This is a frequently asked question and I thought I would put this up and let everyone who wants to take a crack at answering it.
Hugs,
Erin
BigCloset TopShelf
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Loaded question!!!
I'm sure we all have our own way "that works"...
Me - the whole thing is a PROCESS. LOL
Me, I write my story using MS Word. I tend to archive work in process copies on googledocs. I've been known to share these (read only) to my editors though not all read them in this state.
Once I get a draft to the point I like it, I send it (serially - one at a time) to my editors (depends on what it is - who / how many editors). I send out the MS Word version, with "track changes" turned on.
When I get it back, I review the ENTIRE document - not just the areas where they made suggestions and/or asked comments. In some cases, I send feedback to the editor - explaining things... Some times those explanations end up in the story, sometimes not. Sometimes I send it off to the editor a 2nd time. I've been known to start over with reviewers too - when a later reviewer's comment/suggestion caused a significant change to the story.
Once I've got the STORY how I want it - formatted in MS word...
I open a Notepad ++ window (typically copied from an older post - but not always). I hand code the html to make the browsed page look like I want it to (mostly like the MS Word doc, but not always. I also decide on the "tease" section here.
Once that's all done, I finally come to BCTS and click that "Create Content" link.
I fill in the title, find my name in the list of authors (Note, the first time one posts, one needs to get set up as an Author by Erin/her team.) I set categories that represent the story and I copy/paste the hand crafted HTML into the box provided.
Hitting that Preview button - most of the time - shows me I did all the formatting correctly. But at least 1/3 of the time I have to go and fix things..
TO fix things - I fix my Notepad++ copy, and then paste it into BCTS (always that way). {Sorry Site managers - this has caused your changes to my stuff to get lost on more than one occasion... I don't mind tossing out their changes - most of the time - as the story is MINE. [yes - occasionally the managers go in and "fix" wording and the like.] And, by working in this way - I maintain control over my prose.)
I always re-preview before hitting that final post button... And, even then. After that post, I check how things show up in the site. (A missing </em> at the end may not show up in preview, but it does strange things to the site! Worse are failures to include a </table>, etc.)
The second to last step, assuming the post is part of a larger story is I add it to the cover page (outline).
The final step, for me is continuous... I check for comments. Okay. I like them.
Hope this is what you were looking for.
Anne
Nice System
You can save a couple of menus by picking ++Fiction from the top of the page instead of going to Create Content. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Posting stories on BCTS
I am perhaps the most ignorant Author when it comes to posting stories, but I seem to have developed a simple work-around that may seem disingenuous to many but it does seem to work.
I write in MS Word 2010 for now because it is what I have and I like some of the features. Some people I know use some really complicated features on it and other word processors and I applaud them but for me I need KISS.
So, when I start a story, I don't bother with any extra formating other than I turn on the paragraph markers and make sure that there is one of those little "P" thingies between each paragraph, line of dialogue and any other place in the text where a space would make things clearer. To separate time periods, I simply use a line of "tilde" (~) characters, nothing too complicated.
So after I cut and paste it from my word document to the input place on BCTS, then I go back and center the title, my name and a few other things. It all seems to work out jolly good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As far as the particulars about BCTS, it does seem rather straight forward, and I like it, but it did take me quite a lot of time to finally feel comfortable because I generally find computers to be a bit frightening and inscrutable at times.
But for the new, and the few like me, here is my understanding of the process:
I go to "Create content", "fiction", and then wend my way through all the menu selections. Most of my stories are either "General Audience" or "Mature" as I don't seem to write explicit stories any more, if ever.
The word count, I get from the little counter in Word that tells me.
Then, once I have made my way through, all that, I press the Preview and then Submit buttons, and magically it all appears there on the screen before my wide eyes.
There is a little menu along the top of the box where my precious text is displayed, so I go there and make the title and things bold, and center them, and then press Submit I think.
I know that my method is inglorious and simple but I like it.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Drawing lines
If you use repeated characters to draw lines, don't use more than twelve or so, you will mess up the formatting on some mobile phones if you do.
You can also use the <hr> tag:
It's the mini-editor button that looks like two hyphens.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
The HR Tag
And be aware when using the HR tag that those readers who copy and save stories for later reading (as many BC readers do) will find that the decorative lines drawn by HR tags are invisible when copied from most browser displays*, so if they're used to create scene breaks or for other semantic purposes, the ‘break’ will disappear.
