My posts here are not "manuscript."
CORRECTION: For a while today I've been referring to Amy as Army. I've cleaned my glasses and can see better now. Sorry about the mistake Amy... even perfect people like us make them once in a while ;)
Your posts aren't manuscripts? Really? Let me see if I understand you; I don't want to get this wrong. Because your posts aren't manuscripts it is ok to have errors in them but it isn't ok for others to have errors in theirs? Or are you saying as long as our opinion is the same as yours you'll overlook errors but if our opinion differs from yours and you have no intelligent rebuttal you'll tear our posts to shreds?
I'm not your equal huh? I agree. I've had six-figure sales for screenplays I've written. I've had five-figure options on others. Books I've written have been on the list, how many have you put there? I have an agent, I'm sure you don't. How am I sure? Because you wouldn't be on this site exposing yourself to potential legal action over a couple hundred bucks! I'm not your equal, I'm your superior. You can be Queen of the Words here on these boards and draft better posts than me. I'll stick to being Lord of my fat bank account created by the words I've used.
First of all, are you in love with me? I feel as though I should seek an online restraining order.
Am I in love with you? Perhaps. I suppose that's for me to know and you to find out. I've always liked the sound of "Amy" rolling off my lips in the morning. I'll have to ponder that a bit and get back to you;)
I'm glad to see you paid attention to your grammar book Amy. However, had you taken the time to learn more about punctuation you would've learned that semicolons are a dying thing. Had you any feel for writing in "common language" you'd know to refrain from using them except when you really want to draw attention to that part of your work.
Here's the part where I spill some knowledge onto the page so grab your pencil, crayons or whatever you're allowed to write with and take notes.
Writing isn't what your professors demanded from you in class. It is about communicating with people on a level, in a way they will understand. You are trying to get whatever idea that is trapped inside your mind into theirs. Getting that exact picture across takes skill and patience. You have neither at this point. Sure you may be able to pull straight A's for your work but that's all you know at this point.
I say that without knowing anything about you other than what you've posted. If I had to venture a guess, I would say you suffer from some sort of inferiority complex. Did you spend your adolescence being thought of as stupid? Do you feel the uncontrollable need to display your intelligence? I'm sure you do. The way you talk down to people on these boards supports my theory. Because of that need is why your work came back as plagiarized. Confused? That doesn't surprise me. I'll clear it up for you provided you promise to understand that this is only a partial picture based on what info my research has churned up to this point.
When a student buys an essay or whatever and turns it in he/she runs the risk of getting busted. The crime? Plagiarism. When a professor discovers work he/she knows the student didn't do, he/she marks that work as plagiarized material. Watch closely, here comes the part that makes me look really, really smart. In definition the work IS plagiarized. The student tried to pass the work of another person off as his/her own. Classic textbook plagiarism. In an academic atmosphere it doesn't matter if the student paid for it and owns it. In the end it still is work done by another presented as the work of the student.
What happens next is where the headache begins for the author of the work. The student complains to the site they purchased the work from. Still watching closely? Need me to define any of the big words before going on? The site in question, like many others, is set up to keep you from getting paid. They sell the work "as is, no refund" and create a tricky list of requirements and disqualifiers that the writer has to navigate to ensure payment. Shady? Yes. Uncommon in the writing industry? No.
In short, they will pay you as the time table states. The trick is for you to work within the requirements and avoid the disqualifiers. If you do that and the student doesn't get busted, you will get your money as promised. Even if the student gets busted you can get your money. The trick is navigating the convoluted appeal process when a plagiarism complaint is leveled against you. Frankly, if your student gets busted it is just as mush your fault as it is theirs. Like hell you say?
You're a professional. Because of that fact you have your ego in check. You've agreed to write something anonymously. You should've taken the time to make sure your final product isn't above your customer's pay grade. You didn't do that, did you? No, I think not. You wanted to show the student and his professor how smart you are. You used a million dollar vocabulary and every format and punctuation rule you could pull from a Quick Access book to show that student how lucky he was to have you; the Queen of the Words, working for them. The result was your student got nailed for plagiarism and you didn't get your money.
Instead of taking the time to follow the appeal process as you agreed to do when you checked the box accepting the terms, you argued with them and ran around blasting them. How sad.
Go ahead and run around these boards picking on writers you feel are not your equal. Go forth almighty Queen of the Words and spread forth all the textbook grammatically correct work you can. Ignore the advice of those who know, those who've been there and done that. Keep putting those words down just as your English teachers taught you, you'll do them proud. You won't be alone. You're not the only one out there that knows it all. Go. Have your fun. The rest of us? The rest of us will be right here collecting our money.
