Cia

Past issue, no longer relevant. Just giving this an answer to move it off the top of the page.

We don't have a specific volunteer to do that. If someone notices it, they can let us know like you have done with this topic, and when a staff member has time we will try to get them fixed. Posting the link is very helpful, thanks!

What grammar or editing source are you using that says you can't end a sentence with an ellipses or dash? Do you never write a story where someone gets cut off or interrupted when they're talking? Or trails off because they think of something or become distracted while talking? I can point out two instances today where a student interrupted me and when I was trying to speak and stuttered to a stop and had to pause because I had to marshal my thoughts to explain myself better to a student. Now, granted, the em dash and ellipses are both bracketed by double quotation marks because it's dialogue, so those punctuation marks are not the literal end of the sentence, but they are still the ending punctuation that is valid and "correct" per both Blue Book of Grammar and Chicago Manual of Style. They, like exclamation points, should only be used sparingly to avoid overuse and interruption to the flow for readers, of course. No, editing is never fun. It's a long, hard process that involves using a critical eye and unbiased mindset to content edit and word-by-word slog to line edit. I still enjoy it, though, because I am a geek enough to like to learn new editing rules. I also like producing quality work, and I don't mind doing the work to produce it. That doesn't mean I haven't cursed out my editors (privately) a time or two. Or three hundred.

“Meditation?” “When you ran into me, you were nearly mindless with panic. Anyone who is feeling that lost could benefit from some techniques and time to center their thoughts.” Lakshou shifted on his cushion, arranging his robes over his knees. I clenched my teeth. “I’ve had time.” Hours, days, months, years, in that cell alone. Most of the time I had no input, nothing but my thoughts. “Do you want to tell me about what had you so scared, then?” “No.” I shook my head violentl

I like him too!

When those were posted, we had one site blog for all the different kinds of posts, actually. It's tied in with the writing community, but perhaps that is something we can look into--doing a reader specific blog for those types of tips and other events/information that might be more reader-centric. You can search for topics with tags and keywords too, but most people don't think about looking for past information, they go for what is right in front of them or recently posted.

Inner balance is absolutely vital to handle stresses from the world around you, especially when things change so much like it has for Kohen. Lakshou definitely will have a strong influence on Kohen's future, which will involve a lot of recovery time. Well there are a lot of aliens on the ship, and having so many different cultures means there needs to be a variety of ways to accommodate them. Religion would definitely be a big part of that. More about Lakshou, and the other aliens, and the ship, their mission, and Captain's questions... coming up! Thanks, Lux! I do try to mix it up with the different stories I do for my Wednesday Briefers group, and I love writing scifi.

That's a kind of greedy I understand. And don't worry, there will be more 'overall info' as to the time/place/machinations coming soon. Definitely more coming soon, like I just said to dughlas. It's hard to get that info in because I think that Kohen isn't in a place to take in that info in a way I could share it with readers from his POV, but that'll change. Yes. Shocking highs from such simple things as a drink and horrific lows such as fleeing from a single touch. Lakshou is definitely a stabilizing influence (even if he did knock him down when they first met, lol).

Ahh, but all that we saw and have had him remember has been physical deprivation and punishment. Conditioning must include the mind, once the body is broken down. Lakshou will definitely have a role in this story, so I don't want to reveal too much about him now. Kohen is going to have to stay strong mentally to deal with the changes in his circumstances, certainly. Even if they're positive, they're going to be a shock to his system. And yes, "triggers" is exactly what he's going to get tripped up by. Just makes you want to snuggle him and make it all better, right?

Yep, for sure! Yes, definitely! So many experiences to come in this story. I'm starting Kohen with the basic sensory inputs, things that we might all take for granted--until they're taken away from us like they were from him.