When copied and pasted, the above ‘divisions’ will look like this:
The HR tag is not really a semantic element, although it's easy to start arguments by taking one position or another, but it's interesting in that -- unlike images -- HR tags don't allow an ALT="Description" tag to handle situations in which the underlying ‘picture’ is not displayed, as they are not when using copy and paste, or when the text is being read aloud by non-specialist browsers.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
* Notable exceptions are JAWS and other special-purpose browsers designed for the visually-disabled.
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Thank you, I will do that.
Sorry, I did not know that I would mess things up. I will do as you ask.
G
I think I can answer this...
...after some of my stories have been around for a while on a less-attended website that shall remain unnamed, I gather them up and place them carefully in a raised bed covered in rich soil and surrounded by a pen of pressure-treated wood. After a while, I gather them back up along with the soil and the detritus of my poems and songs and strew them amid my tomato and zucchini plants as fertilizer. That's how I compost stories on BC, right?
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
ROFL
OMG lol thats perfect well done.
I like kiss
Keep It Simple Stupid = kiss a really good phrase.
I write on whatever is handy. Notepad, word, text editor (its a palm program)Even paper though my penmanship totally sucks. No joke even my printing is hard for people to read.
Look through it once fix stuff I know is wrong, such as captial i some grammer and punctuation.
Then I click on Add a story here and work on it some more. Not always though since I may be falling asleep. Ill "save" it on the sight. I get feedback on what is wrong or how. Sometimes I can't understand what they heck they mean.
I even have a very old working typewriter from the 1950's. Ribbon is getting a little worn.
My stories right now are early ones I make plenty of mistakes in them but learn a bit here and there.
It does shock me at how much work people put into their stories.
I am using my gaming system at moment to do everything. Hence I will NOT load microsloft office onto it thank you very much, I have another comp that needs cleaning for that.
How mine were done...
For the short works, I generally compose them in Notepad (it the idea hits at work - usually during a particularly quiet helpdesk session) or GEdit (if I'm at home), save them as text files then copy / paste into the edit window.
The header I copy / paste into the file from a previous story then tweak to suit.
For my Retcons, I used a word processor (Google Docs) because I wanted to use different text colours and occasionally alignments - not to mention the header box. I naively thought I could export to HTML, remove the surplus bits then paste.
May I suggest: Don't Try This At Home.
I haven't yet found a word processor that generates nice, decent, clean HTML. They all have their faults, but one shared amongst pretty much all I've encountered (including Google Docs) is that they like to preserve the exact layout you've used, and respecify the layout for every single paragraph rather than setting a default style at the beginning. So export to HTML, open up in a text editor, find / replace with blanks all the redundant styles, replace any style declarations at the top with inline styles, then run through Tidy. Rinse and repeat until you've finally got a workable HTML doc. Top and tail it, save, paste into the edit box, preview, scan through and do any last minute fixup, then post.
Having said that, after I'd done the first one, I didn't create a header table then in the main document used a dummy separator, so when I got to the fixup stage, I could just insert / tweak the final version of the one used for the first one.
As I said, Don't Try This At Home (unless you enjoy the challenge!)
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I generally write in the
I generally write in the built-in editor in my Dana Wireless (AlphaWord). When I synch with the desktop, they wind up as RTF files.
I generally take the RTF files and load them into OpenOffice and save as HTML. Then I open that with TextEdit and remove most of the HTML crap. I also reformat the lines as OO tends to set line lengths weird for HTML. It's mostly the paragraph tags I remove.
I open the story creation window on BC and upload a saved template file to get the titles and stuff right. Then I paste the pseudo-HTML into the right spot.
After a quick preview, to make sure it looks ok, I save it and there we are.
I sometimes create stories on the PC directly in an HTML editor (that's mostly for my site, though).
Brooke brooke at shadowgard dot com
http://brooke.shadowgard.com/
Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world
"Lola", the Kinks
I get
Bonzi >^^< to do it.
Angharad
Angharad
Bonzi's work
Clever.
You have a pause at the end of your clause, where Bonzi has claws at the end of his paws
I don't just look it, I'm totally off my rocker
Thank you, Erin,
ALISON
But IF I were a writer I would put a stamp on it and put it in the mail box.
