Just a word for those considering doing editing here.
At the author's request I put several hours into doing a very detailed edit on a story that recently posted (and found almost all of my corrections and suggestions for re-writing/revising/rewording were used). And there wasn't a single word of acknowledgement of my editing at the end of the story. I mean, are people at Lush really that shitty or clueless? How can you ask someone else to put hours of work into your story and not give them a very big and sincere shout-out?
Anyway 'nuf said. Partly venting and partly a heads up to potential editors that you may put hours into someone else's story and not even get the courtesy of an acknowledgement.
I've edited stories for a couple of people here on Lush, with varying degrees of acknowledgement. While the less appreciative of those have sent an eyebrow or two of mine skyward in an okay-then-ahh-fuck-you expression, thanks or a shout-out isn't why I did it.
I think editing someone else's work is a valuable exercise in honing your own writing skills. Granted, it's mostly nuts and bolts grammar and punctuation corrections, at least in my case so far. But that's still important. But looking at a piece with fresh eyes and spotting places where the plot falls down, or the characters need to be developed more, is excellent training for improving your own writing. Every bit helps and all that.
If you look at it in terms of doing something for yourself, then the acknowledgement really doesn't matter.
But having said all that, yes, if someone's kind enough to edit your work, please tear the ass out of the thank you. It really does take hours of their time.
My latest story is a racy little piece about what happens when someone cute from work invites you over to watch Netflix and Chill. Thanks for the response, Wilful.
You're right that getting some sort of acknowledgement is not a good reason to go to the trouble of editing. This (writing) is one of my (few) areas of expertise. It's a large part of what my college academic background was about, and I've done some college-level teaching in writing (and some other subjects) as an adjunct. So I have a great deal to offer in terms of expertise. The editing on this story was way beyond punctuation and usage (although a lot of that had to be addressed) and into characterizations, a place in the middle of the story where the authors needed to deal with a considerable lag in erotic tension, and an ending which was very abrupt in the original. So I take a look at the story when it publishes and they used almost all of my suggestions for improvements. Then at the end there's no acknowledgement of any kind regarding the editing, but they're sucking each others dicks (imperfect analogy since one of the authors was male and the other female) about what a fabulous story they wrote. The thing even got one of those recommended read doodads (which none of my stories have ever gotten - but I've developed a sneaking suspicion that being a person-of-penis and completely vagina-less is not the way to be at Lush.)
Anyway, I appreciate the support and commiseration.
8 RRs, an EP, and limited interaction on the site beyond posting stories. My EP is from 2012 ( Before RRs even existed ) and I have a 9th RR on the sister site.
As I'm also in possession of dangly bits, I run rather counter to the theory put forth.
As to editing, don't automatically assume an editor wants credit on the story. Some prefer to pick and choose who they'll edit for without having to turn down the requests an acknowledgement can generate.
