In works of fiction, it is not so common to use colons to introduce dialogue, though I have seen it.
Certainly it would not usually be used in this way. One would tend to use a colon to introduce a quotation, rather than live dialogue.
The link that Dirty_D provided gives the standards for dialogue formatting that we expect on Lush. While we're not averse to talented writers injecting something of their own style, if done well, we like to maintain a certain level of consistency with things like this, or else we get authors trying to use all sorts of interesting stylistic quirks.
When I submitted my first story to this site one of the moderators pointed out that my punctuation was flawed. She asked me to change. I resisted. She insisted. She was adamant. I relented. She was correct. She made me a better writer.
Ignorance and creativity are not synonyms. That said, the tone of this discussion concerns me. I ask you, would this site have accepted e.e. cummings poem, "i carry your heart with me"?
Poems have separate rules. (See the a-z guide for further answers there) but in general IF a poem is consistent, then yes.
I think the statement, poems have rules is exactly what e.e. cummings was challenging. The world is a much softer place when we're all just a little bit more flexible.
I've read Cummings. He was still consistent. One of my personal favorite poets was heavily edited both in her own lifetime, and after her death. It is fairly recent that Emily Dickinson's work is printed as she wrote it. Having to conform to the publishing rules of the house where a work appears is not new. As one of the story moderators (of which I am not) mentioned, they work with quality writers to help ensure their work appears as intended. However, consistency in a poem is not a bad thing. If I am being distracted by the punctuation and capitalization of the words, I, as a reader, am speedbumped and thus lose your thought and meaning. Yes, great poets take risks sometimes, but they still think of the reader's experience.
In my first comment I said that, ignorance and creativity are not synonyms. I took direction and believe that it made me a better writer. I'm not trying to defend bad writing. My concern is that a strict adherence to rules for the sake of conformity stifles creativity. Yes, Cummings understood the basic rules of poetry and actually conformed to them, but he also deliberately challenged them. Sometimes it's fun to color outside the lines.
There is Violet, the color and there is nobody. Nobody has got the Violet. Nobody starts preserving it. So, nobody is what? Maybe..., Nobody, the wise.
Then there is Somebody. Somebody who knows that violet isn't the only color. There are many more colors out there and it is colorful. Somebody might not be wise, but Somebody is happy.
Ignorance and creativity are not synonyms, but creativity isn't just a one color, creativity is the colorful.
Please don't think anyone is trying to quash your creativity.
Mods are accommodating. We hear out reasonable requests. The vast majority of us are writers ourselves, and we understand.
We have a house style. In whose interest is this style? Readers, new and amateur writers, and (quite importantly) the mods. So, basically, 99.9% (probably more) of our membership benefit from our push for consistency. We need something to work to, or it becomes a free-for-all and, frankly, a mess.
Be creative, please, I beg of you. In the land of adult fiction, we NEED creative. But be creative in your plot and character development, be creative in your vocabulary and sentence structure. Even be creative with your style, but please don't give your loving mods headaches unnecessarily. We're not being unreasonable; we're just doing our job the best we can.
I have the deepest respect for the moderators at this site. In the short time I've been posting here I have encountered several and all of them have been understanding, kind and helpful. They are one of the reasons that posting stories at this site is so enjoyable.
In a previous post I said that sometimes it's fun to color outside the lines. What I failed to say, is that before we venture to color outside the lines it's essential that we understand the lines and why they exist. This is a community of amateur writers. Many of us benefit from a little guidance. I certainly do.
Dirty_D I use quite a bit of dialogue in my stories. That was actually what originally drew me to this thread. The first moderator I encountered at this site graciously helped me clean up the punctuation in the dialogue in my current story. While she was an excellent teacher and made me a better writer, I still have a lot of room to grow. This week I plan to read your guidelines. Thank you for taking the time to provide a resource for us.
e.e. Cummings did color outside the lines, but he had a firm understanding of the lines and why they existed. I think that's one of the important differences between scribbling and art.
Well, I have never doubted, or questioned the mod or any mods. Even when I said that my story was rejected, I have already mentioned that along with writing style there were other problems as well.
I don't know why you guys have to mold this particular thread into some sort of moderator praising creditworthiness holy book.
All I have asked for a simple info on writing style and what I got is that mods are accommodating, mods are understanding, they are helpful, they must get respect and so on.
Guys this isn't about mods at all and I really don't get it why you people are trying to make it about mods
I can totally understand that mods are volunteering their time and so deserve the respect. Even at the time of story submission, I always thank them beforehand, for their time. No mater even when if they are to reject my story. Specially, in times, when I believe it should not be rejected, but, truth to be told, here in this thread; it is already started to sound, more like a moderator friendly rather than a writer or user friendly.
Writers and authors spend their time on the stories, thus they also volunteer their time and a lot more than any mods, moreover writers volunteer their stories to the forum and for free.
So, if they are no writers and authors, the time that mods are volunteering, will not be of much use. It is the writers and authors who builds a story forum.
Please don't try to change the subject, and it is not the mods.
are used for longer quotations.
