All Comments on 'Everybody Needs a Hobby Ch. 09'

Again, editing problems:

1. I believe that in all prior chapters, scenes with George (the man, not the strap-on) are told from his first-person perspective ("I patted Britt's butt"), but partway throught THIS chapter, a scene with George is told from a third-person perspective ("he patted Britt's butt"). Any reason for this?

2. You change from past tense to present tense in the scene in John's store, when, I believe, the entire story up until that point is written in past tense (usually a much better choice). Any reason for this?

First thing, let me apologize for any grammar or punctuation that distracts you from my stories. I come from an era where they didn't bother teaching grammar and sentence structure and those sorts of things. I suppose I learned them from reading and whatever Word (the program) suggests I do. I pretty much write the same way I talk; like I'm telling a story.

As far as the tense changes go, I've been called on that more than once and I guess I just get lost in my own mind, telling myself the story, and by the time I finally get it to the keyboard, I've gotten a little twisted up.

As far as the editor thing goes, I write when I have a minute or two and thankfully, I have more than a few people that gently bug me for the next chapter. Not that I feel rushed, but I do like to get the chapters out and see what the reactions are. If I'm honest, it's probably the real reason I write, to get a couple pats on the back and know that people get off (sorry) on what passes for my imagination. The one time I did use an editor, and he did a masterful job, it prolonged the publishing period, so I just never did it again.

I hope this cleared up a few things and I truly appreciate any interest you take in what i do.

George

Thanks for taking my comments in the (positive) spirit in which they are intended.

Admittedly, passing a chapter through an editor, waiting for his or her feedback, incorporating any of his/her suggestions you accept into a rewrite, submitting that rewrite to LitE for publishing - slows down the publishing cycle.

And I totally understand the rush of getting reader reaction to your work, especially POSITIVE reaction, so any delay in publishing delays that rush, which is no fun for the author (you).

And that fun, that rush, is about all an author gets out of contributing their work to LitE.

But another thing the author gets ifrom publishing on LitE is input which helps him/her to improve their story, and the input of a competent editor can increase that input exponentially over just the comments which get posted, AND, incorporating those of their suggestions which you agree with, before publishing, can, potentially increase the amount of positive feedback the story gets, thus increasing the author's "rush".

So the challenge becomes: minimizing the delay of the editorial process, while still benefitting from it.

It seems to me that one way to do this would be to find an editor who will agree to, AND WILL KEEP TO, a turn-around time agreeable to you both.

Thoughts?

I appreciate your interaction and suggestions and I'll admit it has me thinking. I was going to say that I only do this for the fun of it and I don't want to turn it into a job. Like I said earlier, the only thing I really get out of it is the occasional stroke from someone who'll take the time to drop me a note and looking at the reader numbers and ranking or score of the chapter.

If you pinned me down, I'd probably admit that I admire the fiction writers that I read and that I think I could do as good a job as they do. I'm not naive enough to think you can just daydream a story, write it up and someone will publish it and send you a big check, but if I get a chance to retire, writing might be a good way to pass the time. So maybe I should use this as a training ground and using an editor would be part of the process.

So, finding an editor is the next step. My first question is why would anyone spend their time doing this? It pretty much has to be that they get some satisfaction out of helping someone and maybe they get a little mention at the top of the piece when it is published. Maybe it's a training ground for a future career for them?

Anyway, enough rambling. The bottom line for me I guess is that I don't want this to become job-like, but if more people would read it and enjoy it, maybe it's worth a shot.

Now my head hurts and I have to go to work.

Thanks again.

Quibbles about changes in tense and perspective pale in comparison to great story telling in this ninth chapter of Everybody Needs a Hobby. With an outstanding plot and engaging characters, the author gives the reader a superior reading experience.