Thanks, Kenny.
Interesting thing about paragraph 2: It's a non-verbal response to Joseph's dialogue. The rule I've read for that one is that a nonverbal response should be treated the same as a verbal one. Go figure.
Dirk
4,077 2015-01-26 01:11:46
Topic: paragraph usage (7 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)
I've noticed a few different authors on the site using different rules to break up paragraphs, especially when it's mixed with dialogue. Following is from one of my chapters (with paragraph numbers for clarity):
1. Next, Joseph exited the bathroom, set the weapon back to full power, and fired at the glass booth over the head of the remaining guard. It exploded in a shower of glass, momentarily stunning the guard. Joseph quickly reset the weapon to stun, then fired repeatedly at the man until he was sure this guard was unconscious as well. He called to his fellow slaves and said, “Everyone, Paul and I are leaving. If you want out of here, we can escort you.”
2. Paul and the others came running.
3. At Joseph’s direction, they carried the unconscious man into the bathroom, stripped both guards of their uniforms, and placed them in restraints. Joseph and Paul quickly put the uniforms on, grabbed the rifles, and led the others out of the warehouse. “Try not to act suspicious,” Joseph told everyone. “It’s a simple slave escort. Nothing more.”
4. The group walked past multiple open warehouses where other guarded slaves loaded and unloaded ships.
5. “So far, so good,” Joseph said.
Should the sentence in (1) starting with "He called to his fellow slaves..." be a separate paragraph? It's still a continuation of Joseph's actions. Does it come down to stylistic preference?
Same question for the dialogue in (3) that starts with "Try not to act suspicious..."
Should paragraphs (2) and (3) be combined? What about (4) and (5)?
I'd be interested in hearing as many opinions as possible.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,078 2015-01-24 03:30:48
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Somehow, the site has kicked me out of a couple of my groups. I don't know exactly how long ago it happened, but I typically glance at my groups list on the right of the Home page daily looking for recent forum posts. Today, I added the new Queries, Blurbs, and Synopsis group to my list of groups, then noticed that Old Forums and Dew Drops Readers were no longer there. I was able to add Old Forums back to my list. I didn't add Dew Drops Readers back in since the author is posting elsewhere as well. I was well under my 10 group limit when this happened.
Win 7 PC with latest Google Chrome.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,079 2015-01-23 18:39:41
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Sol, you're probably already aware of this, but just in case ... when I go to send a private message, the drop down list is cut off at the bottom. even when I've scrolled all the way down the list. I usually can't select the latest connection(s). Not sure if there's a workaround, although I haven't found one.
Win 7 PC with latest Google Chrome.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,080 2015-01-21 19:25:23
Re: Wishlist Cont. (212 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
If you do decide to add a rating system, another nice-to-have would be a field next to it that allows authors to specify why they rated the work the way they did (e.g., adult content, coarse language, violence, etc.).
Naturally, all of this can be done by individual authors, if they want, with just the content summary field you already have. However, since only two lines of the content summary are visible by default, I'm not sure how many people will stop to expand/read it, rather than simply diving into the chapter notes and proceeding from there. I know when the chapter notes weren't fully expanded, people were skipping over it.
Thanks!
Dirk
4,081 2015-01-21 05:00:56
Re: Wishlist Cont. (212 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Minor suggestion - please add a Leave Regular Review button beside the Leave Inline Review button at the top of the posting view. I already know which of my readers want regular reviews vs. inline reviews before I start reading, so it would be nice if it was consistent, without the need to scroll to the bottom of the chapter for regular reviews.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,082 2015-01-20 18:50:54
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Minor nits:
The tooltip that comes up when the mouse pointer hovers over The Next Big Writer label says "The next Big Writer". It should probably say something like "Go to Home Page".
Also, many of the buttons change color slightly when you hover over them (good!). Is it possible to do the same when someone hovers over the aforementioned label?
Both of these are just to help new users. I don't think they're a problem for anyone else.
Regards,
Dirk
4,083 2015-01-18 00:59:02
Re: just got burned by the "no inline reviews for free members" issue (48 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I joined the old site because I wanted to post and receive reviews. I stay because of the excellent feedback and the fact that I learn a lot reading others' work. I do the free reviews because I want to help others the way I've been helped.
