Guest PeterSJC Posted May 10, 2005 Posted May 10, 2005 I love your stories but cringe every time I see "use to" in them ("I use to do...l" or "I was use to..."). The correct form is "used to." Peter
Collan Posted May 14, 2005 Posted May 14, 2005 God I'm scared to death to comment on this since I know people can be touchy on this subject. In fact I've never commented about this publicly before at all on any forum I've ever been to (I tend to lurk and rarely, if ever, comment), but since the topic has been broached, I too would really love to see your stories re-edited to fix things like "use to" instead of "used to", as well as the myriad misspellings that spell checkers never catch - namely the dreaded homonyms, in particular your/you're and there/their/they're. Your writing is so descriptive and your characters and situations are so gripping that I want to lose myself in them, but every time I hit one of these I'm instantly pulled out of the story. It may only be for a moment, but it just kills the momentum for me. I want to be swept up in the story, but because of minor things like this I'm never quite able to be. I hope these comments are taken in the spirit in which they are intended. This post definitely comes out of a love for your stories. I am very much a fan. Your writing is of such high caliber that I feel it should be and hope it can be presented in as perfect a form as possible. Coincidentally enough, I sent a private e-mail to Dom Luka on the same topic just yesterday (yes I'm a chicken when it comes to public criticism) and was composing one for you when I saw Peter's post and took the opportunity. At any rate I'm now going to go try and get over my stage fright at having posted and hope that you succumb to your impulse to post the next chapter of DOR before next Friday. I've never been a very patient person and waiting for something you want desperately can be torturous...
Masked Monkey Posted May 14, 2005 Posted May 14, 2005 I used to be ( ) uptight about those types of things, but much like someone with OCD, I have learned to allow myself to focus on only two linguistic things that ABSOLUTELY drive me crazy. fewer/less -- If you can count it (even if it is too many to count), use fewer. If you can't, use less i.e. less air in the room, but fewer air molecules. This really gets me in grocery stores, I cannot go into the express lines anymore because I *have* to bitch about the "15 items or less" sign, only to receive a blank stare from the idiot behind the register. healthy/healthful -- Although the incorrect usage has been linguistically acceptable (try saying that 10 times fast), I refuse to eat healthy things due to the fear that they my bite back. Although, I do prefer that they were healty just prior to their demise. I really like holding on to this one because it makes me look like an arrogant asshole at parties (best social shield ever invented, next to pissing off vegans by pointing out that just because you can't hear a plant scream doesn't mean it feels no pain -- "so superior to plants now are we?").
Ann Posted May 15, 2005 Posted May 15, 2005 Hmm... Alrighty, I agree that simple mistakes can be distracting, but I won
NaperVic Posted May 15, 2005 Posted May 15, 2005 Hmm... Alrighty, I agree that simple mistakes can be distracting, but I won
Collan Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Since I'm pretty new here I guess I should ask, was this the wrong way to post feedback? I was not intending to complain, but to give feedback on how I felt the writing could be improved. Should I have gone ahead and just e-mailed Dan privately like I had originally planned? Any and all advice is welcome! Collan
Mark Arbour Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Although, I do prefer that they were healty just prior to their demise. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was really into your post until I got to "healty" and it just ruined it for me. (just joking with you Snow Dog)
Mark Arbour Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Since I'm pretty new here I guess I should ask, was this the wrong way to post feedback? I was not intending to complain, but to give feedback on how I felt the writing could be improved. Should I have gone ahead and just e-mailed Dan privately like I had originally planned? Any and all advice is welcome! Collan <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You did good, er, I mean well Collan. You're not taking anything away from Dom's stories, and Dom knows that ultimately he needs an editor. Now when I see typos in the story, I'll just smile and think about these posts. Before, they kind of annoyed me.
Novelty Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Since I'm pretty new here I guess I should ask, was this the wrong way to post feedback? I was not intending to complain, but to give feedback on how I felt the writing could be improved. Should I have gone ahead and just e-mailed Dan privately like I had originally planned? Any and all advice is welcome! I would say that's up to the poster and the author concerned. I'm very brazen in that I post up what many would consider very harsh reviews of Dan's DOR stories. I have my reasons for doing those though and one of them is to facilitate discussion of the topics/issues from the story. My personal guideline is this: Do I want the whole world to see what I'm writing? If yes, I post in the forums. The moderators can always delete it if they deemed it inappropriate. If no, I use the Private Message function of the forums to contact the author directly. It's as simple as that for me.
Masked Monkey Posted May 18, 2005 Posted May 18, 2005 (edited) Don't take my post as complaining, actually I was kinda annoyed by the previous posts and was actually happy I wasn't getting any "zaps" that day as I taper off of paxil ( , never gonna do that again). I didn't wanna just come out and get pissy so I just kinda broke it up a bit. I really couldn't care if Dan, Dom, or anyone else uses "there", "their", "they're", "thar", or "tire" as log (oops long) as I can figure it out. Although, I do prefer that they were healty just prior to their demise. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was really into your post until I got to "healty" and it just ruined it for me. (just joking with you Snow Dog) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Aint nothin 'funny bout a mans typos Edited May 18, 2005 by Snow Dog
Mark Arbour Posted May 18, 2005 Posted May 18, 2005 Don't take my post as complaining, actually I was kinda annoyed by the previous posts and was actually happy I wasn't getting any "zaps" that day as I taper off of paxil ( , never gonna do that again). I didn't wanna just come out and get pissy so I just kinda broke it up a bit. I really couldn't care if Dan, Dom, or anyone else uses "there", "their", "they're", "thar", or "tire" as log (oops long) as I can figure it out. Although, I do prefer that they were healty just prior to their demise.
Masked Monkey Posted May 18, 2005 Posted May 18, 2005 Aint nothin 'funny bout a mans typos <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Probably. But shouldn't the apostrophe be right after the "n" in nothin instead of in front of the "f" in funny? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You missed a few others this feels like I'm explaining a joke :wacko:
Mark Arbour Posted May 18, 2005 Posted May 18, 2005 Aint nothin 'funny bout a mans typos <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Probably. But shouldn't the apostrophe be right after the "n" in nothin instead of in front of the "f" in funny? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You missed a few others this feels like I'm explaining a joke :wacko: <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Uh yeah, I guess you are. Sorry 'bout that.
libbonobo Posted August 2, 2005 Posted August 2, 2005 To take the other side of things: let's have fewer inhibitions about grammar & spelling, more new chapters!
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