Volunteer Editors

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I've had some communications lately from writers wanting help editing and/or posting stories here on BC. If you'd like to help, please respond to this forum post so the would-be authors can get in touch through BC's private message function. Then if things are sympatico you can exchange emails. Much thanks.

Hugs,
Erin

Volunteer Editor

Patricia Marie Allen's picture

Hi all,

I'm an aspiring writer. I've even managed to get a couple published. I would be willing to act as editor to anyone who writes stories that meet a few guidelines.

1) All stories must be for general audiences. That is that the not contain any graphic or gratuitous sex. Also that violence be kept to a minimum. (Spanking of a child would be OK, so long as it's not meant to coherence the child. Also, some one being picked on or even hit, punched or kick by a bully taking out his ignorance on the protagonist, providing it is not described in graphic terms. EG "He was beaten so bad that the blood pooled on the ground forming a three foot circle containing four teeth and his eye hung from its socket." or something to that effect.

2) That the story be complete or if part of a series that the parts could be stand alone stories. (My pet peeve is getting into a series that is not finished. I make it a policy not to read incomplete series stories unless the author has a track record of finishing what was started, such as Maddie Bell's Gaby series. She has multiple books about Gaby which were presented as series, but she has completed several books, so I'll read hers.)

3) That the author makes it plain from the get go just what sort of editor services are wanted. (Just spelling, grammar and spelling or should I also check for plausibility, continuity and time line. Do you want help with plot or character development? Etc.

As to the kind of stories I would like to edit... almost anything would be OK, However, know that my bent is voluntary cross-dressing. I'm not TS nor do I really have any interest in such. That doesn’t mean that I can't help edit such stories, just that I'll be a bit more mechanical about it. I find forced femme stories to be, by in large, distasteful. Hypnotism and drug induced (as in drugs that induce the desire - not accidental ingestion of drugs that cause changes) stories are not high on my list. If you do sci-fi, being a sci-fi fan, I'll hold you to a higher standard. For an example of what I consider to be good sci-fi, read Valentina Michelle Smith's "White Chapel Horror."

OK, if I haven't discouraged you, contact me.

Hugs
Patricia
([email protected])
http://members.tripod.com/~Patricia_Marie/index.html

Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper ubi femininus sub ubi

Hugs
Patricia

Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann

coherence or coerce

I think the term you meant to use under topic one is coerce as in force the child to do something, not coherence as in how well the child sticks to something.

Love,

Paula

When the lines between reality and fantasy blur, true magic can begin.

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

Actually

she might have been better using cohere, unless she really wanted the children to "stick" and then she might use adhere.

Whichever of the four she meant, I would not agree that spanking is permissable. All corporal punishment does is teach that child that right is might.

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Right

Good one Angela. All of this just shows why writers need editors.

Love,

Paula

When the lines between reality and fantasy blur, true magic can begin.

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

Off topic

erin's picture

This thread is supposed to be about editing and editors, so writers can find editors easily. Please, let's try to keep it on topic. I unpublished two replies having to do with childrearing instead of editing. If that seems unfair, I'm sorry. The Hangin' Around forum would be more appropriate for such a discussion, which might be very interesting. But not here.

No one else needs to apologize on this thread, either. :)

Thanks,
- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Posting and Limited Proofing

I already do posting for other authors and I am willing to help any authors post their stories to Top Shelf. You can PM me about this.

As to editing, I do some editing for some authors. Like Patricia, I have a very limited range in my tastes that I'm willing to consider editing for. I've turned down several authors already because of this limitation. If you want to try, you can PM me.

Editing

Well, I've done a fair amount of editing work, and I need to get back into the swing of things with regards to that anyway. I helped to edit Wanda Cunningham's The Fairy King series, and I've edited other stories as well. The only guidelines I have are that I prefer to avoid stories with explicit sex or violence, and it would help to know what kind of editing services you would like, as Patricia said above.

You can e-mail me at [email protected] if you have a story that needs editing.

I'm Willing and Abel -- and

I won't take a Cain to you. I've edited work for over a dozen authors. The relationship worked for some and not for others.

I'm not at all interested in editing stroke fiction.

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

Giggle, giggle...

I can help proof, but I am not an editor. I have no limitations on what type of story any author wishes help with. I don't care if you plan to finish or might never finish your story. Just starting a story of your own is good enough for me. I take a long time to finish my stories, but I do finish them. I know how writing an epic is though. The story just keeps going with a life of its own. If I never posted any of it until they were finished, then no one would be able to read them nor urge me to finish a particular one.

I am all for the "NEW" author. If you have never posted a story before or have just began your efforts in writing, contact me.

I'm a person that wants to help, that is all I can offer you. I make no demands, just that you write!

I just hope that your story makes some sense and is not just a sex free for all. I do abide by the rules of my Mom, Erin. So, read the FAQ for this site and if your story is going to fall within the guidelines, then contact me.

Huggles
Angel O'Hare

"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"

Hmmmm

Hope Eternal Reigns's picture

I think I have a decent grasp of English grammar and word usage to be able to help correct most people's writing. My one downfall is an inability to correct spelling with any great confidence. (Thank the Goddess for spell-checkers.)

I have offered several times to act as a proofreader for authors whose stories I read that had more than a few errors. The only response I was ever given was a note of thanks, but that things were being looked after by others. (If that had actually BEEN the case I would not have felt the need to offer my services - but all I could do was offer.)

I do honestly believe that one person can NOT find all the errors in any writing, there should be at LEAST two proofreaders for each author, to be able to have the greatest chance of error free works.

I appologize if this seems more like a rant than an offer to help, but the offer is genuine.

Thank you.

with love,

HER

with love,

Hope

Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.

I Agree

If you are interested in improving your writing, having several people proof your work helps.

Each person has their own strengths and weaknesses and read stories from a different perspective. Plus some of us -- ME included -- can only stand to re-read the same story so many times in a short period before we can't concentrate properly.

My re-posts of 'Timeout' to BC are much improved over the origial postings at The Crystal Hall and I reworked them several times over there. The quick pass my sister gave them -- for punctuation mostly -- did wonders. The most recent post --Timeout 2, Chapter 11-- is much better still, with the considerable crop of errors Janet Nolan 'harvested'from my field of fiction.Thanks to both of you.

Take advantage of the help offered here. A good editor/proofer not only will make your words easier to read but will teach you how to be better. With Timeout 3, Itinerant helped me -- he gets editorial/collaberative help from Amelia_R -- and I could tell the difference within a few chapters how many fewer errors I made. Self-preservation on his part.

My thanks to all who have helped me. My advice, don't be afraid to ask for help. The writer/editor continum is a varied relationship from simple proofing to close collaberation -- choose what works for you.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa