I'm Fuming!

[bk_forever]

Okay, how long have I been posting stuff over on Teaspoon? 31 short fics, 293 drabbles, never had anything rejected.

Until yesterday.



Yesterday I decided it was about time I started putting the rest of the Nosy-Verse stories on the site - I'd only got around to putting the first couple and the more recent ones there, four of the earlier ones still hadn't been posted and I'd gained a new reader who was asking if there were more. Seemed like the right time so I posted 'How To Live With A Neurotic Alien'.

I know the rules there, they expect an acceptable standard of writing - spelling, grammar, punctuation, all up to a reasonable standard. Well, hope I don't sound boastful, but I always considered I was above average in that respect. Sure, I'm not always entirely spot-on when it comes to punctuation, not certain of the rules regarding colons and semi-colons, and I overuse commas at times, but hey, that's not too bad, right? And at least I know how to use apostrophes. Certainly, I think I meet the 'acceptable standard' criteria - they do say they don't expect perfection. After all, these are fanfics, not great works of literature.

But my fic got rejected by a mod who apparently isn't going to accept anything that isn't 100% correct, punctuation-wise. I got called on half a dozen minor errors. Okay, yes, I had a missing quotation mark, and two others that got accidentally left in during re-writes. At least I USE quotation marks, and it should be perfectly clear that I know where they belong, considering I use them correctly throughout the entire 4026 word story apart from those three instances. And yes, I wasn't completely clear on the rules of commas versus full stops when a speech by someone is broken into sections to include their actions. Big deal. How many people can quote chapter and verse on that rule anyway? How many people even know there IS a rule for that? It's nit-picking, tiny things that 99.9% or readers would either not notice, or not even realise were wrong. I spent an hour re-editing to fit this person's perfectionist standards before re-submitting it, and if it gets rejected again, I will NOT be happy.  >=(

I feel sorry for everyone who tries to post there and is perhaps less familiar with the rules of punctuation and grammar, or isn't too good at spelling. If they get the same moderator I did, it could well put them off writing for life!

To this person, 'acceptable standards' apparently means every fic must meet their stringent personal standards and be perfect in all respects. I think they need to check their dictionary.



Rant over, feel free to ignore this post, I wrote it to make myself feel better, but it doesn't seem to have worked.

Comments

[lexxiescott]

Garth is always popular no matter what. :) I am, too. He did the right thing taking a break like he did though, so it's hard to miss him when he's been raising his kids and being the primary care-giver for them. I'm hoping new stuff by middle of summer. We'll see what happens as the year goes on, I guess.


I think you're right and things do look better when you look back on them. I'm always thrilled when I find a show from then on DVD because it's one more show I can watch when I do have the TV on and not have to worry about crap programming. Then again, I've taken to watching the Travel Channel, and they're pretty much known for mostly crap programs. Ghost Adventures is a noted exception to that one. *grins*

[bk_forever]

Then again, sometimes re-watching old favourites is a let down and they're not as good as you remember. Sometimes they are though, so it's worth the risk!

Listening to Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed pickin' guitars. I always wanted to play guitar like Chet, but I have mo musical talent and my fingers are too short
=(

[lexxiescott]

That's so true. There's one show I keep hoping they'll put out on DVD, but it hasn't happened yet. Then again, I don't know if it's as good as I'm remembering, so I don't know if I should be hoping for it to come out. *sighs*

Chet Atkins is a wonderful guitar player. Have you heard Steve Wariner play? He's in the same style. I'm not as big on the songs he does for himself, but as a writer for other singers, I adore him. He wrote "Long neck bottle" for Garth. I think he plays on it, too.

[bk_forever]

I first saw Chet on the Val Doonican show when I was a kid. He made a huge impression on me and I still adore both him and his good friend Jerry Reed, both sadly gone now. I so wanted to play guitar, took lessons for years but I was never any good at it.

Steve Wariner definitely has a lot of talent, I have several of his albums, including one I think is mostly just guitar, if I'm remembering right, I haven't got around to playing it yet, still working through my collection, cataloguing and playing things I haven't listened to for years. Right now, I've got Garth's big sister Betsy Smittle's CD on. She has a pretty good voice. I don't know if she did any more solo stuff, this one's from 1994.

[lexxiescott]

I've seen them both on old Opry videos. It's amazing how awesome they are. :)

My CD collection is down to 90% Japanese imports because of the move. Had to get rid of a lot of my old things, but at least I had ripped them over to the computer, so I still have the tracks. Just not the physical CD anymore.

[bk_forever]

Truly awesome =)

My CD collection is growing fast, lol! I'm playing a lot of different artists, but I keep going back to Garth and Clint Black most of all. the sooner Garth has a new release, the better!

[lexxiescott]

You always go back to your favorites depending on mood, I think.

My iTunes seems to know I'm in a bit of a mood right now. All it's been playing is Hiro (my fav Japanese singer), and some Prince of Tennis character songs. Given how much music I have on that playlist, the odds of a day like that are pretty rare.

I checked Garth's homepage and he has four new albums out, but it looks like they're part of a pretty huge package (almost a hundred bucks) where he's covering old hits that influenced him a lot in his own music. I'll keep my eyes open for other news though.

[bk_forever]

Thanks, I'd appreciate that!

Hmmmm, maybe I should start saving for the expensive set...

[lexxiescott]

The new set is called "Blame it all on my Roots". I just looked on ebay and they have some as low as $35 USD. You might take a look and see what you can find.

[bk_forever]

Thanks, I'll check it out! Probably be pricier over here with it being imported!