I was wondering what I need to do to become an editor on this site. I am tired of reading stories that have errors that are easy to fix.
I was wondering what I need to do to become an editor on this site. I am tired of reading stories that have errors that are easy to fix.
Ernest is right. Although there is a formal process where you offer your services and authors can search for you, most of the best editors turn up either when then volunteer, or more likely, if you offer a few suggestions, many authors will invite you to work for them. Many authors are like me, in that they prefer having a few editors, so each can catch separate errors (no one ever catches them all, which is why authors use editors in the first place.
A couple hints, though.
1) Obviously, you can't volunteer if the author turns off messaging.
2) It's best to start off slowly and test the waters. Some authors respond to comments, and others don't. So respond, list a couple fixes, but severely limit how much. If the author doesn't respond, or it takes forever, cross them off you 'is willing to communicate with readers' list.
3) If the do respond positively, follow-up with a couple more errors the next time, again testing the waters.
4) Generally, when I'm evaluating an editors, I'll compare their suggestions with those of my other editors. That way, I get a decent feel for their actual knowledge level.
5) If they DO ask you to edit, there's always a 'getting to know each other' period, where you learn about their personal writing style, which often involves refusing certain grammar, punctuation of formatting rules. Some things you can adapt to, while some things it's difficult holding your nose through when someone is massacring the English language.
But, the best aspect of this technique of finding authors, is you'll already know their writing styles and will be familiar with the types of stories they write, making it more likely that you'll be able to work together.
And, of course, making yourself known on the Forums is a good way to become known by the more prolific, regular authors on the site.
Crumbly, thanx for the suggestions. I will start using some of them in order to help some of the writers.
I could be wrong, I often am, but Editors and Proofreaders help readers enjoy an authors stories more completely. Not being bumped out of the flow of the story by errors is a service not so much to the author, although it improves his appeal to some, perhaps many, readers, but to the readers of his stories here on SOL.
Please fix the horrible mistakes some authors make.
Before I have to.
I could be wrong, I often am, but Editors and Proofreaders help readers enjoy an authors stories more completely.
This is so true. I have stopped reading what were basically good stories because of too many errors that disrupted the reading flow. I correct typos in the stories I downloaded so that I will not encounter them again when I re-read the story but when there are too many it's just not worth to continue reading.
Please fix the horrible mistakes some authors make.
Before I have to.
I will add in that Richard here has sent me a lot of corrections, and I am one that really appreciates it. For most of us, it is really hard to edit our own work. We are the ones that put it down, and I for one often just miss what are obvious mistakes, because in reading it again ( do read them again 2-3 times before posting) I for some reason see what I intended and not what I typed. Or even sometimes doing something really stupid, like removing a wrong word, and for some ungodly reason putting in the same bad word (or another bad word) down all over again.
This is why most professional artists (musicians, writers, film makers) hire others to edit their works. But also be aware, most writers want different things. Same with editors, some want to simply help with clean-up, but others sometimes want us to almost rewrite things.
You might want to just try asking. I know I have wanted to find somebody to help me clean up my work, but it is tricky. I tried earlier in the year, but after sending the guy 3 chapters he literally just vanished.
And also, some of us (me especially) have an almost random writing pace. I may knock out 8+ chapters a week, then not write for a month or more. My muse comes and goes, and I have learned to work around that when I can by bouncing between different stories. Get writers block in one, just write something else. That probably makes it especially hard for me to find "somebody to go steady with".
But I am eternally grateful for those that send me corrections to my stupid fat finger stumblings. This weekend, I plan on going through about 10 chapters of corrections you and others have sent me. I often find it hard when I am in a "writing frenzy" to stop and go back through multiple chapters and correct them one at a time. Especially since I have to pull up the original, fix it, then post it all over again (where it can sit for up to a day in the cue before it is updated).
I think there are roughly two 'types' of writers here on SOL: those who write purely for their own enjoyment and those who added reader satisfaction to their own enjoyment. The first 'type' won't bother with an editor and will most likely ignore messages that point out errors. They may even get angry about them. For the second 'type' one or more editors are essential and they probably already use them or are trying to find them. They probably put time and effort in doing the first edit them selves.
Just yesterday I started reading a story that happened to have a lot of typos. As always I correct typos in my downloaded version and keep a list to send to the author. I managed to drag myself through eight chapters and stopped reading because it got to a point that I was essentially doing more editing than reading. Literally dozens of their/they're errors, sentences ending without full stops, missing letters in words, capital letters where there should be none, double words, using t.v., T.V., and TV in one and the same chapter. On top of some chapters I read were a 98% copy of the previous chapter just from a different point of view, in one even two names were written differently. I deleted the story from my library and didn't send the error list because I'm sure it would be very discouraging to have to basically rewrite the whole story. I'm almost sure that it's a writer who writes for his own enjoyment, not to have a great reader following. Nothing wrong with that, but don't expect many (satisfied) readers.
My point is that even a single proofreader would have caught most of those errors (I did and I'm not an editor) and that would have made it a most enjoyable story to read. Have a second proofreader and most of the obvious typos and errors are gone. If possible have a 'real' editor check for discrepancies in the story line itself, i.e. anything that's wrong beyond the obvious grammatical errors like times, places, continuity, etc. It's a lot easier for that editor if the obvious typos are already fixed.
My simple conclusion is: if you want your readers to enjoy your story than have at least someone else correct the bulk of the typos. A spelling checker fails miserably to do that.
correct the bulk of the typos
I have type A blood. There are also type B and type AB. There are a few people with type O blood. Those are the typOs.
attacked by a vampire
Stories that include vampires strain the 50 ton crane I use to suspend disbelief. If they exist, why haven't they wiped us out, or set up "dairy farms" with us a cows to provide them with blood. If there is so few of them they can't rule us, why don't they disappear as a result of a random disaster? I can't believe there is a reason they continue to exist but don't grow their population so much they wouldn't just be legends.
Given vampires existence (I don't believe in them) the chance that they will kill me by taking all my blood seems very low. If they did that very often there would be lots of bodies found killed by vampires. It is better for them, if I understand the legend, that they take a pint here and another pint there. Why would a dairy farmer kill his cows?
I assure you there is nothing all that distinguished about my blood. I doubt that anything would want it all.
Stories that include vampires strain the 50 ton crane I use to suspend disbelief. If they exist, why haven't they wiped us out, or set up "dairy farms" with us a cows to provide them with blood.
Because they've set up their own blood banks.
why don't they disappear as a result of a random disaster?
Because their population is not concentrated in one place any more than ours is. It would take a global scale disaster to wipe them all out.
I can't believe there is a reason they continue to exist but don't grow their population so much they wouldn't just be legends.
1. They do a better job controlling their population than we do ours.
2. Mind control.
Given vampires existence (I don't believe in them) the chance that they will kill me by taking all my blood seems very low.
Okay, that's a tougher one. They have their own laws and criminals and nut cases. And their own cops to catch the criminals and clean up the bodies.
Sure, the odds are low, but if you run into that one rogue vampire who gets a kick out of draining his victims to death, can you trust the vampire cops to get there in time.
I assure you there is nothing all that distinguished about my blood.
They don't get anything out of using alcohol or drugs directly, but if they drink the blood of someone drunk or high...
I apologize for causing another thread drift [not really ;)]
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/typos:
ty·po (tī′pō)
n. pl. ty·pos Informal
A typographical error.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typo:
ty·po | ˈtī-(ˌ)pō
plural typos
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/typo:
US
ˈtɑɪ·poʊ
plural typos
A most interesting one:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Typos-Byzantine-edict:
Typos
Byzantine edict