Waist, not waste.

[Skibum]

I know that this is a ridiculously picky pet peeve of mine, but I am always annoyed when I read an erotic story in which a woman has a "waste", as in her lovers arms were wrapped around her "waste". The correct word here is waist. Spellcheckers are great, but they can't tell you that you've spelled the wrong word correctly.

I also see a lot of "your" for "you're" and "their" for "they're".

 

[Whispersecret]

Skibum, of course I, the Queen of Picky, don't think this is picky at all. You're reading this great story, the action is heating up and then all of a sudden he grabs her waste. WTF? Is this a fetish story involving feces or what?!!

That's why we have the fabulous editing program!

 

[Mr_Neb]

Guilty as charged but hardly a capital offense.

Neb
(author of the story in question, "What are Friends For?")

 

[Weird Harold]

Originally posted by Mr_Neb:
Guilty as charged but hardly a capital offense.

Neb
(author of the story in question, "What are Friends For?")

Your story may have tis particular flaw, but it is NOT the only one, or even one of a few.

Lest we fixate on just one misused word, there are numerous stories here where weather is used for whether, site is used for sight(and vice versa), and far too many other words that are confused with other words that sound the same.

Then there are numerous cases of you where your is meant.

Authors need to realize that a spell checker will pass anything that it sees as a word. It has no way of knowing if it is the word that should be there.

A grammar checker that checks for 'commonly confused words' can help. However it will only catch about ten percent of the misused words.

There is simply no substitute for another set of eyes reading your story to catch this kind of error.

 

[Weird Harold]

Originally posted by KerrieO'Keefe:
Hardly a capital offense?

It is hard to get into a story when you constantly have to shift into translation mode to figure out what the author meant. However, I agree that it's not a capital offense.

Surely flogging is more than adequate as a punishment, and won't deprive us of what would often be very good stories without the errors.




[This message has been edited by Weird Harold (edited 05-31-2000).]

 

[Whispersecret]

Nevermind.

[This message has been edited by whispersecret (edited 06-02-2000).]

 

[Skibum]

Actually, Neb, I have not yet read your story. That particular error is hardly limited to a single source. Please don't let my pickiness put a damper on your creativity.

And for the most part, far fewer stories on Literotica have the kind of errors I was complaining about than those found on other sites. That says a lot for the Volunteer Editor Program, without which my stories would be pretty much unreadable

Case in point, I had to edit this post to fix a typo. Is that something for the most embarassing moment thread?

[This message has been edited by skibum (edited 05-31-2000).]

 

[Mr_Neb]

Chip? Me? Quite the contrary. I hold no pretense regarding what I write therefore there is no defensiveness. They are just a bunch of short stories intended to arouse me and anyone else with similar tastes. Any observations about the occasional grammatical or spelling faux pas is of little concern to me. Sure, it would be better if they weren't there but if your enjoyment of a story of mine hangs in the balance based on my spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. then there you are paying far more attention and giving far more importance to a little diversionary dabbling. My only dissapointed would be that the sex in the story wasn't enjoyable enough to overwhelm the other shortcomings. Rest assured that I have not been emotionally crushed by your accurate albeit unnecessary observations.

Have a nice day.

 

[Mr_Neb]

No. I don't believe you necessarily deserve better. You may want better, expect better, desire better, insist on better, demand better, pine for better, provide better yourself, bitch about the lack of better but no, considering the dynamics of a board such as this, you do not deserve better.

So. How about we discuss run-on sentences.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

As an avid reader and writer of myriad eclectic tastes and genres with an absolute love of the written word who believes that there is nothing more beautiful, more inspiring, more evidential of our ascension above the beasts of the field and deserved place amongst the gods of creation and reason than a well crafted passage I must say with all the joy and exultation Joyce must have felt when he finally finished "Ulysses" and, after removing all the punctuation, said, "There! Let them try and make a goddamned movie out of THAT!" that I absolutely adore run on sentences.

 

[Laurel]

LOL! Precisely!

Okay, here's my slant on it... I do think that the biggest mistakes that new writers make is in grammar and punctuation. I do think that those things are important in communicating. However, the greatest writers in the world did not always stick to the letter of the grammar law. In fact, many (like Joyce, like Burrows, even Steinbeck occasionally) intentionally subvert grammar for effect.

Of course, you must have an understanding of the rules before you break them. But I think too much attention to the mechanical aspects of writing detracts from the most important subject - the story itself. I'd rather read a gripping, original tale with a few typos and odd constructions than a bland, derivative work written in textbook English.

If the grammar is so garbled that it's difficult to figure out what's being said, then it's a problem. If the errors are such that they could easily have been corrected by the use of a spellcheck, that annoys me because I feel like the author didn't care enough to either 1) run a spellcheck, or 2) send it off to a Volunteer Editor. But the occasional homonym, missed word... who cares? Especially here.

Not that this site isn't a quality site, mind you! But we're not Granta. We're here not only to entertain readers, but as a development tool for writers. Every piece isn't going to be exactly perfect, though that doesn't mean they aren't damn good. And if, when discussing a story, the only thing we have to pick on is a few grammar faux pas, I think the author's doing pretty good.

 

[Mr_Neb]

yeah! What she said.

 

[Whispersecret]

Laurel said, "I'd rather read a gripping, original tale with a few typos and odd constructions than a bland, derivative work written in textbook English."

I agree completely. As I said before, there have been plenty of stories that I loved and which were riddled with errors. And, in general, it seems as if people are using the editor program, because the tide seems to be shifting more toward proper usage.

Further argument on this issue is pretty futile. I concede to a draw.

Kerrie, I'd appreciate it if you would send me an email address where I can reach you privately.

 

[Laurel]

And, in general, it seems as if people are using the editor program, because the tide seems to be shifting more toward proper usage.

Absolutely. And the essays on various aspects of grammar, punctuation, and construction are also extremely helpful. I'd love to have more on the site. ( HINT HINT )