I have been thinking about this for some time. I really, really could use a third party to proofread the reviews before I post them. A few years ago a very competent fellow by the name of David Emery used to help me out in this respect. David dropped out of sight after helping out with the proofreading, so I hope that life is treating him well.
Anyway, I would like to find someone else who can assist here. Someone with some skill at the English language that can point out to me when I make stupid mistakes. Changing between past and future in the same paragraph, unclear sentences, that sort of thing. What I would do is email the review to them prior and then receive back a list of suggested corrections after a few days. I tend to work ahead, so the extra time needed is not a problem. This was what David and I had worked out and it functioned well.
Also, I was thinking about improving the overall quality by enlisting anyone's help. I would post a link for a form to report errors in a review. Someone could fill out the form (or send an email) pointing out the typo or plain dumb writing mistake. At the end of every month I would give out a DVD at random to someone who had spotted a mistake in a review during that month.
Any thoughts on either plan or a volunteer?
Don't ask Nathan...he proofreads worse than you :)
I would gladly proofread your reviews. Small price to pay for the amount of time I spend at this site of yours.
Not that I'm some sort of brain genius, but I can't put up the simplest post to any message board without obsessively going over the grammatics and making repeated trips to dictionary.com. If you've ever had the argument with yourself over whether you should include that comma to indicate sentence flow, or to remove it because you think it's a distracting overkill on punctuation, you may know what I mean.
Well, who doesn't want free DVD's? I think that little side project may end up more work than you are expecting. If you want to give out free DVD's, I would suggest pointless contests for those who regularly post on your message board. There's a reason I keep coming back to this site, and it's the impossilby well-rounded movie wisdom of those who congregate to this place.
I like the idea. A free DVD to whomever can watch the most SKULL reviews in one sitting. It may be hard to prove, but it's interactive and you've got a good group here. Most consecutive viewings of SEXTETTE, or whatever skull you have lined up this year? We're a good group, we're not going to lie.
Just an idea to float. It sounds like fun. I know I sure as hell wouldn't watch seven viewings of SEXTETTE just to win a DVD. I'm only human. But what do you have to lose?
I've been diagnosed with ADHD, mild symptoms of OCD, & shown signs of Asperger's/AssBurger's syndrome, which makes me patient & insightful, with an eye for detail.
The trouble is, I've been diagnosed with ADHD, mild symptoms of OCD, & shown signs of Asperger's syndrome.
I guess the qualifications would all depend on how reliable & articulate your proofreader(s) would need to be, as well as just how much nitpicking you can stomach.
As Mofo Rising mentioned, I do at times get a little confused as to whether or not that extra comma is overkill, but I'm usually able to tell whether or not someone is intentionally using improper grammer as a joke, and I've got a couple of different spell checkers on my pc. Albeit, MS Word & I often disagree on whether or not "kinda" & "y'all" are words, bot I understand that "aint" & "gonna" have managed to establish themselves within acceptable grammer.
If you're a registered imdb user, then you may want to check out my "Stuff I've Updated" page at http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=15960109 .
In the meantime, I noticed a teency little typo in your review for Godzilla: Final Wars, in which a couple of words needed the letter "a" between them.
Frankly, I wouldn't mind getting a sneak peek at at a few upcoming reviews.
Why worry? This is a site for bad movies after all. Maybe we could start writing reviews on your bad reviews. I can just picture the talk around the water cooler now:
Person A: "Boy was Andrew's last review about Godzilla Final Wars terrible!"
Person B: "Terrible? Don't you mean fantastic??? Just look at how he misused the term 'sense' to illustrate his enjoyment of what he outlines is a great film! Plus the over-use of the word 'sudden' is just hilarious in it's sarcastic ineptitude!"
But yeah, a proofreader may help if you think you need that sort of thing, though I personally switch between tenses all the time and grammar?? What grammar? Sure I know enough about English to work with, but for this sort of medium, I tend to write how I think, so it seems more like my inner monologue rambling on and on about some inconsequential fact... You see?
Besides, reading a review about large galactic monsters, zombies and bad acting generally allows you a certain degree of latitude: it's amazing your brain is able to recognise the need for a proofreader, let alone know how to type after some of the terrible films you've watched. That being said, I enjoyed Gigli, so I guess there's hope for us after all...
Oh and the dvd idea is nice! Bribe your audience with tasty goodies!
I will volunteer for the proofreading position. I've got plenty of time before and after work each day, I enjoy your reviews, and it would just be pretty cool to do. I like the sound of the proofreading form but, come on, your writing isn't so awful you need to go to all that trouble! lol
I'll throw my hat into this ring as well. I'm anally retentive when it comes to spelling and grammar. Be warned that I insist on British/Canadian spelling, however. It might cause a war....
I know I'm not as regular a poster as some who have already volunteered, but I do read the board here every day (except weekends sometimes), and I do have my master's degree in English and teach classes at the local junior college. I would be happy to take a look at your reviews if you'd like.
If you need a hand with polishing your reviews, I am a former newspaper editor, currently full-time Dad looking for stuff to amuse myself during nap time.
Quite a variety of volunteers....
I have an interesting thought on this, but will probably have to wait until I get home to put it into motion. I might make a hidden phorum and give a few people access via their accounts. Then I can just post reviews there that require proofreading.
Between that and the public proofreading, it should help me maintain a site that is as quality as I can make it.
I'll volunteer as a proofreader. I write and review reports at work all the time anyway, so a little more reading on my part won't be a big deal.
You can count me in for the public proofreading as well. Now, about your review of "Godzilla: Final Wars" . . .
Now *here* is a use for a wiki site...
Andrew, if I may make a suggestion, it might be best to limit your initial proofreaders to two or three people. It's not anything against the group of volunteers you've wracked up so far, but in my experience, any time a large group of people make suggestions about a piece of writing, all you get is a bunch of contradictory inputs. You've already developed your writing style for this site, so all you are looking for is a backup to help you catch things you might have overlooked. Most of the volunteers sound like they would be good candidates, so you've got a good base to choose from. Obviously, the final choice is up to you; however, having suffered through too many sessions of "writing by committee," I thought I should say something.
I definitely agree with you. The site is a very personal work and the intent is to raise the level of writing by catching errors or such. Honestly, and I am not intending to insult anyone, I do not want an editor. Badmovies.org has to be my outlet, despite being just a dumb Marine.
At present, I would like to ask AndyC, Mofo Rising, and Derf to proofread. I will enable access to the new board and send you all a message with the link.
On the other hand, if anyone does note a mistake in one of the reviews then I have an idea. I will post a sticky for the month of June (starting now, in May). Put the mistake in the thread and I will put your name on the list. At the end of June I will randomly pick someone out of the group (probably via a php script) and ask what free DVD I can send you for the help. AndyC, Mofo Rising, and Derf will always be eligible.
Sounds fair. Going with the known quantities....
If any error jumps out at me I'll let you know.
I wood volonteer for this butt my spelink suxes.
I know English much good. Actually, I'd love to help out, but don't have the time with two jobs. I do appreciate the commitment to quality, thats for darn sure. But hey, I'm not a stickler either, if a dangling participle gets past the censors, I won't tear up my membership card.
-Ed