

If your story is not done as you think it ought, simply upload it again under the same title with the word "EDIT" in the title. Then place an explanation in the "notes" field so the editor knows what you want.

 

[Wills]

Thanks KM, I can go to bed now.

Will's

 

[MathGirl]

I really wish you had a sense of humour Peur. Can you even see the relevance of my mispelling(sp)?

Dear Gauchie,
I don't know what Puer wrote, since I have him on ignore. I agree with you, anyway.
MG
Ps. Hope you got my pee emm

 

[Pure]

KM said,

//You submitted your story with bad punctuation and it was semi-fixed so it could be published without a bajillion emails/PMs from recently rejected persons who were asked to punctuate their dialogue correctly.//

Damn I did not consider that possibility, Mtn Man. She may be right. What we see may well be a mixture of your errors and someone's corrections, possibly inoffensive ones, that didn't go far enough. Did *you put in those weird question marks?

In any case it needs to be fixed and submitted as 'edited.'

Good points, KM.

Iow, did you mtnman submit
"Where are you going" he asked?

and they made it into
"Where are you going," he asked?

 

[Pure]

Wills, by the way, an rtf file is sufficient to preserve italics. That's what I've used. I figure the less complicated the better.

J.