BronxWench

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I don't have a beta myself, largely because my fandom pieces are not in wildly popular fandoms and I do want someone who gets the 'verse in which I dabble. My original works, well, I have no excuse there other than not really knowing anyone I'd pester to beta for me. But I do also welcome concrit and delight in having someone point out where I can improve. I have an inner Grammar Bitch who is relentless in terms of pointing out errors in punctuation, and who has made me twitch for years when I write dialogue that is not grammatically impeccable. Honestly, we aren't all known for flawless exposition all the time, and dialogue can sound stilted if you force the issue. I have manuscripts that will never get out of first draft if I don't reign in my tyrannical inner editor. I'm overly critical of myself, and the fact that I hit the publish button at all is amazing. There should be a fine line between my obsessive self criticism and the blithe disregard for convention that triggered this thread. It would be refreshing, anyway, given that a great many of the people who can't be bothered to try and clean up grammar and punctuation errors are the same people who are upset by the lack of reviews on their stories.

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Or if they haven't managed to read an actual book? The sad part is that this is not limited to the younger members, either. There are a great many members old enough to have learned these rules, but who simply can't be bothered, or so it seems.

I am ancient enough to remember all sorts of rules of grammar and punctuation that have gone by the wayside, it seems. Such as using a comma at the end of dialogue, before closing the quotation and appending attribution, a convention that is also mysteriously absent in the archive. Even if our children aren't actually being taught any of these things, there are numerous websites where one can self educate. Google is our friend. Failing that, one can real a book, an actual published book that has been printed and sold. It will be a revelation to see punctuation properly applied.

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That's perfect, and the story is visible once more. Thanks!

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