There were three parts to this:
1. We need a way to prevent reviewers from wasting their time giving inline reviews if the author can't read them.
2. It would be useful if we could see if members are free/premium, although that's less important if item 1 is fixed.
3. Ways of encouraging free-to-premium upgrades, either via a trial period or by limited access to inline reviews.
Restricting free members to regular reviews also restricts the reviewer to regular reviews, which isn't the easiest workflow for inline nitting. There's only so much time that I'm able to put into free reviews, and I'd like the workflow to be as efficient as possible, resulting in the best possible reviews for free members, so they can see what the site can really do for them if they pay up.
Thanks for all the hard work, Sol.
Dirk
4,084 2015-01-17 19:14:57
Re: just got burned by the "no inline reviews for free members" issue (48 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
claddaghdragon wrote:
I think author's should receive points from any review given to their post. Shouldn't matter if its free or premium.
Also a great idea. That way premium members would be more inclined to read everything.
Dirk
4,085 2015-01-17 14:52:17
Re: just got burned by the "no inline reviews for free members" issue (48 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
JP, the list of groups next to a book that you refer to only shows which groups the book was posted to, not the free/premium status of an author. New premium authors may choose to post for free until they have enough points to do otherwise, or for other reasons. As you say, the red button doesn't help either since premium members can post for free. The best idea remains disabling the inline button for free members or adding a warning re-directing the reviewer to a regular review. The free member in question also has other inline reviews he can't read, probably from people who stumbled on this feature as I and others have.
However, the main argument I was trying to make was to give free members temporary access to inline reviews of their own work, so they can see what they're missing and, hopefully, become premium members and help pay to improve the site for everyone. This can be done by given either temporary access to all premium features, or by giving limited access to perhaps one to three inline reviews per reviewer, so they can see the quality of the reviews. Inlines can be a huge draw for free members to sign up.
Regards,
Dirk
4,086 2015-01-17 07:05:12
Re: italics (4 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)
They all strike me as being similar to thoughts. I would use italics. One downside to italics is that it is such a busy font, I have to use underlining to show emphasis within italics. Not really a big deal if you self-publish. The other options for showing emphasis within italics didn't work for me. I tried using regular font within italics to show emphasis, but the occasional word in regular font within a sea of italics is not easily distinguished. I also tried bold, but it stood out like a sore thumb, dragging the eye away from what I was trying to read.
You're up late. :-)
Dirk
4,087 2015-01-17 01:13:34
Topic: just got burned by the "no inline reviews for free members" issue (48 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I just did a very detailed review for a new member only to realize part-way through that he was probably a free member and won't be able to see it. I'm aware of the limitation and still got burned by it. Also, I won't be able to do nearly as detailed a review using a regular review (commas, dialogue punctuation, formatting, bits of grammar, etc.), so the user won't be aware of what he's missing, since he can't see it. I know regular reviews can be used for very detailed feedback as well, but it's a royal pain and I know I won't be as thorough with dozens of small suggestions if I have to revert to old-site style copy-and-paste.
Perhaps a way to go would be for free members to get a three-month premium trial or some other way to see what they could have by becoming premium. Another way to go would be to let a free user see one (three?) inline reviews from each reviewer, but then no more. The former is probably easier to implement, but I think the latter is preferable, since it takes more than three months (in my experience) to really find and make helpful connections. If I was a free member and saw a Charles Brass-style inline review of my work, I'd sign up in a heartbeat. Lucky for me, I've got several awesome reviewers, but it took time to find and build those relationships. If someone can see inlines applied to their work, it would be a major hook.
Regardless, we really need a way to warn reviewers when someone won't be able to see an inline review. The button to leave inline reviews should warn off reviewers if the recipient won't be able to see it. The warning message could include the suggestion to leave a regular review instead.
In the mean time, is there a way to tell if someone is free or premium?
Thanks.
Dirk
4,088 2015-01-16 23:22:33
Re: Strongest Start Competition 2015 is Launched (33 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Who are the judges?
Thanks.
Dirk
4,089 2015-01-16 17:31:45
Topic: Ch. 24 of Into the Mind of God v2 is up (1 replies, posted in Science Fiction, Steampunk, and Space Opera)
Since notifications to my regular reviewers aren't working yet, I thought I'd post ongoing requests for reviews here for now.
Chapter 24 (Hail, Apollo!) is up in "Into the Mind of God v2".
Chapter 1 (For the Realm!) is up in "Into the Mind of God v3" (separate book). I used a separate book, since versioning won't work well for me as I do major chapter surgery in v3.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,090 2015-01-15 16:51:58
Topic: Any Latin speakers on the site? (1 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I was wondering if anyone on the site knows how to translate English to Latin. Google translate is very unreliable.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,091 2015-01-14 23:46:19
Re: Hello from Bimmy (11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Don't forget to join us in the new Writing Tips & Advice group.
