Writing Standards

Several months ago we launched the most exciting on line publication ever - the LSF Author Guide. Can you live without it? Since not many people bother to read it, apparently yes! Ok, I lied - it isn't even remotely exciting, in fact it's rather dull BUT it is useful and contains lots of examples.

The LSF is different from forum sites where anyone can post anything they like. We took the decision from the outset that because we are a repositary, we wanted to build content which was, if nothing else, of a reasonably high standard in terms of punctuation, grammar, consistency etc. Standards are important to us, and because they are in place we think they help to make the LSF an enjoyable experience.

As the site is getting bigger and more demanding, we simply don't have the time to undertake detailed editing of stories. Quite a few new submissions get rejected for a variety of reasons. The most common ones are:

Not starting sentences with a capital letter;
Forgetting to add a full stop/period at the end of each sentence;
Lack of punctuation or wrong punctuation;
Constantly changing tense;
Failing to use speech marks for dialogue;
Failing to separate dialogue out correctly.
etc etc

This is all pretty basic stuff. The author guide gives examples of what we are looking for, and there are many free tutorials on the web that cover elements of writing in greater detail.


Even well established authors often slip up on things like:
Forgetting to tell us whether something is a standalone story, or whether it is intended to be a series; and if a series, is it likely to have more than nine parts (we need to know as we number the files with a leading zero)
Including extraneous spaces and blank lines;
Inconsistent use of ellipses;
Not specifying where the dividers are to go;
Forgetting to put the title of the story in the subject field of the email.


So before you send anything new in, please check out the guide and then read your submission again carefully and make any necessary corrections. I know it's daunting for new authors, but it does get easier with practice. To access the guide, click the About button, and then click the link provided to the author guide.

Please remember that we give our time for free. We will of course carry out basic editing as part of the validation process, but rewriting stories or spending hours correcting works that are badly written isn't our role.

If anyone really can't cope, then please post on the forum asking for someone who has the required skills and experience to help them.

Many thanks,
flopsy

I'd like to remind people to please refer to our Author Guide before sending in submissions. Here is a link to the guide and you will also find a link to it from the About button. http://www.thespankinglibrary.org/index.php?func=about&view=aut

As most of you are aware, the site is run by a team of volunteers, and due to an increasing workload we have tightened up over the past couple of months regarding the amount of time we are prepared to spend on submissions that don't meet the required basic standard. Whilst we do our best to help and encourage new authors, it is down to the individual to ensure they send in stories which meet simple requirements in terms of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and basic sentence structure.

The guide provides many examples, including writing dialogue, which is an area that some people struggle with. There are also plenty of tutorials on the web that aim to give a steer on various elements of writing.

I know some of you will get a tickle out of this, but I read my stories at least 10 times, making corrections, taking out words I don't need, Spelling, Grammar, and the like. Still, I get a note from Flopsy every so often that says "Did you mean etc...?" In other words, I put a word in that was spelled properly, but it had a totally different meaning. This can happen in MS-Word if you're not careful.

e.g., Council and Counsel. Two different meanings, but spelled correctly.

The only dialogue problem is see and don't like in some GREAT stories, is that I've noticed some people put two or more characters speaking in the same paragraph. Not good. Confusing. Each character speaking should have their own paragraph.

I'm no Stephen King or JK Rowling, but I'm willing to help the new people and the LSF if anyone has any questions. I can't point fingers because I don't see any of the problem things Flopsy speaks of. I guess because they're rejected (sad) or have been fixed. All I see in a story is some tremendous writing and some unique plots.

Pat

Their, There. Wee now no where some stories go.

I don't think I've ever seen a really BAD story, but I don't see them prior to being posted. The authors who have their stories posted are well done. Even if a story isn't exactly my cup of tea, I still leave a comment on the great writing. I have to. Every author deserves it.

My horrible habit and problem is that I get 'no' and 'not' in the wrong place. I don't know why. I've done it in a my comments, stories, forum posts, etc... There are times I have to update a comment and edit a post at the forum because of it. Like Flopsy, says, we all have our own little flaws. That's mine, and that's why I edit and edit again. I even go as far as searching in Word for 'not'. LOL

I also have not seen any real bad stories. I guess that there are some stories that are weeded out. It is a shame since these stories might have a great plot but is poorly written. If course, even though I might not like the type of story, it still is written quite well.

I do hope that was meant as a joke.

I must admit, that I have not looked into the Author's Guide, even though this is not the first time it has been brought to our attention.

When I am working on a story, I very seldom have more than an hour here and there to really "put the words to paper". Most of it is written in my head while I go about my daily stuff. Since that is the case, I always read what I have written previously before I start again, and I ALWAYS find something to change. Not spelling errors, because thanks to spell check, those are the easiest to correct. Unless of course I have made up my own version of a word that it doesn't recognize. I usually find that I have been too wordy or sometimes a phrase sounds uncomfortable, or it doesn't flow properly. I also tend to "over comma", lol.

I guess I'm trying to say that I'm very particular about making sure that not only are my ideas are well thought out, but properly presented.
There are a lot of self published novels available for kindle now, run by a sector of Amazon. I take advantage of these because one, they are cheap, two, I would give someone new a chance. My biggest complaint with them, however, are the errors. Misspelled words and grammar far beyond what should be acceptable. It makes me cringe. Yes, everyone misses something once in a while, BUT....

I have never had a message from one of our devoted librarians asking what did I mean by this, or you need to majorly fix something else, so I assume I am doing it right enough, anyway.

However, you have to be careful with spell check. The word could be spelled properly, but not the word the author was looking for. Just as my example shows with 'council and counsel.'

As for your post, Flowerchild, you are SO right about the 'self-published' errors. Most of these books are published by vanity publishers who do not offer editing. What you send them is what you get in the finished novel. Like they say in computer programmer classes: Garbage in and Garbage out. Some of the reviews on these books on Amazon.com are down right vicious. Witch hunters, if you will. I feel like telling these people, "If you're such a literary expert, try writing a full blown novel."

I paid a legitimate editor $850.00 to edit my first book. I sent it to a publishing house to have the book created in full detail. To create the book and get a review cost me another $950.00. They got it on the online bookstores, but I had to do the rest. My hometown (where I was born) newspapers, my current town newspapers, The Washington Post, Magazines, A bookstore where I did a book signing in upstate New York. The newspapers and magazines were another cost. $435.00. All in all it cost me over $2200.00. That's not vanity, but self-publishing. My second book with a legit publisher cost me nothing.

Here, the LSF offers authors 'How To' for nothing. The more a person writes, the better they get. Flopsy is a fantastic writer, and offers some great critiques when she has the time, which is not often. The guide is a great tool. I've learned a lot here. So have others. The LSF offers a free service so that the 'whole world' can see the words we write. It doesn't matter that they don't know our real names, what matters is that we receive comments from people who are intelligent and knowledgeable when reading. Those comments make it all worth while to me.

I would like to add to flopsy's post...

If you feel you need someone's help with your work, please be careful who you choose to help you. Many people will volunteer their services but this does not necessarily mean they are suitable to do so, despite their best intentions. I realise that it may be difficult to know who can help and who cannot, you may need to ask them some questions about how exactly they will help you. Also if your work is still being returned or queried when you are getting help from someone, it stands to reason that they are not able to do what you need.

If you are unsure then do ask a member of staff who will advise if they can and above all please use the guide that has been provided.