Who has changed my story?

[pervinmt]

Thanks for the support chi4loads, I'm glad someone else understands how frustrating this is, especially when the meaning had been changed. The most egregious one was, when I wrote,

"No more secrets," Matthew sighed.

It became,

"No more secrets," Matthew returned.

I had specifically chosen the word sighed to convey Matthew's release from his burdens of keeping his secret, that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The change totally negated that.

I guess this bothering me so much because we have very little control over most things in life. But our thoughts and our words and how we express them should be honored. 

[Grey]

I do think it's more than a little hypocritical for a site to insist on not allowing you to edit/remove posts "for the sake of preserving the discussion" but liberally edits the meaning of others' work because they feel like it.

[rawTOP]

16 hours ago, pervinmt said:

Just understand, I take no issue with fixing spelling or extremely awkward punctuation. What I take issue with is changing thoughts or words that need no changing.

For example, I wrote, "Matthew still lives at home, which I like, and saves expenses. He was never much of a partier, good kid, and has all the freedom he wants."

It got changed to, "Matthew still lives at home, which I like, if only as it saves money. Matthew was never much of a party kid, instead he was a genuinely pleasant kid, which meant we gave him all the freedom he wants."

This is not at all how my character would speak. He never would have said "genuinely pleasant," or, "if only as it saves money." I like to write as people actually talk. I'm not writing a flippin Jane Austen novel. This is what I find offensive, changing the characters I'm creating. 

The moderators look out for trigger phases that can get this site in trouble. In this case "good kid" is quite borderline, especially in the context. The word kid has to be used VERY carefully otherwise Google (and the FBI) may start thinking we're promoting things we have no intention of promoting. I suspect that was the intention of the moderator in this case.

The point being, there are things moderators think of that you don't think of. They don't take on work for themselves just for the hell of it. They do it to protect the site. Just because you don't understand what they're doing doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

[rawTOP]

16 minutes ago, pervinmt said:

Thanks for the support chi4loads, I'm glad someone else understands how frustrating this is, especially when the meaning had been changed. The most egregious one was, when I wrote,

"No more secrets," Matthew sighed.

It became,

"No more secrets," Matthew returned.

I had specifically chosen the word sighed to convey Matthew's release from his burdens of keeping his secret, that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The change totally negated that.

I guess this bothering me so much because we have very little control over most things in life. But our thoughts and our words and how we express them should be honored. 

I agree, that edit makes no sense to me either! If a fictional story has merit but is poorly written I'm fine with a moderator "fixing it", but in that particular case the original was better.

[rawTOP]

One of the moderator accounts (that was set up ages ago) seems like it's been compromised. I've locked down the account until I can talk with him and see what's up. That may be the source of the problem. But it's really weird that the damage is so minor.

[pervinmt]

10 minutes ago, rawTOP said:

If a fictional story has merit but is poorly written I'm fine with a moderator "fixing it"

I love and respect this site, and would never write anything to get it into trouble. But I just want to state one more example out of many, then I will let it go. I had written,

I was out of breath as I jumped into our rv. I kicked off my sandles as I tried to figure out what to do next. Do I confront him? Do I pretend nothing happened? That would be the smart thing. But a voice inside kept saying...

It became,

Now out of breath and my heart racing, I jumped into our rv kicked off my sandles as I decided how I would respond to what I had learned. Should I confront him? Should I pretend nothing happened? While I recognized ignoring what I learned would be the course most parents would take, a voice in my mind suggested...

I find nothing wrong with what I had written, and I feel the change was not necessary. It again is not the way my character would talk. I'm all for improving stories when needed, but to rewrite sentences or paragraphs for no reason should not happen. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[chi4loads]

9 hours ago, rawTOP said:

The moderators look out for trigger phases that can get this site in trouble. In this case "good kid" is quite borderline, especially in the context. The word kid has to be used VERY carefully otherwise Google (and the FBI) may start thinking we're promoting things we have no intention of promoting. I suspect that was the intention of the moderator in this case.

The point being, there are things moderators think of that you don't think of. They don't take on work for themselves just for the hell of it. They do it to protect the site. Just because you don't understand what they're doing doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

 

9 hours ago, rawTOP said:

I agree, that edit makes no sense to me either! If a fictional story has merit but is poorly written I'm fine with a moderator "fixing it", but in that particular case the original was better.

 

I agree that there are issues that the mods need to check for to keep the site out of trouble.   However, I don't think they should have the right to change the content without anyone (other than the original author) knowing.  I know from experience that the mods have little trouble hitting the "delete post" button when a site rule is violated.  I think that if there are any content issues, the mods should do that and send a note to the author to know what needs to be changed.   If the site continues to let mods edit posts as they see fit, then there should be a note in the post that says it was altered by a mod for formatting, grammar, and/or content.   If it's content then the original author should have the choice of deleting the post.

