I have thought about being a proofreader but my biggest worry is I offer to do it but find the subject matter distasteful.
Does this ever happen to you?
I have thought about being a proofreader but my biggest worry is I offer to do it but find the subject matter distasteful.
Does this ever happen to you?
I have thought about offering to also, but there are things I have no interest in reading (not even if paid to). The only thing I can suggest is stating in your offer what you are willing to work on and/or what you are not willing to do.
If you find the subject matter distasteful, I don't think you could properly proofread it to begin with. I know I certainly couldn't as I tend to skip over/not pay attention to things I personally find distasteful.
I have thought about being a proofreader but my biggest worry is I offer to do it but find the subject matter distasteful.
Does this ever happen to you?
More often than I'd like. I've proofread some sick shit that goes far beyond what SOL tolerates. However I've got a strong stomach and issues like 'its' vs 'it's' are the same whatever the surrounding words say.
AJ
I've proofread some sick shit that goes far beyond what SOL tolerates.
The only thing SOL doesn't tolerate is pedo.
Don't worry, as it happens often and is entirely expected. For each book I've written, I have a few authors who are simply unwilling to deal with the subject matter (too depressing, too personal, too intimate or too disturbing).
That's why I ALWAYS emphasize to those requesting editors to include a summary story description, along with the relevant SOL codes, so editors can quickly identify whether the story appeals to them or not.
So, don't let that stop you from volunteering, as you'll refuse a LOT of stories in your future, however long you stick to it. But, the best way to get started is to volunteer with an existing author.
That way, you know what they write, and (hopefully) already admire their work. It also gives you a chance to get a better feel for what's required (in editing) before you venture out with a broader audience. Knowing how to tell authors "No" is essential, both in terms of "I hate this tripe" as well as "This just doesn't work", and doing it kindly, so you don't crush their flickering creative spark. But it's an acquired skill.
You can also do what some amazing people have done for me.
Find a story you like, then when you find issues write them a polite note offering your corrections for spelling and punctuation.
That way you only respond to stories you like, and hopefully they will appreciate your help.
Find a story you like, then when you find issues write them a polite note offering your corrections for spelling and punctuation.
That way you only respond to stories you like, and hopefully they will appreciate your help.
I have done that a few times but mostly got just a "Thank You" in reply.
I myself have a strange problem, while I can see if a word is spelled wrong, used in the wrong context or in the wrong order (the Yoda syndrome) if asked to spell the word any other time I could not do it. My level of spelling is around the 5th grade.
I myself have a strange problem, while I can see if a word is spelled wrong, used in the wrong context or in the wrong order (the Yoda syndrome) if asked to spell the word any other time I could not do it. My level of spelling is around the 5th grade.
When I was back in school, my spelling was so pour, I couldn't use a dictionary, as I typically couldn't spell the first part of the word well enough to look a word up. Instead, I read dictionaries for fun, searching for unusual, exotic and interesting words.
My spelling hasn't gotten any better, and the ONLY reason I'm able to write ANYTHING is because of Google Lookup, which guesses what you intended to write, offering alternatives to pick the correct spelling from.
I also had to drop out the ANY scientific sources in college, as I have an odd-form of numeric dyslexia, where when I add strings of numbers, I'll get the correct result, but will transport two numbers in the middle (i.e. copying the incorrect result after doing the calculation correctly). Instead, I went into the Social Sciences, where no one cared whether I relied of calculators to check my work!
Everyone has different skills, and measuring everyone by the same traits is akin to rating fish by their ability to climb.
rating fish by their ability to climb.
Flying fish do pretty well at gaining altitude.
Everyone has different skills, and measuring everyone by the same traits is akin to rating fish by their ability to climb.
If global warming is real and all the land animals die off, when the planet cools down again it will be up to the fish to climb out of the water and repopulate the land. So some of them had better be able to damn well climb ;-)
AJ
If global warming is real and all the land animals die off, when the planet cools down again it will be up to the fish to climb out of the water and repopulate the land. So some of them had better be able to damn well climb
There are already well-established infestations of Asian fish (carp?) which frequently 'walk' (with their fins) across land to gain access to otherwise restricted bodies of water. Though climbing trees might be a bit of a stretch.
up to the fish to climb out of the water
There are some mammals (not fish) which live in the sea. Dolphins, porpoises, whales who evolved on land and whose ancestors moved to sea to prosper. Some of them might go back to the land if there were nothing there to compete with them.
I've been there. I used to proof & edit for someone no longer on SOL who wrote primarily fanfic.
Then he started on rape, non-con incest & a few other things. I told him I couldn't work with him anymore & he needed to find a new reader & editor. He took it pretty well.
Now my editor post lists what I won't read, so people know up front.
also there is the Snakehead fish sometimes known as Frankenfish because they can walk on land.
also there is the Snakehead fish sometimes known as Frankenfish because they can walk on land.
That was the one I was referencing, as they're slowly taking over most of the U.S.'s Great Lakes. I just couldn't recall their name.
The Great Lakes is home (Lake Erie) and people are more worried about the asian carp invading the Great Lakes or the past few years the deadly algea blooms that we are now getting.
The Great Lakes is home (Lake Erie) and people are more worried about the asian carp invading the Great Lakes or the past few years the deadly algea blooms that we are now getting.