Isn't that how you post something?:)
ALISON
How I post
I use a text editor similiar to the Notepad that comes with Windows.
(Notepad itself would do in a pinch.)
To format text, I type the HTML codes. There aren't many needed:
<b>bold</b>
<i>italic</i>
For an extra blank line, I put one these on a line by itself:
And if I want a rule to divide sections:
<hr>
Then I hit Ctrl-A to highlight the whole thing, Ctrl-C to cut and then Ctrl-P to paste it into the form.
Good points,
So far I have entered two stories, and have made mistakes on both. I'll go down the list of my goofs and stuff I learned. A lot has already been said, I'm just putting it in one place.
I use Word 97. It is what I'm comfortable with, it is what I will use. I use copy and past, it works well inputting the body of the text. Any formatting is stripped off . I highlight my entire story (Ctrl-A works better), Ctrl-C, and Ctrl-V.
Before you enter the story, Please have someone edit it and proofread it! This is a rookie mistake, I did it. My second story came out much better with the help, and I learned a bit besides.
Do take the time to write a synopsis. It is worth it. Use the <!--break-> as described in the instructions given before entering the story. The number of reads will go up if you do.
HTML is going to be needed, for formatting, to make the story look clean. A good resource for a reference is:
http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/ref_symbols.asp
It has much more, and I am going to go through the more common ones now. You will be able to get up and going with these immediately.
<i>itallics</i> is itallics
<b>bold</b> is bold
is a non breaking space. The software removes extra spaces, this allows you to force a extra space in a sentance if when you need to.
It also inserts a line if you do this by itself:
This will insert a break line, something I do occasionally:
<hr align="center" width="90%" />
It looks like this:
In my second story I did this, it looked better to me.
-----------------------------------
It was wonderful. We both had fun.
It was the first of many dates.
-----------------------------------
Here is the code I used.
It was wonderful. We both had fun.
<hr align="center" width="90%" />
It was the first of many dates.
-----------------------------------
If I sound like a expert I'm not, I'm just fresh from my screw ups. I'll bookmark this for myself for later use.
This is important (at least it was to me)!
If your story is a solo, be sure to click the completed box at the bottom of the entry. This is important, your story will be offered on the Random Solos, and will hang later on the Recent Solos list. If you do not do this you are missing out on some really cool features on Big Closet, and cheating yourself of readers.
actually.....
You should NOT use < b > and < i >! They are deprecated, you should instead use < strong > and < em > (the second being short for emphasis, being known as the emphasis tag). Strong makes text on the screen appear bold, but it also gets read properly by readers and things to respond to them appropriately, either by stating that it's strong, or by changing inflection, or whatever. This is an accessibility thing. Emphasis is treated as italics, but also has the added benefit of being properly interpreted by accessibility software.
It's unpredictable at best how accessibility software will respond to the deprecated tags. Some ignore them, some treat < b > as an alias to < strong > and < i > to < em >. Still others treat them entirely differently.
We don't really have this concern for this site as much, perhaps, but if you want to use the same "source" for exporting to things like epub etc, use of deprecated tags can also prove detrimental.
In short, just use < strong > for bold, and < em > for italics.
Abigail Drew.
OK
What is depreciated? I used what I'm used to. Lord knows I'm still learning, must be I'm still breathing.
I just wrote another new author pointing this thread out. Truth, with Word I use it's formatting, but as I mentioned it is stripped out when uploading here.
I use firefox 3, do other browsers treat these HTML tags differently? Thanks for the heads up.
deprecated
Is tech speak for a tag, command, or function that is no longer officially supported and therefore might have unpredictable behavior. Deprecated is not QUITE unsupported, but it's essentially on its last legs, and by the next iteration of the language/program it will be likely to be removed. It's encouraged to avoid its use once something becomes deprecated and to switch to what it officially supported in any new work, that way, by the time the next version rolls around and it's completely removed you don't end up with surprises.
In current times, with digital technology being such a moving target as it is, the "deprecated" meaning has shifted a bit from the official definition and now, it's basically the same as saying unsupported without actually admitting it.
