Letter to the Author(s), Confession

Dear Literotica authors that I have had the honour of proofreading,

Well, I want to come clean. I have a quasi-confession to make to the writers I have edited.

What started as a part-time exercise in alleviating some of the frustration caused by reading grammatically atrocious smut, has become a full-time, cottage-industry job. Having been self-promoted to management in this operation, I have consequently taken to 'farming out' the bulk of the basic proofreading work. This is where the 'confession' in the title comes in.

No, I do not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs to spell or grammar check the stories I receive; I do not have the technological wherewithal for that. No, what I did was, perhaps, worse. I used the drafts sent to me by Lit authors for workshop exercises in the adult night school, creative-writing course I teach. It may seem alarming, but please take comfort in the fact that those exercises have been invaluable teaching aids. Some of my pupils took to the exercises so well, they are now aspiring proofreaders, instead of aspiring writers. That means less competition for all of you!

Granted, some have also become compulsive masturbators, and, yes, one writer left the room screaming about having to find Jesus, and has not returned since.

Teaching is a curious discipline, though, where individual attention must eventually give way to analyzing aggregate outcomes. In the aggregate, it's been a positive experience for my students. If the Jesus-seeker does not return, that pupil will no longer be my student, which then bumps the figurative average up even higher. Besides, use of your submissions for editing in my night class was not the worst-case scenario. I could have used these stories in my day job: teaching Grade Nine English.

I did, of course, make sure that the edits followed my style and tone; I could not let 'my' loyal authors down -- and let's not forget that these 'papers' -- meaning the edits rendered unto -- were ultimately graded by yours truly, all in the name of academic advancement and placement. It's just that the 'bull work' (and it is rather difficult and humorous to use that term in the context of writing erotica) was not done by me -- or, rather, the Literotica member named kenjisato, who has repeatedly averred that he has no formal education or training in creative writing, English literature, or journalism — well, this other apparent falsehood would not be a lie if a master's degree in English composition and a diploma in technical writing do not qualify as creative writing, English literature, or journalism.

I am only 'coming clean' now because the current school term is ending, exams will be starting, and I have not signed up for the summer semester this year. That means that I will not be able to provide the extraordinarily quick turn-around times to which many of my authors have grown accustomed. I am regularly asked how I can do them so quickly; if they read this letter -- sorry, 'review or essay' -- now they know.

I did, however, sign up to teach a course on video production and editing, and I am currently looking at the Lit website to see if they have any resources to help my students learn the ins and outs (sorry about the pun, but I failed the course on comedy writing.) I certainly hope so, as I can't imagine the internet containing any other repositories of erotic content of which I, and they, might avail.

To the authors who have had an edit done by kenjisato, I can honestly say that the person who read your story, the person who proofread your story, and the person who corresponded with you through email, all thoroughly enjoyed working on your project.

Whether or not that was kenjisato, or even the same person for all three, I will not say at this time. What I can and will say is that the care and attention taken with your drafts, stories, and correspondence were real, and surely worth the high praise and attention that they received (both you with your Lit scores, and my students with their class grades.)

To writers looking for an editor — as my second submission so eloquently states, kenjisato is available to proofread — and, as my most recent essay shows, his (or 'her,' or 'their') services have met or exceeded at least five authors' expectations.

I must end this review or essay (but definitely not a letter) here, as I have to get back to grading various exercises for Monday's class. After that, I owe three Lit authors emails, to which their meticulously proofread stories will be attached.

Kindest regards,

Kenji