Okay, so, here comes my salty old man rant.

  1. No, it does not need Grammarly integration. Grammarly can be used, for free, as a web plugin on any site by a user. This site and app are already janky as it is, and they haven't even fixed the current problems they've had for a while. The last thing they need to do is do some 3rd party API integration into the writing platform, especially when said writing platform doesn't even have easily accessible Bold or Italic options.

  2. Bad grammar and bad formatting are the sign of a lazy writer, or a bad writer. If you write and your grammar or word usage is shite, its your own fault. Good grammar is quite literally the most fundamental part of being a writer, and if you can't fix it on your own, a fancy-dancy app that alerts you to fundamental errors that you're too unskilled or too lazy to recognize on your own will not make you a better writer.

  3. If you think any real publisher provides copy-editing and proofreading for fundamental grammar errors, you have absolutely no idea how actual publishing works. In the real-world publishing game, writers have to submit fully proofread, highly edited drafts to even make it to some junior editors desk for initial consideration. Anything that is less than 99% correct grammatically will be thrown away without a second thought. Why? Because grammar is as fundamental to writing as setting one foot in front of the other is to running. And anyone who submits a trainwreck of grammar errors is both demonstrating a lack of fundamental skill, as well as a lack of respect for the reader's time.

  4. WN/Qidian don't care about quality, or creativity, or basic readability. They care about extracting as much money from a story as possible with the least amount of effort or author pay-out as possible. I would know- I've read their contract first-hand. They don't edit because it literally doesn't affect their bottom line if they don't. The vast majority of readers on here are either ESL members who don't know better, sugar-addled kids who don't care (or maybe even prefer bad writing), or people willing to disregard/tolerate the glaring issues because they like a story's plot or characters.

  5. I'm sorry, but if you as a writer are getting paid to put out shit drafts by a company that doesn't care about minimum quality standards, that doesn't make you a "professional". That makes you an amateur with monetization. Professionals have standards.

    yaoyueyi

    A delete novel option, bold and italic in Inkstone, a direct messaging option, a report function that actually does something, multiple contract types with different terms, a forum that is actually moderated and has different boards for different topic types...

    And that's just the few I can think of without trying. lol

        Clowniac if you get contracted, you can bold/italicize :grin: I'm pretty sure they're trying to roll out this feature to all authors right now, but idk for sure.

        would also be nice to get some of the ridiculous censoring fixed.

            yaoyueyi if you get contracted, you can bold/italicize :grin:

            What? They lock that basic of a function behind contracting? How stupid.

            I just turned a contract down, and will never accept one, so I guess imma have to just deal. Lol

              I talk outside the box, but I always thought that a company like webnovel should provide an editor to each contracted writer, instead they take money, but don't give any help at all to writers. Actually, ever since they have the "wonderful" idea of an unique area shared by original novels and translated novels, the original novels have almost no publicity and all exposure and visibility have practically been monopolized by the translated novels.
              Writers of original novels are treated as inferior authors by webnovel, maybe cuz they cannot boss around them like chinese writers. I mean that if webnovel says to a chinese writer: "Jump!" She/he can only answer:"How high?"
              My 2 cents.

              Norah_Koch Nah, that was the OP's suggestion. He/She explicitly stated Grammarly or similar software, and this post already has the right label Suggestions, so why do I have to re-suggest what he/she previously suggested?

              I was only responding to Tomoyuki's post, which seemed to be shooting down the OP's suggestion as though it was oh-so-wrong to suggest that a digital publishing platform like WN to provide this kind of feature to help their authors. But I think we were just misunderstanding each other. Tomoyuki was basing his argument on all authors in general while I was basing mine on the premium ones. No biggies.

              yaoyueyi Yeah, I can understand why you prefer the delete novel function to this one. As I said in my previous post, I can imagine that at this point, this feature isn't WN's priority. It doesn't mean this suggestion was a bad one that needed to be put down by others, though.

              Clowniac Okay, oh-enlightened-one, it looks like you know much more about the real world than I do. Good for you.

                      Cantiara

                      Gah! I'd go bonkers if the site tried to fix my deliberate errors. I've whipped my wordprocessor into the obedient dog I need, so I'll stay with my pet, thank you very much.

                        Cantiara

                        I mean, I've been writing for over 20 years, have literally made my living as a writer, and been published multiple times.

                        I feel relatively qualified in my opinions. Lol

                        I'm seriously not trying to be an asshole. I'm genuinely not. But what I am saying does need to be said.

                            Clowniac

                            Cause the entire topic is topsy turvy :D

                            1) How can I get paid by Webnovel?
                            2) How can I get Webnovel to write my stories better?

                            In that order...

                            Talk about three faults out of two possible.