Maybe... One never knows what I have in store for my characters, right? But for someone who has suffered like Kohen, I'm sure he deserves all that and more. Kohen definitely has mental reserves, especially for one taken so young. It very, very much makes me want to snuggle and love on him. Too bad he's probably not ready for something like that. As for cheating... they'll forgive you, lol. Each one of my stories has something different to love, imo, but that's totally okay. Nope, he's not broken yet, and he is free from their lab and their torture device. But we definitely haven't seen all that he's going to be facing even with those major obstacles removed. I try to layer character traits and make every one 'real' even if they are in a place/time/location that can't be real, so I love to hear comments about that from readers. Thanks, glennish!

Yep, sometimes "too good to be true" really messes with your mind. Well, this is a futuristic story and they had Kohen under chemically, so they could control when he came out it probably a lot more efficiently than doctors can nowadays where the body has to burn it off. So much to suspect, so little to know at this point, even for me, LOL! I agree with it being locked in. Scent is a very basic yet super important sense memory for us. Like a baby animal, though, is Kohen just latching on to the first thing he's impressed on? Maybe...

Sorry, format of this group is 500-1k every Wednesday. But you know it's coming each week, so there's that. Glad you're enjoying the story, bundu_st! More each week! Hey Smoothy, thank you!! I do try to create compelling characters that draw readers in. Kohen is particularly sympathetic in this story, for sure.

Very, very cruel. And that's just the hideous point of it. Even if you wish for comfort, it's turned into a negative reinforcement. Evil, evil mind thought that up. ( ) Yes, I've seen medical documentaries on people with that condition. It is truly horrific, especially as a parent when it's a child that you can't make better. Or a handsome, young man with all the experience of a child. Yes, but if the aliens were all sweetness and light to him, you wouldn't hate them, would you? *nods* Touch is a fundamental need for humans, and they not only took it away, they made it a punishment. They were reprogramming him, remember?

LOL! Another one bites... now to reel you in!

We have, a ton of them over the years. These are just a few of the blog posts put up.

“Kohen? Is that your name?” I nodded. “Good. Kohen, do you know where you are?” I licked my lips, wishing for more of that fluid. “Are you still thirsty?” “Yes.” He walked over to a spot on the wall. A hum, a flash of light, and another cup appeared. He stretched out his arm, not getting too close. I touched the cup, and he settled it into my hand without our fingers brushing. Relief swamped me along with a tiny bit of regret. The fluid was cool, and I jer

@Dahawk Well, I am glad you're not going on a knee-jerk reaction, however, the saying 'opinions are like assholes' exists for a reason. We're talking about a negative subject, yes, but authors don't have to take it negatively. When you allow someone else's (or a few someone elses) opinion of your work to hold sway to such an extent then you're giving away power over your creative process in a destructive way. If someone has harsh feedback that's nothing but a flame, ignore it. If someone has hard to hear but true feedback, especially if it's echoed by more than one person, then you should try to reevaluate your work with a dispassionate eye and see if it can apply to help you improve. Focusing on what people are saying that you feel is just all negative rather than the parts of this topic that are constructive and intended to help others takes that away from you. And, above all, just because you might write something that doesn't sit well with others, for whatever reason, that doesn't make it any less valid and perhaps popular with readers it does resonate well with. You can't please everyone all the time.

Being sick, and pretty sure it's part of the back end tech that I don't work with, I've asked AJ to take a look at this when he has some time. The system IS intended to let you post-date the content (at least 2 days ahead is best when you're in the queue to ensure that I've had time to approve it before it is scheduled to go live) and have it go live when you want it to go live. And, yes, the announcements in the recent story updates section as well as notifications should be for when it goes live, not when you post it. These are all things that are not happening as they should be. If, however, there are issues with a chapter or chapters, authors can send me a PM to ask for them to be deleted. Be aware, however, that means any likes or comments on the chapters are wiped away, and I can't delete a chapter in the middle of a story and just slot and rearrange chapters to put a new one in. If I delete chapter 4, the chapter listing will then just from 3 to 5. So, if a chapter is deleted and it leaves the chapters coming later out of sequence, they really all do have to be deleted as well. And Timothy's recommendation to never edit the chapter until it goes live is very good advice. It can cause a lot of havoc in your content and the timing.