You say that they don't just make changes "for the hell of it" but as we have seen from the examples from pervinmt and myself, you have someone on staff that does.   Scumbags that break into sites don't do things like this - they trash huge parts of sites and hold it for ransom.

[punaman]

That's fucking nuts that they change so much of your story, do they think they are better writers than you are? It's your story, nobody talks like the above. What total bullshit

[EricX]

15 hours ago, rawTOP said:

The moderators look out for trigger phases that can get this site in trouble. In this case "good kid" is quite borderline, especially in the context. The word kid has to be used VERY carefully otherwise Google (and the FBI) may start thinking we're promoting things we have no intention of promoting. I suspect that was the intention of the moderator in this case.

The point being, there are things moderators think of that you don't think of. They don't take on work for themselves just for the hell of it. They do it to protect the site. Just because you don't understand what they're doing doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

I wonder if there is a non-burdensome way moderators can pull the story, and explain the issue that needs to be corrected to the author, instead of inserting themselves into the creative process?

[Pozlover1]

Kid translates to Latino Spanish well.

Cabrón, goat, is used in a jovial way at older friends, while Cabrito, kid, is used the same way to younger friends but not directly to children. 

The Collins E-S Diccionario changes this and adds much more negative meanings. Perhaps child traffickers now use “cabrito” to describe their wares.

They have also changed Cholo to erase both the older more benevolent non-racial meaning  of a dark complexion and the current suggestion of illegal activity. 

Edited May 25, 2019 by Pozlover1

[BlindRawFucker1]

It sounds to me as if these edits/changes were made by an ESL person.

 

No one who has English as their first language, would use some of the words and structure that have been used here.

[Pozlover1]

19 hours ago, pervinmt said:

I love and respect this site, and would never write anything to get it into trouble. But I just want to state one more example out of many, then I will let it go. I had written,

I was out of breath as I jumped into our rv. I kicked off my sandles as I tried to figure out what to do next. Do I confront him? Do I pretend nothing happened? That would be the smart thing. But a voice inside kept saying...

It became,

Now out of breath and my heart racing, I jumped into our rv kicked off my sandles as I decided how I would respond to what I had learned. Should I confront him? Should I pretend nothing happened? While I recognized ignoring what I learned would be the course most parents would take, a voice in my mind suggested...

I find nothing wrong with what I had written, and I feel the change was not necessary. It again is not the way my character would talk. I'm all for improving stories when needed, but to rewrite sentences or paragraphs for no reason should not happen. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

“Sandals”

[Guest barefkr2521055]

9 hours ago, ericbttmffx said:

I wonder if there is a non-burdensome way moderators can pull the story, and explain the issue that needs to be corrected to the author, instead of inserting themselves into the creative process?

Exactly!! Agree 100%

[Treehugger]

On May 24, 2019 at 11:53 AM, chi4loads said:

Agreed.   Some of the changes I've found in my story:

Part 5:

… Mark said and they all laughed.

BECAME

…Mark commented.  Gales of laughter ensued. 

Gales of laughter?

Part 8:

“Thanks, I’m glad I went” Steven replied.

BECAME

“Thanks.  I'm honestly glad you extended the invitation, and no less glad I accepted it," Steven replied.  

Who the hell talks like this?

Part 9:

Mark drove back to the hotel and packed his suitcase and backpack.  The three of them got in the car and Mark dropped Joe and Kyle off at their apartment.   

BECAME

Mark smiled and he, Joe and Kyle left the shop, returning to the hotel where Kyle quickly packed his suitcase and backpack, checked-out, and drove Joe and Kyle to their apartment.

This one might be the worst.  It takes two simple sentences and turns it into one run-on sentence and has the wrong character packing and checking out of the holel.   Formatting changes I have NO problem with.  Looking back on my first chapters, they really needed it and I learned how to make it more readable.  It was my first attempt, after all.

 

Heavens to BETSY and Mergatroyd! Sounds like some Jane Austen wanna be got a hold of your manuscript. I understand your frustration. The changes are absurd.

[doitraw]

On 5/24/2019 at 5:04 AM, hodannyboi said:

I'm just shocked that all these years I've really been worshipping Sarah Palin!!

Yeah, this happened to me one post. I guess they think it's funny to auto replace s a t a n with Sarah Palin, and as an injoke I could see how it could possibly be amusing.

But it made my joke nonsensical, and even made it seem like I was trying to make some awkwardly phrased complement to extreme conservatives.

I was annoyed, but not enough to complain. But I could see how if you contributed frequent stories, unnecessary changes could be infuriating.

I also don't think this has much to do with grammar; at least in the straight and trans sections (I don't read the gay stories as much) some of the stories are rife with grammar and spelling mistakes to the point of being functionally illiterate.