Hi all. Newbie to forums regarding grammar and spelling, etc.

Quote by MonsoonMicky
Thanks for this one; I found it really helpful.

I'm considering uploading a story of my own at some point. Not just yet, mind you. Still quite new, so just chilling out, checking out the vibes and familiarising myself with the rules.

Quote by sprite


Rule #1 : please don't feed the mods.

Quote by NOLAHotGal
Their complaint was my young age which was older than the min legal age and older than they required.

Quote by MonsoonMicky


Could you elaborate further on that point. I don't get what you're saying.

After reading through site rules regarding acceptable story content, I believe the minimum age for characters partaking in sexual activity is 16. How old were they in your story?

Quote by NOLAHotGal
Wildfire; My non fiction story was pulled and I was told to make changes. Their complaint was my young age which was older than the min legal age and older than they required. Also they said my paragraphs were too long. I was always taught that as long as the subject was the same it belonged in one paragraph. I made some changes and reposted it. Waiting on approval. If they get too picky I will go some where else. Not interested in having to take classes again. I have two masters degrees and do not plan to do any more studying with out getting paid well for it. I'm not looking to publish a book, just wanting to share real life experiences and maybe help others improve their sex lives.

Quote by Milik_the_Red


Our minimum age for any character to be sexually aware, active or desirable is 16. She must have submitted erotic content including children under that age. That will be reason for instant rejection.

We also require paragraphs to be limited to about 5 lines. This rule is somewhat flexible, but it is there because long paragraphs don't display well on some electronic devices.

Edit: She said in her post the character was claimed to be older than our requirement. I didn't moderate her story, but the only times I've seen that happen was when the characters language or description was in conflict with the stated age. If a character is portrayed or described as being very young, that will trump attempts to claim being of legal age.

Quote by MonsoonMicky


I see what you mean. For example, if the author was claiming a character to be of legal age, but describing them as a minor and using dialogue such as "May I go play in the park, Mummy" then this would infer that the character is indeed underage.

And I totally agree with the paragraph spacing requirement. A continuous chunk of text without any paragraph spacing puts me off as soon as look at it. I assume this is also the case for most other people. It's just unreadable. Authors should take note and realise that their stories will get more reads if they break up the text.

Quote by RavenStar


I've just taken a look at your story. There are actually quite a few things I'd send it back for, beyond what was actually mentioned in the return note.

Your paragraphs are indeed a bit too long. We ask that our authors keep them between 4 and 6 sentences long, primarily because it makes them easier for our mobile phone crowd to read. I'm almost always on my phone, so I get the request.

Your sentences, while mostly correct, tend to ramble a bit, making it difficult and uncomfortable to follow the action. Introducing commas and semicolons, as well as breaking some of them up into two or three sentences, would greatly improve the readability.

Your dialogue formatting is incorrect, per our site standard. We use the most widely accepted form of dialogue formatting:

"It should look like this," replied the moderator.

Note the closing comma inside the closing quotation mark. If it ended in a period, it would be inside as well.

Please also make sure every speaker has their own paragraph.

We do prefer that ALL CAPS not be used much at all for emphasis. Instead, we encourage the use of italics sparingly. No bold at all, please, unless you are denoting scene changes with a short title.

Why do we go to the trouble of returning stories for these seemingly inconsequential changes, when as some put it, this is just smut? Because we have site quality standards. We insist that the stories published here meet our quality standards, mostly when it comes to grammar and punctuation. This is one of the things that sets Lush apart from everyone else. We care about the quality, the construction and the reader's enjoyment when picking out a story.

We very eagerly encourage you to make the changes to your story to make it a better version of itself. If you're unwilling to make the requested changes, then unfortunately we will not post it.

Quote by MonsoonMicky


This is very informative. It's also pretty standard stuff; you're not asking for anything out of the ordinary. I don't see why people are finding it hard to adhere to these standards.

And I agree: correct grammar and punctuation is vital in our writing.

