Very Anoyed

[Mayer_Rotenchild]

Been reading here for years. Finally submitted a story only to have it sent back with only cryptic notes that do not apply as there is nothing under age in it, and the paragraphs are fairly short. So I don't get the reason for even receiving such. Is there a place on this board where I can post the story and get some Human feedback? Thanks

 

[jaF0]

Not the whole story. Maybe a couple of paragraphs and a synopsis.

 

[NotWise]

Been reading here for years. Finally submitted a story only to have it sent back with only cryptic notes that do not apply as there is nothing under age in it, and the paragraphs are fairly short. So I don't get the reason for even receiving such. Is there a place on this board where I can post the story and get some Human feedback? Thanks

You can't post a story anywhere in the forums. You can go to the Editors Forum and arrange to send it to a beta reader for a review.

Lit's definition of under age sexual relationships goes a little beyond what you might be thinking. The age limit is eighteen. If the character doesn't act eighteen, then it might not make a difference what age you say they are. And sex is defined in the broadest possible way. Any arousal or sexual interest by characters who seem to be under eighteen can trigger a bounce. There doesn't need to be actual sex.

You should look at the way your story is formatted. There needs to be an empty line between each paragraph -- and not just because your word processor adds extra space there. There needs to be a blank line.

In the traditional story view, the lines of text are very short, and even paragraphs that you might think of as short or normal length can become long blocks of text.

 

[Mayer_Rotenchild]

It is somewhat Naked in School inspired, but graduating seniors so everyone is 18 or older. But yes there is sex. There are Blank lines between the paragraphs, n ok if they want them shorter why not make such a setting in their editor instead of leaving it to us to play a guessing game.

 

[NotWise]

It is somewhat Naked in School inspired, but graduating seniors so everyone is 18 or older. But yes there is sex.

The "senior in high school" thing works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. It depends on how they act. It also depends on whether they're remembering past events. You probably should have someone read it.

There are Blank lines between the paragraphs, n ok if they want them shorter why not make such a setting in their editor instead of leaving it to us to play a guessing game.

Where you break your paragraphs is up to you. It isn't something that can be automated.

Your message here covers two different subjects without a paragraph break. That might reflect a problem.

 

[AlinaX]

I remember being a little bemused at first by some of my early rejections.

The underage ones can be frustrating, especially when you've made an effort in the story to be clear that all involved are adults. Sometimes a disclaimer at the start gets around it, but if you're doing anything high school related it's good to be explicit early on that everyone in the class is at least eighteen years of age. (Parties had got a lot more interesting in the past year, as everyone was turning eighteen and using it as an excuse. I was the youngest in my class, and now I too had passed into legal adulthood.)

Paragraph length is very important. What works in a paperback won't necessarily work well on someone's mobile phone. Looking at my latest story, paragraphs are typically 3-6 lines of 20ish words each, if that's of any use.

 

[Mayer_Rotenchild]

Wasn't suggesting that the paragraphs be totally automated, more that the editor give indication of when a paragraph is too long, like twitter let's u know when your too many characters... it could be simply changing the letters to red that exceed the desired limit...

Adding a disclaimer can't hurt, to me it is obvious, indeed ch 2 is out in civilian life, ch 1 only building a background. Still working on ch2 though, where some of the main characters begin dying off.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

I discovered the hard way that my editing software was stripping out spacing. Are you loading a file or cutting and pasting?

 

[Mayer_Rotenchild]

I use html kit, but had removed the html n added blank lines in the editor here

 

[Mayer_Rotenchild]

Just resubmitted with disclaimer n breaking all the paragraphs to 1 or 2 sentences

"This story takes place on the last day of High School, all characters are over 18, and is simply an introduction to a much more gruesome life out in society after High School, yes more Chapters to come. Improper paragraph formatting due to Literotica's vague short paragraph requirements."

 

[SimonDoom]

Just resubmitted with disclaimer n breaking all the paragraphs to 1 or 2 sentences

"This story takes place on the last day of High School, all characters are over 18, and is simply an introduction to a much more gruesome life out in society after High School, yes more Chapters to come. Improper paragraph formatting due to Literotica's vague short paragraph requirements."

