Request to edit

[homo078]

Hello everyone I have short stories I wrote and would love for someone to help me with editing I have dyslexia and my English is not very good.

[Xtc]

When you say, "short", how short?

[drawscore]

Most stories are typed out on a word processing program (Microsoft Word; Open Office, etc.) and spell checked, prior to posting. (Or at least, they should be.) I use Open Office, which produces an 8x10 page with one inch margins all around.

Personal feelings are that 1-12 pages, is short. 13-27 pages, is medium; 28-40 is long; and more than 40, is a novel.

Drawscore

[Xtc]

Spell checking, although essential even for native speakers, does not solve all the problems. A non-native speaker can, often with embarrassing facility, often produce immaculate English prose but it still will probably not sound "English". Colloquial forms are often not adopted and cultural references are often missed.

A favourite anecdote of mine concerns translating the saying, "The cobbler's children go worst shod," into German. The best translation appears to be, "In the house of the blacksmith, the nails are made of wood". That rendering has, of course, not been rendered into "English" English just to make the point.

[Beaumains]

Editing is a lot of work, and in my humble experience, takes at least as much time as the writing itself. I'm also no native English speaker myself and know how hard it is to write in another language than your mother tongue, so I can give you some advice. There are many great websites out that are much better in spelling/grammar checking than anything from Microsoft Office.
www.grammarly.com is a freemium text-editor with an amazing grammar check, and IMO the best out there. I use the free version, and I quite like it.
www.scribens.com is inferior, but completely free and still finds many errors, although it is sometimes incorrect. Great for expanding your vocabulary.
www.hemingwayapp.com is also free. It is more to check that your text is readable, and finds long sentences, adverbs, passive voice uses, and difficult words.

[Xtc]

Beware of avoiding passive voice; it is a perfectly acceptable grammatical form, especially when reporting events.

[Beaumains]

Passive voice is very acceptable, but I don't like to have it overused. In many cases, an active voice is 'stronger' than a passive voice. I am not arguing to remove them at all, but that editor is a nice tool to have an overview where and how often you use it.