Looking for an editor...

[randomdrifter865]

Well as the title states I am looking for an editor... You see I am somewhat of a story writter myself and I have been doing this as a hobby since I was about 10 or 11. Some things improve in time and I have come a long way from many sources of inspiration to keep me motivated to continue to type out what goes through my mind when writing these stories... I am a bit paranoid about sharing my work because I don't know the motives of an individual and I am not too keen on people stealing ideas you see. Even in this day and age no one is original anymore... Creative ,but not original because things already happened.

Don't get me wrong on what I'm saying I am just a bit nervous about doing this. Simply because I have done this once before as a journal I posted on my deviant art account recently... Got no replies of course to it ,but that is understandable. No one has time or the right amount of price to do a job that pays for nothing at all because it is a hobby... I have no intention to sell my work because it is very personnel to me and I have had a tough time soming up my courage to ask for help like this for a very long time now...

I know what you all might think after seeing how I communicate on here with all those spelling errors and grammatical errors. That writing a story would have all that. Yeah it does because no one is perfect even to the rules of English writting... The style I write is not very descriptive because I hate that style of the mass description to get to a point. I believe to entertain kind of like how playwrights and movies are built out ,but no real actors because you got to imagine how they would sound and while looking with your mind's eye to see that image I see.... Though that is tough to figure out because it comes from my own mind...

The style I use is that of script mix with the art of dialog and action. Though it is not a traditional script like that of a play or a movie where it would say enter stage right and all that junk. Think of it like a video game or role play. Where there the name example:

Name here: And here is what I'm saying in the dialog. (This be action going along with the talking) That can be used for expressions to go with how the person or character are talking...
I use parentheses to explain action and expression. I also use seen changes kind of that of old comics. Just with dialog explaining what is going on in the scene. I haven't fully perfected transitions very well because I tend to not give whoever the reader is enough description to imagine the scene or the place the character is etc.... That is one of my problems there.

I have also been noted to not make sense sometimes or all the time leading myself into boxes I can't seem to get whoever is reading the piece out of... Grammatical and spelling errors can be fixed of course ,but sometimes I can't notice that even if my spell check is on auto mode. It often makes more mistakes then I do... You see I also need a second opinion about what I write... That is why I am looking for an editor. I can edit myself ,but sometimes it best to have second or third opinions to discuss what the scenes themselves mean...

Thanks for reading such a long entry I hope it wasn't a complete waste of anyones time... I am also in your mitts as a stranger because I have never met any of you in person only in text and behind the guise of the appearance you have given yourself. If I decide to not go through with sharing it the blame be on me because i am just too damn paranoid or cowardly to go that far to ask help for something I find very near dear personnel to me...

[Miguel]

I'd be willing to help if I had a decent text editor, but I don't...

But then again, we both have devART accounts, so perhaps, when you want something your wrote edited, you could send it to me in a note and I'd go grammar nazi on it, changing words spelled with the wrong context to the correct form (Changing "There power" to "Their power", for example), fixing any spelling errors that got past you, and generally suggesting the parts that have no point and make no sense that should be removed.

And then I'd note you back with the editor'd edition. Is that the kind of thing you had in mind?

The only real problem would be that during the school year, my parents are increasingly critical of the amount of time I spend on a computer, so I'd probably end up with an unpredictable schedule come September. Is that okay?

[viruszero]

It's highly understandable why one wouldn't like to share things... Especially over the internet where others can thieve those things easier.

However, there are some precautions you can take:
1- If your working with word or text documents, I reccommend that you pick up PrimoPDF. This allows you to transform your documents into .pdfs. As well it allows you to password lock them to prevent others from modifying them.

2- If your going to be giving files to multiple people... Watermark each one differently. (This means embed a unique phrase or line in each file.) This way if a version turns up on the net, you'll know who was responsible for leaking it.
Though if you watermark it, you can't make the watermark obvious otherwise they'll remove it. The easiest way to do this is to reword a sentence or two and then take note which sentence was changed for which person. (Twould be an awful lot of work for someone to comb through an entire document for one sentence... and if they're too lazy to do their own work they won't check yours over.)

