Search options (Page 10 of 58)

I don't think it's site specific any more; it's happening on Facebook and other internet sites, but not on Word yet. It's as though someone suddenly placed a magnifying glass over the screen and I haven't made any adjustments to the screen zoom or anything else. Just weird. Take care. Vern

Hmmm, your best bet would be to leave all that planning to the bride and her family where it traditionally belongs. Or maybe you can gather material for a new horror or perhaps political intrigue story to keep you busy while you're in the dog house for interfering with the wedding plans, Just saying, lol. Take care. Vern

By Josh you made it. Welcome. Take care. Vern

This one would seem more suitable imo. If you're saying he prayed Psalm 140, there is no need to go on to quote it. Ones familiar with it would know what it said and those who aren't probably really don't care or at least can dismiss it in a novel. The one above seems more like preaching than part of a novel. As a non-practicing Baptist, if I wrote about someone saying or reading The Lord's Prayer, I certainly would not write the thing out nor expect to read it from another author. If anyone who cares really wants to know the text of Psalm 140 or The Lord's prayer, I'm pretty sure they could find it in about 2 seconds on the internet. Quoting more than a few words at most is simply stuffing the story with unnecessary words. But to each their own, it is ultimately your decision. Take care. Vern

Why can't you simply have him quote a few words from the prayer, throw in an ellipsis followed by some type action, etc. and then speak a few more words to end the prayer. Repeat as necessary. Take care. Vern

LOL, so glad you could provide us with a bit of entertainment; haven't had a good belly laugh since playing Santa on Christmas Eve. Sorry, I can't stick around at the moment to enjoy more of your humor, but alas, I'm off to Charleston, SC to enjoy a couple days of golf, my go to hobby when I need to get serious. I do appreciate your sense of humor, so thanks for putting me in a relaxed mood for the long drive. Happy New Year -- drink lots of water to keep your brain from dehydrating further from the eggnog. Take care. Vern

The problem with language police is they may be correct in one sense, but wrong in another. Sure it is common sense that if someone who is sitting stood, then they must of necessity have stood up. That's a given. However, it is also a given that many, many folks say "stood up" naturally even though common sense would tell them stood says the same thing one word shorter. Our problem as reviewers and authors is that we are "looking" for these picky things to point out as reviewers and we as authors tend to want to delete them when pointed out because it does make sense and less is most always considered better -- after all words cost to print when we become published authors.

I dare say that most of us would not notice the distinction between "stood" and "stood up" before we started our journey toward becoming published authors and began delving into all the do's and don'ts of that coveted goal. We used to read for pleasure as most of the buying public still does. Now, we read with an eye toward finding something wrong, no matter how inconsequential to the story being told. In the end, we as authors must thank the reviewer for their diligence in pointing out such things, but then decide if it is really something that should be a major concern when it is a rare occurrence within the work as a whole.

Therein lies the rub. We hate to make these simple decisions when there is really no right or wrong involved. Our language of choice gives us too many ways of saying the same thing and regardless of what we choose, someone will disagree and they will be right on their end of the continuum. And someone else will be right on the other end of the continuum. When in doubt, go with your gut, or flip a coin. You will be right in someone's eyes, hopefully your own. In essence, we are too picky as reviewers and too malleable as authors. Take care. Vern

Edited to add space between para.

Not sure about anyone else, but I never notice any of those pictures on the home page when I look for something to read/review. Don't know why it would make any difference on this site in attracting most readers. Of all the short stories I've posted over the years, none have and most likely never will have pictures attached to them. For starters not a single picture I could find on the link provided or any other would come anywhere close to associating with anything I have ever written.

LAZY? Matter of opinion I would say. You like pictures and want to use them, fine by me. But to call another author lazy for not doing so simply because you might like a pretty picture is the height of arrogance imho. Others may disagree and that is their right and yours; no skin off my back. Different strokes for different folks. BTW, if I were lazy, I could've made this a whole lot shorter with a few shorter words. Take care. Vern

Yes, I know, just responding to the secondary problem being discussed. Fixing the major one will minimize the minor one. Take care. Vern

Yeah, it shows up that way, but I've already redone the thing now. Kind of stupid it doesn't show up from the red draft icon on the home page or simply when you go back to the same chapter with an in-line. I appreciate your input. Now if the system worked a bit more intuitively from that draft thing, I might not have to go through this again in a year when all this will go out the back door of memory. Hell, the rant felt good anyway, lol. Thanks. Take care. Vern

Congrats to all. Take care. Vern