Unfortunately, neither is showing any signs of diminishing, meanwhile, since I'm no longer actively involved with the changes occurring there (having moved east over 40 years ago), it's hard to keep up on the latest permutations.
keep up on the latest permutations
Then add this one to your list. Over the last decade the Lake levels where low (lack of rain and snow) to the point of being 4 feet (1.2M) below normal levels. Now over the past 3 years we have been getting so much rain that the level of water is back to normal (as per the records from the past 50 years) that the people who moved in and build their fancy houses on the coast are complaining about flooding.
One thing I never understood was where I live the law (rules) state a building has to be build XX distance from the center line on the road, but if your building near the Lake it says you have to be XX distance from the waters edge. Don't they know that water moves ??
But what if it isn't global warming but a nuclear war that kills off both land and water life except for roaches?
But what if it isn't global warming but a nuclear war that kills off both land and water life except for roaches?
Don't worry, the Twinkies will eat the roaches.
But what if it isn't global warming but a nuclear war that kills off both land and water life except for roaches?
How would you envision nuclear war killing off water life? (serious question - radiation, heat, nuclear winter?)
And although roach (the plural of roach) are mainly freshwater fish, some live in brackish water including oceans. Why do you think roach might survive while similar fish perish? (non-serious question) ;-)
AJ
If the roach is the land based bug, years ago here was a documentary on Chernoble nuclear plant "accident". They filmed radiated roaches running around happy as can be.
Is that what glow-worms are - irradiated cockroaches from Chernobyl? ;-)
(not a serious question)
AJ
How would you envision nuclear war killing off water life? (serious question - radiation, heat, nuclear winter?)
The roach should have clued you in on the sarcasm. Even a nuclear war wouldn't kill off all life on land. DUH!
Wasn't there an extinction level event in the past that scoured the earth of land animals? I seem to recall a documentary stating that our current exodus from the sea wasn't the first.
AJ
Wasn't there an extinction level event in the past that scoured the earth of land animals? I seem to recall a documentary stating that our current exodus from the sea wasn't the first.
According to the experts the geological evidence shows past Snowball Earth events where the surface was a complete ice ball covered in snow.
According to the experts the geological evidence shows past Snowball Earth events where the surface was a complete ice ball covered in snow.
But those events all happened before multi-celled life occurred. Many even now postulate that it was the end of such an event that led to the explosion of like in the Cambrian era.
But what if it isn't global warming but a nuclear war that kills off both land and water life except for roaches?
Then everyone can read SOL stories during the long, protracted Nuclear winter with the aid of all the glow-in-the-dark roaches, crawling over their faces and chests! ;)
If you choose to be a proofreader, you would be filling out the "Volunteer Editor" form on the "Author/Editor" page of SOL. On that page is a box for you to list "squicks" (story types that you won't proof, 'cause they make you feel sick).
If an author sends you a story that fits your "squick list" it should be returned, with a note saying you don't work on that type of story.
I have done that, and the authors are never heard from again.
}:-)
I have done that, and the authors are never heard from again.
Though, if done politley, they're likely to return with any non-squick material they write in the future. But, many authors specially in squicky content, while others of us switch between story themes with each story, keeping readers (and editors) guessing.
The dinosaur killer Chicxulub impactor may have killed off all land animals larger than a mouse roughly 66 million years ago.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a27006197/k-t-boundary-graveyard-north-dakota/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater
The dinosaur killer Chicxulub impactor may have killed off all land animals larger than a mouse roughly 66 million years ago.
The idea was that the ONLY critters to survive were those who burrowed underground, and were thus sheltered by the extreme heat with literally boiled the blood of every SINGLE above ground animal. (Though, somehow, it also seemed to have missed a wide variety of the smaller avian (i.e. flying) creatures, though in those cases, they were ALL extremely small creatures with the underlying bone structure which eventually lead to flight several million years in the future!
The idea was that the ONLY critters to survive were those who burrowed underground, and were thus sheltered by the extreme heat with literally boiled the blood of every SINGLE above ground animal. (Though, somehow, it also seemed to have missed a wide variety of the smaller avian (i.e. flying) creatures, though in those cases, they were ALL extremely small creatures with the underlying bone structure which eventually lead to flight several million years in the future!
Not quite true, that is only in the immediate aftermath.
Those that survived were generally burrowing animals, and those with the adaptation to hibernate. Most died not from heat, but cold in the "ash winter" that followed for the next decade or more.
At that time period, most mammals hibernated, as did many birds. And many more birds nested in burrows, not in tree nests. This left them better able to adapt and survive the cold years that followed, and repopulate the planet. The same with reptiles and amphibians.
The dinosaurs were an interesting blending that could not survive. Mostly large and warm blooded, they evolved in an ecology that favored large warm blooded animals, like massive herbivores and carnivores. Without plants in a decades long winter, first the plant eaters died, then those who ate the plant eaters.
All that was left was the small scavengers who lived at the fringes.
I now have a mental image of Angry Birds surfing the blast wave around the world, like the Surfer Dude in Lucifers Hammer riding the Tsunami into LA.
I now have a mental image of Angry Birds surfing the blast wave around the world, like the Surfer Dude in Lucifers Hammer riding the Tsunami into LA.
Or Peter Fonda surfing one in "Escape From LA".