3- Don't use a 3rd party website for transmitting the file to them. If you want to send them something, either send it directly to their email or via instant message.
This ensures that no one but you and the recipient have the file and that it's not stored on some website where others might be able to stumble upon it.

4- If you really want to ensure that others aren't stealing your stuff, there are freely available DRM kits to lock down .pdfs... Such as PDFownerguard

Though for utmost security, combine the above methods. (Especially 1 and 4.)

Though this would allow others to see the document, they couldn't make changes to it... So I don't know if it would suit your needs for this situation.

Though I suppose if you only send it to one person, and you watermarked it first... then you'd know who took it if it got posted anywhere.
Or you could send only 3/4 of the file... Thusly if it gets posted you'll be able to prove it's yours by you have the ending.
Or could send the file with an alternate ending... So that if it gets posted you can just reveal that the ending they have is a fake...

[randomdrifter865]

To Miguel:
Well to keep things simple if you decide to do this you are credited for it the date you started and the date you decided to give it up. That I leave up to you. You have a life and as person you are entitled to do what you need to do. I understand deeply why your parents would limit you because you have a future to work for. I don't know what grade you are in and I assume High School as a Sophomore or Junior this year. What I look for in editor is trust. I will send a page at a time unless you request I send you more to do at a time and my max is 3 because I have no desire to drain you. I am very flexible on schedule for the most part even though I am off to College about the same time you start school again so you ain't the only one that is busy.

You are under oath that you will not by any reason to distribute copies of my work or to sell them. You are allowed to keep a copy if you like or you simply like where its going ,but other than that I'd prefer you delete it after editing is over, but you can keep notes to correspond what you did. I ask of a phone number besides the email because I like to hear the voice of the person I am working with and it helps me be at ease.

What I want from you is feedback about what you have read, opinions and changes made to let me know what I need to do. I also like to discuss things. My main problem is it is all in my head and not written down in notes. Though I have notes it doesn't fully pertain to the story. If you have any question about it or puzzled I will help you if need be...


When I said it was very personnel to myself it is because the stories and ideas came from a time when I had no real friends and people looked down on me because I was different from them. The elements in the story have the things I desired most back then which was acceptance and friends which is quite common. Remember that one thread were I was haunted by my past and couldn't accept it? That thread has a connection to what I have written though this story is very recent I have changed a lot of things over time and gotten rid of unfinished work as well. I suffered a lot back then and obviously I am stronger and better than that as well. That is part of the reason I am paranoid about sharing my work because it has everything that is myself in it many shapes and forms as well as personnel experiences and things I have observed over the years.

I also like to give you some time to make your decision before I send the first page. So that way you feel comfortable with the idea. I'd give you about two days to think about being an editor first. You do sound confident in your reponse ,but you can think about if first you know...

[Miguel]

Well I can't really give you my phone number because, in addition to the same paranoia you feel, in my house the phone has a special ring for when it's a long distance caller, and noone ever answers that ring. But I do feel I'm up for the task.

And trust me, I would never steal your work. Being an author myself, I can relate to your attachment to your own little world. Unless I wasn't too fond of having a soul, I would never plagiarize... Unless the plagaree was a douchebag I hated who had no real talent anyway, and it was to prove a point that their work was about as awful as everyone claims it's quality.

But I've got no issues with you, and your script style of prose is one I would cringe at seriously using in my own work anyway (Not saying you shouldn't use it, just saying I wouldn't).

So, whenever you're ready, send me however much you feel like having edited.

[randomdrifter865]

Thanks I appreciate that... Heh... I guess I am a bit too dramatic sometimes... Sheesh... Well you will receive the first two pages either on here through the PM system or on the Notes system of devArt tomarrow or wednesday. I will continue to add to the original piece as much as I can before the evil writter's block sets back in... I hate that writter's block curse.... Well it seems we both now know something more about each other since I kind of over spilt my guts out yesterday writing that frantic thread messege... As well as all the long descriptions. I know the style I use is iffy ,but I feel comfortable with it then other traditional styles.