As I mentioned, in this particular case, accessibility software and software to convert to e-reader formats will be the most unpredictable when it comes to interpretation of the bold and italic tags, since they are both "newer" while (almost? not certain of Google's Chrome - I think chrome also comes from webkit, which comes from khtml, which comes from... yeah...) all of today's browsers are built on code bases originally written with the predecessors to HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) in mind, so they've mostly just built new versions of markup code around the existing functions, over, and over, again. And we're now on version 5 of HTML... So yeah, we don't really have to worry how browsers will behave in DISPLAY of bold and italic, but we do have to be concerned about how their accessibility add-ons might react... Or if we want to convert to an e-reader format, or... whatever other newfangled things the kids these days come up with next ;P
Abigail Drew.
The REASON they're....
The REASON they're depreciated (or so I was told) is that the "reading assistant" devices for those who are visually impaired do not treat the <b> and <i> the same way they treat <strong> and <em> markups (The former being ignored and the later impacting the reading).
Annette
not deprecated
The W3C says < b> and < i> are a last resort option for formatting text, but it is not likely they will be deprecated.
(The W3C creates all the standards for the internet)
"we can turn it all around, because it's not too late, it's NEVER too late" -(never too late, Three Days Grace)
Perhaps...
Perhaps things have changed in the last 5-10 years (it's been a while since I looked. And, my memory could be faulty (if you ask my kids, when they're feeling like being funny, a lot of other parts could be faulty too).
But, at one time, my memory says that they said that they'd introduced the <strong>/etc. tags to support readers and the like and that <b>/etc. shouldn't be used. *shrugs*
Annette
Contents page and individual chapter pages?
Can someone write up a HOWTO (or point to an existing one) on the best way to post a multipart story with a contents page and individual chapter pages? On previous stories, I've just posted individual parts, and later some kind editor has come along and arranged them into a group in one way or another -- more smoothly in some cases than others; for instance, parts 2 and 3 of "Quarantine Cove" are apparently sub-pages of part 1, instead of all three parts being sub-pages of a contents page, which might make it look to casual readers like it's an abandoned unfinished story... I tried to do the contents page setup myself this time for "A House Divided", and apparently messed up; Erin fixed some of what I did wrong but I'd like some instructions on how to do it right next time.
---
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/trismegistusshandy
http://shifti.org/wiki/User:Trismegistus_Shandy
Go up to the search box and type in "Title Page"
...without the quotes. Hit return. This will bring up several discussions of the subject from the FAQ and the Forums. About halfway down the page is one I wrote on exactly how to do what you are asking to do. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Not quite working
Okay, thanks. I'm linking it here to make it easier for other people to find: How To Create a Linking Title Page and Link Chapters Together in a Series or Serial
I tried following the instructions there. But when I created the page for part 2 of "A House Divided", the "A House Divided" title page wasn't in the list of book pages under the outline section of the "add fiction" page, or on the Outline tab of the part 2 page after I'd saved it. I tried going back to the title page and clicking "Add child page", but that wants me to create something a new page from scratch, and doesn't seem to give me an option for linking in a page I've already created.
---
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/trismegistusshandy
http://shifti.org/wiki/User:Trismegistus_Shandy
Outline tab
When you create a title or author page using the ++Organizer link at the top of every page here, you have to use the Outline tab(or Outline menu on the edit page) to add it to the outline of all "books" on the site.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I'm so confused!
I can't find the "Create Content" or "++Fiction" buttons. I suppose this is a test of my intelligence, but I know when to admit failure. What page am I supposed to reach them from?
Buttons!
What you should be looking for is the "Add a story" link in the column on the right hand side, among a list of links dedicated to your account. Somewhere below, in the same list, you'll find a "Create Content" link. This will open up to give you a number of options. Needless to say, these are only visible once you've logged in. If you're just posting fiction, the "Add a story" link is easiest.
Penny
lost newbie
Hi everyone, I'm a lost newbie.
Have been reading the excellent stories for some time but only signed up today.
Am working on an idea for first story and hope to post episode 1 soon but have no idea how.
Reading faq see references to a link I can't find. Is there an intro-time before it is accessible to newbies or am I just being thick?
k-jo
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
Look for....
Look for the 'Create Content' link on your sidebar... From there choose the 'Fiction' link.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Too add a story use ++Fiction
The ++Fiction link is at the top of every single page on the site and is much easier and less prone to error than opening up the Create Content menu where you are offered probably too many irrelevant choices.