The other day, some bloke at work said to me, "Why is grammar and punctuation so important? English is a progressive and spoken language. As long as we understand each other, who gives a fuck".

To which I replied, "If we all make up our own rules regarding grammar and punctuation, start throwing in commas and semi colons will-nilly as and we feel like it, then the written word would become meaningless, fall into total disarray, because we'd all be working by different interpretations of the rules. As a result, those rules would mean something to one person, yet absolutely nothing the next. Ultimately, grammar and punctuation would lose all meaning, become worthless."

He mulled it over for a moment and then said, "Yeah, I see what you mean. You're right - again - as usual."

Quote by MonsoonMicky

"If we all make up our own rules regarding grammar and punctuation, start throwing in commas and semi colons will-nilly as and we feel like it, then the written word would become meaningless....

Quote by RavenStar
I've just taken a look at your story. There are actually quite a few things I'd send it back for, beyond what was actually mentioned in the return note.

Your paragraphs are indeed a bit too long. We ask that our authors keep them between 4 and 6 sentences long, primarily because it makes them easier for our mobile phone crowd to read. I'm almost always on my phone, so I get the request.

Your sentences, while mostly correct, tend to ramble a bit, making it difficult and uncomfortable to follow the action. Introducing commas and semicolons, as well as breaking some of them up into two or three sentences, would greatly improve the readability.

Your dialogue formatting is incorrect, per our site standard. We use the most widely accepted form of dialogue formatting:

"It should look like this," replied the moderator.

Note the closing comma inside the closing quotation mark. If it ended in a period, it would be inside as well.

Please also make sure every speaker has their own paragraph.

We do prefer that ALL CAPS not be used much at all for emphasis. Instead, we encourage the use of italics sparingly. No bold at all, please, unless you are denoting scene changes with a short title.

Why do we go to the trouble of returning stories for these seemingly inconsequential changes, when as some put it, this is just smut? Because we have site quality standards. We insist that the stories published here meet our quality standards, mostly when it comes to grammar and punctuation. This is one of the things that sets Lush apart from everyone else. We care about the quality, the construction and the reader's enjoyment when picking out a story.

We very eagerly encourage you to make the changes to your story to make it a better version of itself. If you're unwilling to make the requested changes, then unfortunately we will not post it.

Quote by Verbal



I like throwing around semi colons willy-nilly. That curvy bit at the very bottom is sharp; I like to use them like ninja stars.

Quote by Verbal



I like throwing around semi colons willy-nilly. That curvy bit at the very bottom is sharp; I like to use them like ninja stars.

Quote by simplyjohn


You just speak for yourself please. I am fine with being fed and watered.

Quote by Wildfire8470
I want to ask if submitting is like my first publisher. The first had us polish it to our own idea of perfection. Then they put us through three rounds of edits with actual editors, a grueling but necessary process. Following that, they had a seperate proofreader. Then a cover artist and publication. Can anyone give me an idea of whether any of that happens here and if not, how is it done?


Wildfire8470
"Love and hate walk hand in hand upon a very fine line."

Quote by Magical_felix

Quote by MonsoonMicky
On a more important note, aside from the willy-nillys and the semi colons, I've just uploaded my first story to the site.

I've been working ever so hard on sentence structure recently, and , regardless as to whether my story is accepted or not, I'd be grateful if someone would give me an honest opinion on my writing.

One thing I'm most guilty of is running sentences too long, making them long-winded. Problem is, I'm having difficulty determining what is the maximum length of a sentence before the sentence starts venturing into the realms of long-windeness.

I'll post an example of a sentence I wrote the other day, which, ultimately, I decided was too long and split into two. I'll post it and I be grateful if someone could give me an honest opinion.

I stood stock still, leering, munching on my donor kebab, drinking in that awe-inspiring sight, and felt a drop of chili sauce trickle down my chin and onto my shirt as that barefoot held me captivated.