Dirk
4,092 2015-01-14 20:22:48
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
janet reid wrote:
Norm d'Plume wrote:Sol, I seem to have lost a review. I reviewed a very short piece called Perplexing Pyramids from Derek Atkins that didn't require any inline comments nor even fifty words for a regular review. I went inline, left no inline comments, and just put a closing comment at the bottom, knowing that I wouldn't receive any points, which was fine. The system allowed me to submit this without apparent error, yet when I look for it my completed inline reviews, it's not there. Is it in the ether?
Win 7 PC & Google Chrome.
Thanks.
DirkDirk,
You might have tried this already, but if not, it could be the problem.
If you go to your "review" page, select the "in-line posted" tab, see if it isn't there as a draft. If it is, then "view" it again and make sure you select the "Submit In-Line Review".
This is one of the changes that Sol and the team made to in-line reviews - you can save it as a draft to work on it over time or you can submit it immediately. If you don't see it at all, then it's a Sol problem!
Cheers Janet
No, it's definitely not there.
Dirk
4,093 2015-01-14 12:59:19
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Sol, I seem to have lost a review. I reviewed a very short piece called Perplexing Pyramids from Derek Atkins that didn't require any inline comments nor even fifty words for a regular review. I went inline, left no inline comments, and just put a closing comment at the bottom, knowing that I wouldn't receive any points, which was fine. The system allowed me to submit this without apparent error, yet when I look for it my completed inline reviews, it's not there. Is it in the ether?
Win 7 PC & Google Chrome.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,094 2015-01-14 12:26:46
Re: Wishlist Cont. (212 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Howdy, Sol. I couldn't find the earlier discussion about restricting minors from some posted work, so I thought I would add a few more suggestions here. Everyone agrees that prompting for user's age when they sign up and then forbidding them to read certain work marked for older readers can be easily overcome by the user lying about their age.
An easier alternative would be a simple rating selected by the author for each published work marking whether it is G, PG-13, R, or NC-17. That rating should then be made visible whenever a chapter is displayed. That way, you've done as much effort as the motion picture industry to keep kids away from adult material. Obviously, some kids are going to be attracted to R or NC-17, but that happens with movies too. It's up to parents to know what their kids are watching or reading.
I'd be a lot more comfortable to have at least something to steer kids clear of my book.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,095 2015-01-14 04:04:31
Re: question about versions (4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Thanks, Vern.
4,096 2015-01-14 03:02:54
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
SolN wrote:
This has probably already been mentioned, but in case it hasn't, when I double-click a word while giving inline feedback, it usually selects two. Just a nit, but an annoying one.
Is this from computer or from tablet?
Shame on me. Forgot to include my support details. So much for my tech background. I'm using a Windows PC running Win 7 and the latest version of Google Chrome.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,097 2015-01-14 02:58:30
Re: question about versions (4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Hopefully, I won't cause confusion by commenting here, but Sol, I think Mrs. Piddles was asking if she should include "version 2" in her name for the chapter. If that's the question, then the answer is no. I haven't used the versioning feature since last year, but I believe there was a separate version link on the page to click and choose a version number.
Dirk
4,098 2015-01-13 19:01:52
Re: Site Bugs 2 (342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
This has probably already been mentioned, but in case it hasn't, when I double-click a word while giving inline feedback, it usually selects two. Just a nit, but an annoying one.
Thanks.
Dirk
4,099 2015-01-12 22:21:46
Re: Dew Drops (5 replies, posted in Additional Writing Feedback)
Is chapter 14 up yet?
4,100 2015-01-12 22:20:08
Re: A new question about groups (44 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)
Perhaps there is some way to warn reviewers who are reviewing free members' work that the latter can only see regular reviews. While inline reviews are an awesome feature and may attract more premium members, it will be frustrating to both reviewers and free authors if the time has been wasted in doing a review that the latter can't read. Unless there's a message, every premium reviewer will probably run into this limitation at least once when reviewing free work until they've learned not use inline for free members. Also, will premium members be able to tell if an author is free only?
I'm not sure if this is part of the system yet, since I'm in premium, but it would probably be best for free members if they could see the inline review (including the closing comments at the bottom), but not get access to the inline comments (e.g., if they click on an inline comment it tells them they have to be a premium member). This gives them no more functionality than a regular review, but entices them by showing them what they could get if they pay up.
Regards,
Dirk