Similarly ++Storylink is for adding a link to a story on another site; ++Organizer is for adding an outlining page, ++Blog for adding a blog entry, ++Topic for adding a new forum topic and ++Weblink for adding a link to a page on another site.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Yeah...
Yeah, I always forget about the Fiction++ links... I'm very much a creature of habit so I tend to stick to the methods I'm most accustomed too.
Have a delightfully devious day,
You too?
If I'm honest, I never knew what the ++ links were for, and was afraid to click them. LOL Maybe I will, now.
Annette
still lost
Could be Darwin's fault but am still missing that link.
Is there someone out there who can open my eyes?
k-jo
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
Darwin?
Darwin? Who you callin' Darwin? :P
Really there's two ways to post a story: the first is from the sidebar like I mentioned before and the other is in the pale blue links in the top right corner of the page. From those links choose 'Fiction++' or look at the image below.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Darwin's missing link
Thank you Ms Shakes for the posted image which is very helpful as it identifies my problem although does not solve it.
Of the little blue links you show, I only have two, Feed and Donate, sitting next to each other in the right hand corner of the screen above weblinks and faq.
Similarly, the links under my name in the right hand column do not include any add or create content links.
Otherwise my account seemed to set-up fine, my log in works, I can comment, kudos, track and my button count has grown, but I currently have no access to contribute fiction, blog, topic or storylink.
How do I get those missing links?
k-jo
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
lol
lol... I'm not Ronnie Shakes. That's a quote from him in my signature.
You can call me D.A.W. or DAW.
My guess would be is that you haven't been given rights to post and therefore the links are not available for you.
I would try contacting Erin or Piper and see if they can't get that squared away.
Have a delightfully devious day,
blonde
Thanks DAW, pleased my blondeness produced laughter.
Have only been signed up 2 days so wondered if there is a quarantine period before access is granted?
Sorry if I continue appearing thick but how do I contact Erin or Piper? I've seen references in FAQ to email but no addresses and to PM which I guess is Personal Message but no how to send one.
BTW who is/was Ronnie Shakes.
k-jo
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
lol
Not a problem. We all have our moments of blondness. ;]
Not as far as I know... When I joined I seem to recall being able to post my story right from the get go, but things may have changed. You can contact them by clicking on one of the links I provided in my previous post, then scroll to the bottom of their profile and click the link that says: "Send this user a private message"
Have a delightfully devious day,
omg
OMG, I even managed to send the last reply twice, not giving the best impression here am I?
Thanks for your patience DAW, I tried both the links and it seems the: "Send this user a private message" is another link I don't yet have access to. Perhaps the site admin have decided I'm too much of a ditz!
If you get the chance to pass on my problem I'd appreciate it.
k-jo
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
That's alright...
I've made a few double posts in the past myself.
I've contacted Erin. Hopefully our friendly neighborhood site administrator will be able to clear this up soon.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Merci
Mercy buckets ;x
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
Instant
Like wow! How instant was that?
Thanks again DAW and a big thanks to Erin for light speed service. Impressed!
k-jo
I was lying down minding my own business when life came by and drove right over me
Not a problem
Not a problem.
Glad I could be of some little assistance.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Ever since...
Ever since I first saw your "name" (D.A.W.)... I've thought Donald A. Wollheim and DAW books...
Annette
lol...
lol! That's exactly were I got it from! ^_^
Have a delightfully devious day,
Posting Story Permissions
Hi everyone!
I just signed up today, and I'm afraid I'm having the same trouble (another blonde!). I would really like to start posting my story "Scarlet" here which is running on tgstorytime and fictionmania at the moment.
However I don't have any of the post story links, nor do I seem to be able to send Erin a private message.
Any assistance would be great!
Jessica
Erin
This came up when k-jo joined. Because of the number of SPAM accounts it sometimes takes Erin a few days to enable certain permissions for the legitimate ones. I sent her a message so we'll see what she says.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Hi, I'm having the same
Hi, I'm having the same problem, my account doesn't seem to be enabled to post stories. Thanks.
Have patience!
As DAW said, it sometimes takes Erin a few days to upgrade people's account permissions - both due to the need to manually vet applications to try and stop spammers getting through, and because running this site is (I think) largely a spare time exercise - she does have to try and fit Real Lifeâ„¢ around it.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
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