Trying to be helpful here, not starky. But I'll make some observations based on what you have posted in this forum so far:

1. Your posts in this forum consistently show problems with grammar and spelling and unconventional word usage. That raises the prospect that your story submission has the same problems, and you are not acknowledging them, and perhaps you are not fully presenting to us the problems that the Site owner has identified with the story.

2. Your last post, to which I'm replying, suggests that your improper paragraph formatting is Literotica's fault. That's not a good way, obviously, to try to win someone over to your point of view. Instead of being annoyed, or being self-righteous, really try to take seriously what Literotica's rules are, and follow them.

3. You (and everyone else) must keep in mind that while Literotica publishes a gazillion stories it is a 2-person operation. They do the best they can with minimal time to vet stories for publication. Make it easy for them. Follow the rules, scrupulously. Be respectful. Don't tell them that they are the problem.

4. I once had a story rejected for content allegedly in violation of the rules. I knew it wasn't in violation of the rules, so I sent a respectful explanation of why it was not and the story was accepted. That's the way to do it. But first, make sure you understand exactly what the rules ARE.

5. If you are truly confused, don't be annoyed. Reach out to an author whose work you like or whose comments on this forum you respect and get their opinion about your story.

6. Two possible problems with the underage issue in your story: A) You cannot include flashbacks where characters think back to their pre-18 years about conduct or fantasies that are in any way sexual, and B) You can't hide behind calling your characters over 18 if they act under 18. The Site won't let you do that.

 

[KeithD]

I wasn't 18 when I graduated from high school. The only reason to have to write at that level is to signal the edge of underage.

 

[Jada59]

It is somewhat Naked in School inspired, but graduating seniors so everyone is 18 or older. But yes there is sex. There are Blank lines between the paragraphs, n ok if they want them shorter why not make such a setting in their editor instead of leaving it to us to play a guessing game.

I graduated at age 17. Some people are 16 or younger. So that doesn't make it clear that the people are 18 and over.

 

[Jada59]

I use html kit, but had removed the html n added blank lines in the editor here

Don't post in HTML. Just write it straight out. I use Word and copy/paste. You can also use Google Docs.

 

[SimonDoom]

I wasn't 18 when I graduated from high school. The only reason to have to write at that level is to signal the edge of underage.

I think this is a tricky issue. I don't quite agree, but I think you have a point.

I've read stories about over-18 high school students, or about high school students where the ages are ambiguous, where I didn't feel like the underage aspect was being exploited. I won't name them because I don't want to call attention to them and possibly raise red flags. But there are some very good stories of this type that remain on this Site.

Personally, out of respect for the Site's rule, I don't write stories about high school students. All of my characters have graduated from high school. But even that can be a bit of a cheat, because if you write a plausible "first time" story -- "First Time" being a well-established Literotica category -- you're probably writing about someone who is young and whose youth or innocence is an element of the story. How is that any different, ethically, from writing about a character where you say the character is 17? In the real world, there are world-weary, sexually experienced 17 year olds, and totally innocent and naive virginal 18 year olds.

My attitude: Respect the rule, because it's their Site, but don't get too worked up about the moral implications or pretenses at logical consistency of it.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Just resubmitted with disclaimer n breaking all the paragraphs to 1 or 2 sentences

"This story takes place on the last day of High School, all characters are over 18, and is simply an introduction to a much more gruesome life out in society after High School, yes more Chapters to come. Improper paragraph formatting due to Literotica's vague short paragraph requirements."

Not to be a pain in the ass, but I write a lot of stories where the protagonist is an 18 year old high school girl, and I haven’t had one rejected since my first story, where I figured out the rules. Just a disclaimer by itself may not cut it if you’re on that borderline. I’m always very explicit within the story itself on age where it’s close to the line. Birthday flashbacks are always good, as are references to character age.
“You’re eighteen now! Behave like it!” Or whatever. Being explicit I the story takes the question away unmistakably.

