Portfolio - General Stop the Typos! Professional English Copy Editor

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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
Does your game have typos?
  • Is English your second language?
  • Is English your first language, but you lack time and/or ability to catch and/or correct errors?
  • u txt 2 much n ned hlp?
I'm at your service!

When one enjoys one's job, one generally does better at it, right? Well! I've held copy-editing jobs for over a decade combined, and in my free time, language and syntax have been personal passions, thus I'll let you discern from this very post if I have the skill you need—and note the forum stating I haven't edited.​

Types of writing I've analyzed and fixed:
  • formal newspaper articles
  • slangy opinion pieces
  • conversational transcripts from TV lessons
  • letters, casual and formal
  • TV slides I transcribed from books, borrowing closed captioning regulations for my style guide
  • heavily graphical text (e.g. advertising, headlines and their templates)
  • minutiae, e.g., extra spaces between words
Your game has its own feel, its own requirements.
  • Y'all lookin' fer people talkin' like the who-alls next door?
  • Do you seek consistent GUI and instructional text?
  • Covetest thou to impress thine audience to wit a former world?
  • Are you afraid your 1337 5p33k is too unreadable—or too readable?
  • Unsure which words are whimsical or dry?
  • Would you like advice on programming or data entry for a/an/the, he/she/it, singular/plural dynamics, and more?
I gotcha covered! Yes, that's right, because of me, your game can enjoy proper punctuaction plus present the differences between…
  • too | to | two
  • it's | its | 'tis
  • y'all | ya'll
  • won't | want | wan't
  • who | who's | whose | whom | whomst'd
  • - | – | —
  • regardless | irregardless
  • googol | Google
  • supercalifragilisticexpialidocious | Gandhi
  • etc. | et cetera | &c.
I'm most familiar with modern American English, but I dabble in other colours of the language, too. That said, I prefer to avoid "colorful" language—i.e., profanity, various vulgar topics and jokes, etc. We can still discuss, though; I've often been able to suggest alternatives that folks actually liked and merely hadn't considered before—and I don't mean mere euphemisms or "PG swears" which often sound simply absurd.​

Call to Action:
Start a Conversation with me as soon as you decide your 2019+ video game has outgrown its 1985 Engrish.


I look forward to your message!
Brandon W. Horton
a.k.a. ParodyKnaveBob $:^ J
 
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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
As a special introductory offer, I'll work the first three requests (within reason*) for FREE!

* What's within reason? Hm. Super Mario Bros. 3 features several GUI labels, a few messages from Toad, seven letters mailed, an ending sequence, a credits roll, plus a manual full of technical information and Koopaling jokes. This rides the line of "within reason." The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, on the other hand, probably features more text combined in just its title screen, file selection, attract mode, manual, and first five minutes of gameplay. That game is not "within reason." $;^ ]

Otherwise, we can talk budget once we discuss your project because different sizes and scopes can mean different intensities of work. That said, I've been told I tend to underprice myself; don't worry, my lack of $ listing doesn't mean I'm out to cheat you. $:^ }
 
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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
Just want to say, this is a brilliant idea. I think lot's of people could benefit from this.
Thank you much! I didn't figure this was brilliant, but hey, I'll take it. Indeed, I really hope people find this useful – and useful enough to hire someone over it.

Btw, did you intend to write lot's instead of lots in this thread? Perhaps you should PM me for a project sometime! $:^ b
 
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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
punctu-action? A pun perhaps?
Ho ho! You caught a typo! Not bad considering I wrote most of this in Notepad, lol! Would you like a cookie? $:^ b

I'd fix it, but I love the idea of this particular post staying unedited to push the point. $¦^ J
 
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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
TL;DR There's a time and place to do things wrong. $;^ ]
irregardless, actually, is a word, just a non-standard one. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardless
This is why I said "your game can ... present the differences between" those items. Irregardless, wan't, and ya'll, each have literal meanings a wordsmith could derive from their structures, (regarding, want not, ya will (you will),) each entirely different from the intention (regardless, want / will not, you all). If it helps to put things into perspective:
  • character's standard English dialogue box: Regardless, you all left.
  • character's colloquial dialogue box: Irregardless, y'all left.
  • character's colloquial hand-painted wooden sign: YA'LL "LEFT"
(For the uninitiated, those are unintentional scare quotes at the end. Many people use quotation marks to emphasize things, not realizing that in standard English, they de-emphasize, actually scaring the reader to call into question the credibility of what's quoted. Scare quotes. The reader nevertheless gets the nonstandard message.)

Different characters have different voices, but one should keep these voices separate. Just because a character's dialogue properly spells and punctuates what one says, it can still be full of nonstandard or slang words and phrases, and it also doesn't mean that character would write it correctly oneself. Contrariwise, even if a character can't write very well, one's spoken language should be clearly written out (warts and all) for us, the audience.
 
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Master Maker

Guest
Good job, Brandon. I appluad you. Unfortunately, I don't have a need of an English translator, as it is my first (and, almost only) language. If anyone does need a hand, I recommend you.
 
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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
Howdy, all. I've been away from the GMC for over a year due to illness and then hardware issues. That said, I was able to check my e-mail occasionally, thereby not losing tabs on anyone who'd seek my service. In fact, before months of absence buried this thread, someone here even asked about my service regarding a non-video-game project, which is fine and cool. Like my first post says, I'm certainly not limited to games only. $:^ ]

So! My doors are open for business. To restart us off, I'll give that same introductory promo. Get it while it's hot! heheheh

Since it's been awhile, my only real "disclaimer" is that I do not have a GMS 2.x license. This only means I can't fire up your GMS 2.x project in my IDE. I can still examine a script, screenshots, or a playable .EXE or HTML5 port. Likewise, I can view any other project on the surface this way. For that matter, I can read through a GMS 2.x project in text format, but that would probably be painful for everyone involved, lol. Otherwise, I can still use GMS 1.4, no problem.

Regards,
 
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ParodyKnaveBob

Guest
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Well! The 10 Year Anniversary Special GMC Jam #40 is upon us! As I posted in the official discussion thread, I offer this prize to the entrants placing 4th–6th (at my discretion): my services for their next projects (within reason as usual) for free. $:^ ] (These do not count toward my "first three requests" promo, either! Good timing, eh?) Now, go win win win! er, uh, have fun out there, folks. $:^ P
 
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