Over the Desk website

Hi Tiredny,

I probably could have gone further with the stories but working closely with Kenny on the site, we did sort of agree the limits. I am struggling to get stories onto this site. My written English (grammar and punctuation) isn't the best and so I am having to re-edit each story several times. Thanks to the back room folks for their patience by the way!!!!!!! I am slowly getting there.

I have one story queued, but it is a part 2 of a 2 part story. I just need to nail the punctuation of part 1. I think Flopsy will be polishing off her slipper at this rate.

JO
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Hi Jo,

I told Kenny that he has the "patience of a saint" for his efforts to proofread/repair the stories written by others that he posts on his site. This work is tedious; it's a "thankless" task, and no one appreciates the magnitude of the work involved.

MS Word has a spelling/grammar checker that helps find lots, but not all, of the problems. MS Edge (yeah, the browser) appears to have some kind of built-in checker. If you have Edge, go to LSF's Contact Us page, and you'll find a box in which to paste your story. Paste your story here, but do NOT hit Send.

Instead, use the scroll bar to go to the top of your story and slowly scroll down. Edge will underline the "problems" it finds and suggest solutions. Keep scrolling down until you "fix" everything.

Do NOT push the SEND button!

Scroll back to the top and now select, copy and re-paste the story back to your source file. This way you have a current version of the story on your computer.

Only now, that you've "repaired" all the problems should you hit SEND.

I've used MS Word's spell/grammar checker for years, but I can't believe the "problems" Edge finds on an already checked story.

When you think about it, spelling and grammar checking should be a task for computers - not humans.

Hope this helps,
Tired

Morning Tiredly,

Kenny is an absolute star as far as I am concerned.

Thank you for the heads up and the message also from Kanestrokes. Both very helpful.

Finally, I have just had a batch loaded - cheers guys - appreciate the feedback from the editorial team.

I will try for variation in the next batch of items.

Jo

Thank you very much.

Uh-oh, don't give Ms. Flopsy any excuses.

Kenny is introducing more materials as time goes on. Most (if not all) of the material currently is new.

I've yet to find a spelling / grammar / proofing tool that replaces putting aside a story (or anything I've ever written for business for decades) for a week and then rereading it.
Having a buddy who is willing to read a story for errors, NOT to be confused with a beta reader, helps. I've done this four or five authors on this site and similar for a decade who eventually published as ebooks. I probably will do it again, if asked. I always miss something which I find only after the story is published. LOL, but it hurts.
Now that I've finally turned to writing myself, I find I need such a proofing buddy.
I use Word's checker AND ProWriting on everything. Both miss things. ProWriting is excellent.

I agree with you about putting the story aside for a week before reading it again. I skipped this step in 'Journal of a Witch' and wound up putting Hallowe'en at the end of November!

Have you tried getting Word to read your story aloud? The robotic voice sounds weird, but it does show up errors, or just oddly-constructed sentences, that your eye might skip over.

Open Prowriting in Edge. The read along voice in Edge is far kinder to your ears. I follow the text as the voice reads, you quickly see any problems.