The big mistake is to try and skirt the rules and say the character is 18 but write them in a way that is obviously younger. It can be done but you have to be very very good to do it.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I also graduated from high school at 17. My 18th birthday was 30 days later though.

I also see you use text speak in your posts. If you use it in a story, it will be rejected. 'n' instead of 'and' is not proper English, either here in the U.S. or in the UK or even in Canada.

 

[sirhugs]

I had a story rejected for underage after I had submitted about 100 stories. It made reference to being eighteen in the third paragraph, but somehow got rejected. I resubmitted with disclaimer and note to editor and no other changes and it went through.

So, the system isn't perfect. Though we think newbie writers get closer scrutiny, I don't know if that is true.

To succeed on Lit you need a thick skin.
Just wait til the trolls start attacking your story.

Patience, a good editor, and follow the advice above.

 

[oggbashan]

...

To succeed on Lit you need a thick skin.
Just wait til the trolls start attacking your story.

Patience, a good editor, and follow the advice above.

Just wait until you have a dedicated group of trolls who decide to favorite you as an author so that they can drop one-bombs on any new story from you before they have had time (or anyone else has) to read it, and watch to see if it gets a Hot rating, and then use their alts to one-bomb it down again.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

How long is the story? If it’s not too long, PM me and we can arrange for you to send it to me so I can look at it.

 

[jaF0]

To succeed on Lit you need a thick skin.

And the opinion that the world is full of imbeciles and you and they will never be fit for each other's company.

 

[Handley_Page]

Been reading here for years. Finally submitted a story only to have it sent back with only cryptic notes that do not apply as there is nothing under age in it, and the paragraphs are fairly short. So I don't get the reason for even receiving such. Is there a place on this board where I can post the story and get some Human feedback? Thanks

Perhaps a "beta reader" might help?
Get someone to read the whole text before submission.

But, for the love of God, do not use "text speak" in ANYWHERE other than a text message. We try to be literate round here ( ).

 

[Voboy]

Just resubmitted with disclaimer n breaking all the paragraphs to 1 or 2 sentences

"This story takes place on the last day of High School, all characters are over 18, and is simply an introduction to a much more gruesome life out in society after High School, yes more Chapters to come. Improper paragraph formatting due to Literotica's vague short paragraph requirements."

I write a lot of HS stuff, and I've never had any rejected either. It's not really all that hard to work around. The disclaimer you post above is not something I would do; though I do post preliminary blurbs, they're not warnings. I find your paragraphing comment passive-agressive, and it wouldn't make me want to read your piece.

Because I've never had anything kicked back for paragraph formatting either, y'see. It's difficult for me to imagine messing that up. Also, your disclaimer is poorly-written. First impressions matter.

Others have posted that putting up disclaimers does not work if the character still looks and acts like a prepubescent. I've got no experience with that, as my characters aren't children nor trying to act like it, but if yours are? No disclaimer will overcome that in Laurel's mind.

Good luck.

 

[gordo12]

What's a rejection

Seriously, I know the rules and anything I write that approaches a no-go zone, I put comprehensive notes in the admin area telling Laurel exactly what's there and how it's OK. Even quoting the relevant areas. I've withheld stories I know will cross a line. It's her site and her rules. Simple!

So tomorrow night, there will be a story published that includes a baby. Babies in stories are a problem that anyone who has ever tried to create a baby tag has or will discover. I told her there was absolutely no juxtaposition between any sex and the baby. Passed for publishing in 24 hours.

I can see a host of age problems in the Naked In School arena. Hallways, friends around. Are all of them over 18?

 

[KeithD]

I think I've had three cases of stories initially being rejected for underage. When I've returned them as written denying they have underage in them and asking for it to be pointed out, they've all just been posted as originally written. I don't see what saying underage isn't there in a proslug or a note to Laurel does anything but raise the question of whether it might be there. Anyone trying to include it can just simply misunderstand what constitutes underage (like here, assuming it's enough to say they've graduated high school) or they can purposely lie in a proslug or note to try to get an underage story through.