Lemma Soft Forums

Hello. I am new to the Lemma Soft Forums, although being the creeper that I am, have been stalking them periodically for some time.

I am in the process of creating a game and am nearing the point to where I will need to obtain proofreaders, editors, and people to critique and/or make me ashamed of myself as a writer and human being. But before I open myself to said criticism and critique, I wanted to know if there are any unspoken 'rules' in getting help.

Such as:
-Is is commonplace to give the actual script to the proofreader/critic, or just the game file?
-Best form of communication (E-mail, ect)
-Timeline to give..?
-Should I, as the person asking for free help, offer anything in return for this free labor? Such as a free cyber-cookie, or a B-grade sketch of a monkey playing cymbals?-'shot'
-And anything else you may know.

Thanks in advance!

I don't think there is any unspoken 'rule' for getting help, but if there is, man... I've been living under a rock XD
If you open a WIP, I'm pretty sure you're bound to get someone to help you proofread your script.
Also, it probably depends on your proofreader and what he/she prefers. Like one would prefer e-mail, while another one could prefer something else.
Sorry if that didn't seem like much ^-^;

Thanks. Wasn't sure on that. I'll just wing it and see what happens.

By the way, a little 'completely' off-topic, but like your username. Brings to mind a cuddly shinigami for some reason lol.

I wish you luck ^-^

lol, I have the urge to draw something like that now XD

I think that it may be best to give both the script and the game file. Just so that the proof reader/copy editor has a deeper understanding of the kind of story you wish to create. It's all well and good that they will spot your spelling mistakes or grammatical errors and help in that aspect, but you have to make sure that they are not trying to change more than they should (which you probably know), so trust is a key factor here.

Uh, I am also pretty sure that most people on the lemma soft forums will not wish to be contacted by phone... The most common (I would have thought) would be e-mail or IM. IM would be preferable if a ton of questions were needed to be asked and quick answers equally needed.

Timeline is always tricky. As so many factors need to be accounted for. The editors skill/time available, for one.
The best way is to tell them how many words there are in the whole script and send a sample of your writing to the editor so that they can assess your abilities to see the amount of work that needs to be done. Then they will be able to give a rough estimate of how long it will take, and stick to that time. (I have met people that can edit 500,000 words in a weekend, so if someone is saying it'll take weeks for them to do a 50,000 word project my advice is to find someone more willing to work or has more free time).

And I think that's all you asked for. I wouldn't say they were rules. Just helpful tidbits. Well. I hope it's helpful. And I apologise if I made any spelling mistakes or the like. I am extremely tired

There is no unwritten rules as such apart from being friendly and respectful. The best way to get you questions answered is to actually ask the people themselves once they offer help. Everyone has individual preferences and you can come to compromises to which one will suit both you and them.

-Aiurax-
I am the veritable nwb in this area, so your detailed response is very helpful. Now I just gotta find someone who won't change weird things in the script, and is fast like ninja! And no worries about spelling mistakes! If they are there, I'm too tired to notice.

-Auro-Cyanide-
So many helpful people on this forum... I love it! Anyways, I thought it was going to be something like that, but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks for confirming.

----Thanks for the replies, I feel more hopeful and less confused about finding help now! Yay me.

No problem! If you ever need any more advice then don't hesitate to ask
... As long as it's not about art. I consider myself painfully aware of my absence of knowledge on that subject.
Anything else, though, feel free to drop me a line. I would be happy to help a fellow budding VN maker.

Just make sure that whoever is doing the proof reading has good writing/reading skills because...well you know.