Remember, guys, that this is a topic for readers to share what they skip, or what makes them skip out on a story altogether. But that doesn't mean that it's "wrong", necessarily. Not every story will be to every reader's taste. I've been flamed before, and I've also been given very valid yet cringe-worthy feedback that pointed out a ton of things I didn't even know I was doing poorly. We've all been beginners, and we've all had the experience of learning that we need to learn more. As long as your stories don't violate the site guidelines, then you don't have to change them. And if you have to break some rule, remember, it's important to know those rules because then you can justify breaking it.

November is here, and this month I wanted to feature something different. There are a lot of stories on the site with themes that involve some heavy subjects that can really make you think, but one of the best of those is an older story that many current readers probably haven't found since it was posted for a 2008 anthology themed "Living in the Shadows". Street Life by Graeme Length: 16,661 Description: *Reader warning* This story does contain mature themes & references to underage prostitution and suicide. A Reader said: That was depressing and uplifting at the same time. I've read New Brother, and I can remember the main charater (whom I despised utterly in spite of your heroic and brilliant effort to make him understandable and redeemable) being told Craig's story. It was one of the better moments in New Brother and I'm glad I finally managed to read Craig's story, even though it made me sad. ~ Timothy M Please come back for our Discussion Day on Monday, November 27th.

Well I am an author and editor, but I'm also a parent. I was previously a heavily-involved volunteer in my kids' schools K-7th grades, and now I work with high needs special ed students as a paraeducator as a day job. Teaching, and being respectful of how difficult it can be to learn something as complex as creative writing as well as technical writing skills, is something that falls within my skill set. I've lost my temper more than a time or two on the site, but mostly, we (staff) try to help members out in a kind fashion. And I know our writing/reading community tries as well, for the most part.

Yes, we have a lot of topics and blogs talking about how to critique rather than criticize, especially for newer, inexperienced authors. I'm glad that no one has been blatantly calling out specific authors or stories here, since that is definitely not the gist of this topic. It's hard to know what you're doing "wrong" for readers unless someone actually says something, which is the main element that the original post is trying to get everyone to share. How do authors know what they skip (and what to avoid writing) unless we hear it from readers specific to our genre? The devil is definitely in the details, for sure! Speaking of details, you've made an assumption I've actually had happen quite a few times over the years... I'm a woman, not a man, lol. It's definitely made writing in this niche harder because I have to be so careful not to feminize my male characters like so many male readers assume female MM authors write. That is something that irritates me as well, when we're talking about what you skip ahead (or skip a story altogether). I dislike male characters written to gay stereotypes (rich playboy, flighty twinks, or dumb but hot muscle bears, and I really dislike women tropes like the over-the-top best friend fag hag or the evil ex.

Yes! A lot of this is exactly what I'm talking about. Very specific comments about scene tropes (the get up/look in the mirror start to a story) or the first few pages info dump (often hard to avoid in scifi or historical pieces when authors must set the overall world as different from contemporary), sex scenes and why (too repetitive as exactly the same 1-2-3 me/missionary action in scenes or just too much overall). Editing standards (especially when you expect a new writer to improve) or overly-complicated or unnecessary language, 'writing down' to readers which reads as arrogant, etc... I very much get and agree with a lot of the comments as a reader, and I think it's great for authors to have a place to see this sort of thing. If you have a story scene, style, or standard that turns you off and makes you skip ahead, keep sharing!

I like detail, and have always been a huge fan of stories with a lot of it. Growing up, I always wanted books or book series, the longer the better. But for me, rehashing story scenes through alternating point of views drives me crazy. It feels like pure laziness to use the same scenes in order to be able to show the reader the opposing character's POV of the scene. I think it's better to show the motivations/thoughts/feelings of the other characters by adding in more subtle cues like body language and actions along with their dialogue, rather than write the same dialogue and actions twice to show different thoughts.