Sunday, January 23, 2005
Asterisks are the new quotation marks
Title: Eyes of Ice
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: Dragonlady666
Location: http://www.fanfictionworld.net/hparchive/viewstory.php?sid=83686
Feedback given:
Wow, have you ever been taught how to use punctuation? Or proper writing form/structure? There is more to a story than simply the plot and characters.
Quotation marks are used around speech. An asterisk is never, ever, a substitute for a quotation mark.
The end of a sentence, even speech, requires punctuation. This punctuation can take the form of a comma, period, question mark, or exclamation mark. Using no punctuation is not acceptable, ever.
You appear to be a bit confused on the use of 'an' versus 'a'. A good rule to remember is when the next word begins with a vowel, use 'an'.
There's also a bit of confusion of the word 'too'. Too generally means "also, in addition to, moreover" where as To can be defined as "expressing what is reached or approached or touched". In this case - '...and start too take...' - the use of 'too' is incorrect.
Running your work through a spell-checker is highly recommended. Not only will it find spelling errors, but also areas where you've missed spaces. If your word-processing program does not have a spell-check feature, an on-line version is available at www.spellcheck.net. An added bonus of using a spell-check program is that a number of them will also perform a grammar check.
Before posting anything further, take the time to proofread your work and ensure it is the best it can possibly be. If at all possible, have someone else read over your work. Authors will often miss their own mistakes whereas someone else will catch them.
Ensuring your work is as error-free as possible does take extra time, but your readers (present and future) will thank you for it. If you cannot, or will not, do this then don't post anything further. The Harry Potter fandom is awash with poorly written stories - don't add to it.
[Edit Jan 24-05] Story removed
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: Dragonlady666
Location: http://www.fanfictionworld.net/hparchive/viewstory.php?sid=83686
Feedback given:
Wow, have you ever been taught how to use punctuation? Or proper writing form/structure? There is more to a story than simply the plot and characters.
Quotation marks are used around speech. An asterisk is never, ever, a substitute for a quotation mark.
The end of a sentence, even speech, requires punctuation. This punctuation can take the form of a comma, period, question mark, or exclamation mark. Using no punctuation is not acceptable, ever.
You appear to be a bit confused on the use of 'an' versus 'a'. A good rule to remember is when the next word begins with a vowel, use 'an'.
There's also a bit of confusion of the word 'too'. Too generally means "also, in addition to, moreover" where as To can be defined as "expressing what is reached or approached or touched". In this case - '...and start too take...' - the use of 'too' is incorrect.
Running your work through a spell-checker is highly recommended. Not only will it find spelling errors, but also areas where you've missed spaces. If your word-processing program does not have a spell-check feature, an on-line version is available at www.spellcheck.net. An added bonus of using a spell-check program is that a number of them will also perform a grammar check.
Before posting anything further, take the time to proofread your work and ensure it is the best it can possibly be. If at all possible, have someone else read over your work. Authors will often miss their own mistakes whereas someone else will catch them.
Ensuring your work is as error-free as possible does take extra time, but your readers (present and future) will thank you for it. If you cannot, or will not, do this then don't post anything further. The Harry Potter fandom is awash with poorly written stories - don't add to it.
[Edit Jan 24-05] Story removed
# posted by hellsbit_ch @ 1:36 PM 
