Story formatting software

Given all the drama that occurred in the past I was rather hoping to stay out of this thread but having read the above do feel the need to say something. Previously, we had numerous exchanges on both the forum and via email in which you explained to us that you weren't able to write using correct grammar, punctuation or sentence structure, including such things as including speech within quotation marks. You also stated that you weren't interested in learning how to do so:


... and that in your opinion those aspects of the English language weren't necessary in that your goal was merely to "serve the purpose of arousing the reader".

Anyway, with a great deal of help from a number of people, including the library admins, who willingly gave up their time to edit your submissions, you submitted 8 items and then later, after they'd been edited, formatted, loaded and validated, asked to have them all removed and said:


So, all in all, I have to admit to being somewhat baffled at this latest turn of events.

After reading stories that I enjoyed I again feel the urge to write my own story. However you make a very valid point. Proper English and Grammar isn't for everyone. That is why I was hoping to find software to do that part for me. I still have no intention of learning how to do that stuff myself. I never said I wanted to learn it. I just asked if anyone knew of software that would do it for me. I get along very well in life and make an above average income with the little knowledge of writing that I have. I see people don't have any problem understanding the messages I post. Why should it be any different with posting stories in the same format as my messages? You have made it obvious that you would rather I don't submit a story.

Spankdaddy,

I read your stories when they were posted and your comments here on the Forum. I don't think that you have any real problems with your writing. Just learning a few basic punctuation rules would be enough.

And yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. There are a lot of old dogs on this site that are still learning. Why you seem to be so resistant to learning something new I don't know

Tiptopper, I guess I feel that I will have learn this punctuation stuff to only post stories to this forum. I post to Facebook, I post to a guitar forum, I post to the John Deere tractor forum, I post to a Dulcimer forum. I post to a hand tools forum. I don't just post messages to these forums. I post detailed How Too's and stories. No one has ever said they couldn't understand my writing. This is the only forum where I have had a problem getting my writing published. The management of this forum are more concerned with proper grammar then they are with content. I'm not being difficult, I'm being real life.... If my writing is understandable what difference does some missing " " marks make?

You can certainly post to the Forum here (which is what this is) without any editing by "the management." It's like many other forums. The STORIES here, however, are not "forum posts" - they are literary works, which raises the bar for the standard of writing. I'm not part of management, but as a mere reader here, I really don't want to wade through a story that is replete with mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation and other language usage. Everyone makes a few mistakes (even me!), but too many make a story painful to read. Sorry, that's my honest opinion.


That's because the " " marks indicate something that never occurs in "How to" instructions. They indicate which part of the writing are words being spoken by a character. Without them, a reader doesn't know what's being spoken, and what's narration. I suppose you don't have to leave spaces between words, either - mostreaderscouldfigureoutwhatyou'resayingiftheyworkedhardenough - but they shouldn't have to. It's the same thing with quotation marks. And I hate to break it to you - but no software is going to be able to figure out where quotation marks go. That's something (pretty easy, actually) that you have to learn for yourself. If you don't want to learn, then simply don't write a story that includes any dialogue. That will not, of course, solve other problems you may have with grammar, word selection and sentence construction.

As I read your list I would bet dollars to doughnuts not one have them has people speaking to each other in them.

Likely every author on this site had to learn something about writing to be able to submit stories. I look at it this way....this site is free and I get to read every story I want. A lot of spanking sites want me to pay money, sorry I don't do that. So if you look at it as in a sense "paying" the dues required, then it becomes a little easier.

When you learned guitar you had to learn the chords, you had to learn how to strum, how to play certain songs you like. Why did you learn...because you wanted to play guitar. Now if you want to write stories you have to learn, maybe you will not like it but who does? I think you have a choice to make either learn or don't write, it is up to you.

I am sure the Library will publish if it meets standards, so the only person you can blame if you do not write is yourself. Get the suggested software, do the work and submit the stories.

Good point, cs. I'm sure when spankdaddy was learning to play an instrument, he didn't expect someone else to be fingering the chords while he merely strummed. And when he learned how to make things with hand tools, he actually learned how to use the tools. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are the tools of writing - if he's going to write, he should learn to use the tools. And 64 is NOT too old to learn something. My mother learned to use a computer when she was in her seventies.

You're confusing the library facility where the stories are loaded (with the appropriate quality standards being applied) with the forum (where, within reason, you can post messages as you see fit). As for "this punctuation stuff" we've covered all this in great depth with you on a number of previous occasions now so I'm at a loss as to why you're starting the same dialogue up all over again.


See above. You can post whatever you like to the forum here, ignoring grammar, punctuation and sentence structure as you see fit. As long as you're intelligible no-one will care. However, the library part of the site is NOT a forum, so comparing it to Facebook and the John Deere tractor forum is pointless. If you want to compare it to something then a publishing house would be a more meaningful comparison, the one difference being that here a lot of people are giving up a lot of their own time to assist in the publication of items for free.


This is simply nonsense, and I don't hear all the other authors whose works we load every week suggesting it, in fact just you.


I disagree 100%, you've been extremely difficult to work with from the start despite having a great deal of help from a number of people, especially Linda when she was part of the admin team. No wonder she decided to retire!

Spankdaddy, I would like to add that you already have a good grasp of basic sentence structure which you demonstrate by putting fullstops and capitalization in the correct places. This is why your forum posts are perfectly understandable. If you were to remove the fullstops and capitalisation then it would be incredibly difficult to read your posts. The same is true for speech marks. They are there to show the reader who said what. Without them it is incredibly difficult to work out who is saying what and this distracts readers from their enjoyment of the story.

NJRick is right, 64 is not too old to learn something! It seems to me that all you require is some brushing up on the use of speech marks and paragraphing, since your sentence structure and spelling in your forum posts are fine. So all in all it isn't an insurmountable task for you to achieve if you were keen to do so.

I apologize to all for my continued posting to this one Forum thread, but.... I happen to agree with Februs. Furthermore, the "management" here isn't some amorphous body. It is real-life individuals (Februs, flopsy, and the Pink One) who devote one helluva lot of time and effort to make the LSF what it is, not to mention having the original vision of what it could be. I happen to appreciate what it is, and want it to stay that way. But what I want (or what spankdaddy wants) is beside the point. If I DID want a site managed in some different fashion, then I have every right to go create my own site! I to NOT have the right to use THIS site's Forum to carp continually about the "management." The "management" owns this asylum; we should not expect them to turn it over to the inmates.