                                Clowniac Ok, let me bow down first. ｍ（．＿．）ｍ
                                And nah... I didn't see you as an asshole, just a condescending and slightly bitter person? I mean, I almost compared you to a Mr./Ms. thundercloud, who didn't get to eat his/her bowl of sunshine this morning.

                                StenDuring The OP offered this suggestion from a reader's perspective, though. Not from an author's view that would like WN to help them write their stories better. I'm also a reader, and it's true what Clowniac previously said, on point #4 of his previous post, that I'm the kind of reader who is willing to disregard glaring errors as long as I like the story's plot and characters. But it doesn't mean I don't want better value for my money. And if this kind of integration would give us that good ol' bit quality assurance, then why not? And please, by all means, stay with your word processor, you're probably one of those authors who, like Clowniac, don't need help with your grammar anyway.

                                And honestly, I still don't understand why was there a need to shoot down this suggestion just like that?

                                "No! No need for Grammarly integration!"
                                "No! It's the authors' responsibilities! Those who don't provide good quality work are just lazy authors!"

                                Fine, chide those authors as much as you want for being lazy, but as a reader, what's my option, then? Just suck it up or leave the app?

                                My point is, please don't shoot down suggestions like this, just because you all think you know better. Don't be a little ray of pitch black. And whether or not this suggestion would be accepted or not, it's not up to me, to you, or the OP, hence it's a suggestion. In the end, it's up to WN whether or not they're going to implement it.

                                      Cantiara

                                      Hahahaha, condescending and slightly bitter. That's about accurate, honestly. lol

                                      I'm genuinely a very kind and friendly person, but after I crossed thirty years old, something in me broke, and my ability to censor my inner crabby old geezer suddenly seemed to disappear when faced with certain triggers.

                                      So, in other words, get off mah lawn, ya damn whipper-snappers! (　ﾟДﾟ)＜!!

                                          Cantiara

                                          I believe you misunderstood me. Given the bloody awful editor that inkstone is today I'm rather horrified by the prospect of the interface forcing grammar correction down my throat without me having an opportunity to turn the bloody thing off.

                                          We are, after all, talking about a piece of trash that doesn't support bold, italics or blank lines...

                                            Clowniac Excuse, excuse, excuse... I'm also way beyond thirty, and while it's true that I have far fewer fucks in my pocket to give now, but hey, I can still control my inner bitch and be a nice person ;)

                                                Cantiara

                                                You are a better person than I am. Lol. I think i just enjoy being grumpy. XD

                                                    Tomoyuki My limited understanding of Webnovel (based upon free lurking) is that getting a basic "premium" contract as an author is primarily based upon reader #s and basic premise... all of which seems to be taken quite lightly as the author's low level of compensation is based upon paid spirit stones and not ad-share, reader time, etc. (all of which could be incorrect)... but 'novice' refers to time in the trenches and level of expertise AND 'premium' means paid content (instead of the original definition of "of high/limited quality")... So, a novice may be a premium content provider.

                                                    Webnovel/ QI would be better served by not signing authors to paid contracts until writers are providing well-written copy content regardless of whether the writer or a 3rd party does the copy editing and story guidance. You said it... a professional is supposed to have their shit together... even if writing is a hobby, when the output is available for purchase (even SS) then that work product should be required to be of a market quality (even if that is the market's introductory level).

                                                      Cantiara

                                                      Arguably English is not a second language for several of those writers but rather a foreign language. I'm aware that the distinction is somewhat fluid.

                                                      For example, I'm Swedish, and thus I belong to a small group of nations with a comparatively absurd (average) proficiency in the English language. Still, the opinions vary whether English is a second language or foreign language in Sweden.

                                                      While it's mandatory in school, even given special grading status, it's still not a language officially used here. In that sense it's a foreign language.

                                                      Then there was the mandatory and special grading part. Swedish, English and Math are handled differently when it comes to which subjects you're allowed to fail in order to be considered to have completed primary and secondary education. In that sense English is a second language.

                                                      There's also a pratical layman aspect. TV and movies are subbed because dubbing is simply a stupid overhead. Basically every bookstore comes with a large and well-assorted section of books in English. In that sense English is a second language here (even though the subbing part goes for the occasional movie in Chinese as well) since were in contact with the language more or less every day.

                                                          StenDuring I didn't come up with the abbreviation. ThyUnknownSaint asked what ESL means, which was used by the OP and other posters here. And ESL = English as a Second Language.

                                                          I know about English as a Foreign Language as well. That's EFL. And there is indeed a subtle difference between ESL and EFL, but that's beside the point, isn't it?

                                                          Honestly, I don't know why we're even discussing about this...

                                                              4 years later

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