AAArrgghhh! I hate editing!

[M. R. Mathias]

No real point in this thread. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

[HarryT]

You may wish to edit your banner - it doesn't make any grammatical sense. "Coming October 2010" and "Are you ready?" should be two separate sentences.

I read the short story you posted recently, "The Blood of Coldfrost" and, to be honest, you really, REALLY need to get help from a professional editor to give you some guidelines. Although it was a good story, the grammar was just ghastly. No matter how good a storyteller you are, grammar is a writer's toolbox, and if you don't know how to use those tools properly, people aren't going to read your books.

[MrPLD]

Aaah, editors (and proof readers)... expensive but frequently essential.

We spent thousands of dollars and that was a "medium priced" editing.

Despite all that, it wasn't until it hit print that we found another 10 or so mishaps in a 380 page / 200,000 word book. Considering it was our first book I'm quite pleased overall as we were rather distracted learning all the in and outs.

Perhaps the worst thing you can do is edit your own work - you're effectively too blind to see anything.

Good luck however with the editing



http://elitadaniels.com - Tree of Life (Part I). They shall age like us; they shall die like us

[Maggie Leung]

Hire someone. (Not me.)

I'm an editor and wouldn't trust myself to edit my own work.

I really enjoy editing, though. It's rewarding to help bring out the best in someone's writing. I'm talking about editing, not proofreading, which is a different job. Both are necessary and valuable.

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You may wish to edit your banner - it doesn't make any grammatical sense. "Coming October 2010" and "Are you ready?" should be two separate sentences.

I read the short story you posted recently, "The Blood of Coldfrost" and, to be honest, you really, REALLY need to get help from a professional editor to give you some guidelines. Although it was a good story, the grammar was just ghastly. No matter how good a storyteller you are, grammar is a writer's toolbox, and if you don't know how to use those tools properly, people aren't going to read your books.

Ah my friend you must not be a professional editor... LMAO 'Coming October 2010' would be an incomplete sentence.

It's an ad in a logo get a grip. Why would I pay to edit a story I give you for free. That would be redundant... lmao. You really should learn to enjoy the 'story.' Before there was even a written language the best stories were being told. Who edited those?

And my Reading enthusiasts friend, have you bought an ebook lately... Most of them have crap scanned editing. You're welcome for the free story though, next time I'll charge you to read my work. If I did maybe I could afford the cost of editing.

When life starts to make grammatical sense I'll give you a call. Like anything in life makes makes grammatical sense. AGAIN...LMAO LOL PDQ FYI where's the grammar at now? the 1900's are over get a grip

PS.... I can name you 100 novels and stories with perfect editing that SUCK, but I can give you one that is entertaining that doesn't even have a punctuation in it.

By the way the story "The Blood of Coldfrost" was a project story edited by several Kindleboards authors.

I didn't edit it! Four authors did. I did write it though, so thanks for the compliment.

I hope the book your editing does not SUCK cause a GOOD EDIT CAN NOT MAKE A BAD STORY GOOD! However a good story can transcend a bad edit! That's the facts Jack!

[M. R. Mathias]

Also you are operating under the asumption that people arent reading my books. Where did you get that idea? My sales are steady and my reviews are all perfectly fine with me.


An FYI to everyone. I do have ALL of my novels edited...

Just not the freebie shortstories. In literature as in life, you get what you pay for.

[Ravensknight]

someone sounds very bitter.

but of course, after your scintillating posts, I'm just chomping at the bit to go read your novels. Now there is some effective marketing...

[kcmay]

I'm a professional writer with eleven years experience. I still find errors in my own writing. Sometimes my fingers type too slowly for my brain, and words go missing. Sometimes I copy and paste or revise a sentence and end up with double words. And sometimes I type 'read' when I mean 'reed.' Imagine how much that sort of thing bothers me when I catch it! I know better, yet somehow the fingers type the wrong thing. I blame old age.

Although I love revising, I also need a copy editor. I choose beta readers who've got a firm grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

[MrPLD]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

but of course, after your scintillating posts, I'm just chomping at the bit to go read your novels. Now there is some effective marketing...

I think I better go kick some tantrums now


http://elitadaniels.com - Tree of Life (Part I). They shall age like us; they shall die like us - High fantasy

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by M. R. Mathias

It's an ad in a logo get a grip. Why would I pay to edit a story I give you for free. That would be redundant... lmao. You really should learn to enjoy the 'story.' Before there was even a written language the best stories were being told. Who edited those?

Thanks for the rant-- I now know I can mark you on my "never read" list. I, for one, will not read a book if the author doesn't have a firm grasp of the English language.

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Thanks for the rant-- I now know I can mark you on my "never read" list. I, for one, will not read a book if the author doesn't have a firm grasp of the English language.

This was one of the most ignorant statements I have ever read. I'm glad you won't read my Novels. You're too closed minded to matter.

I suppose you won't be reading any of the great works written in other languages, by authors that never spoke or wrote a word in English. The Bible for instance?

P.S. go chase a ferret or bother satchel....



And all of you are assuming I wrote my novels to sell. You people are sick. I wrote them in prison. Yup, my uneducated no spelling bad punctuating jerk self wrote a 700,000 word epic in longhand. Along with seven other novels all over 100k words long. I don't care if you cheat yourself and never read them. The simple fact that I could achieve such a thing without a word processor and an education makes all of the well edited crap seem sort of pitiful. Go read No Country for Old Men. Theres not even quotation marks in it. You high and mighty literary cracks are silly.

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

someone sounds very bitter.

but of course, after your scintillating posts, I'm just chomping at the bit to go read your novels. Now there is some effective marketing...

This is me ranting about editing people... Read the THREAD TOPIC.... Why are you talking about marketing here? Its FREE story whats to market...lmao

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by M. R. Mathias

And all of you are assuming I wrote my novels to sell. You people are sick. I wrote them in prison.

So what is the prison time for murdering English?

[foreverjuly]

Originally Posted by kcmay

I'm a professional writer with eleven years experience. I still find errors in my own writing. Sometimes my fingers type too slowly for my brain, and words go missing. Sometimes I copy and paste or revise a sentence and end up with double words. And sometimes I type 'read' when I mean 'reed.' Imagine how much that sort of thing bothers me when I catch it! I know better, yet somehow the fingers type the wrong thing. I blame old age.

Although I love revising, I also need a copy editor. I choose beta readers who've got a firm grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

There really is a different process going on in the brain when you're composing than when you're reading. Trying to "see" the story is so involving for me that errors creep in all the time. It doesn't make anyone a bad writer or editor when that happens, just that each stage needs to be dealt with in time.

Good luck with your revisions, M.R.! I'm doing the same thing now too!

[Kumabjorn]

Before I go to bed every night I think about something I learned during the day, and in this thread I today learned that there is nothing to sneer at as far as the erudition produced by the US penitentiary system.