I'm sure we all have our own way "that works"...

Me - the whole thing is a PROCESS. LOL

Me, I write my story using MS Word. I tend to archive work in process copies on googledocs. I've been known to share these (read only) to my editors though not all read them in this state.

Once I get a draft to the point I like it, I send it (serially - one at a time) to my editors (depends on what it is - who / how many editors). I send out the MS Word version, with "track changes" turned on.

When I get it back, I review the ENTIRE document - not just the areas where they made suggestions and/or asked comments. In some cases, I send feedback to the editor - explaining things... Some times those explanations end up in the story, sometimes not. Sometimes I send it off to the editor a 2nd time. I've been known to start over with reviewers too - when a later reviewer's comment/suggestion caused a significant change to the story.

Once I've got the STORY how I want it - formatted in MS word...

I open a Notepad ++ window (typically copied from an older post - but not always). I hand code the html to make the browsed page look like I want it to (mostly like the MS Word doc, but not always. I also decide on the "tease" section here.

Once that's all done, I finally come to BCTS and click that "Create Content" link.

I fill in the title, find my name in the list of authors (Note, the first time one posts, one needs to get set up as an Author by Erin/her team.) I set categories that represent the story and I copy/paste the hand crafted HTML into the box provided.

Hitting that Preview button - most of the time - shows me I did all the formatting correctly. But at least 1/3 of the time I have to go and fix things..

TO fix things - I fix my Notepad++ copy, and then paste it into BCTS (always that way). {Sorry Site managers - this has caused your changes to my stuff to get lost on more than one occasion... I don't mind tossing out their changes - most of the time - as the story is MINE. [yes - occasionally the managers go in and "fix" wording and the like.] And, by working in this way - I maintain control over my prose.)

I always re-preview before hitting that final post button... And, even then. After that post, I check how things show up in the site. (A missing </em> at the end may not show up in preview, but it does strange things to the site! Worse are failures to include a </table>, etc.)

The second to last step, assuming the post is part of a larger story is I add it to the cover page (outline).

The final step, for me is continuous... I check for comments. Okay. I like them.

Hope this is what you were looking for.
Anne

I am perhaps the most ignorant Author when it comes to posting stories, but I seem to have developed a simple work-around that may seem disingenuous to many but it does seem to work.

I write in MS Word 2010 for now because it is what I have and I like some of the features. Some people I know use some really complicated features on it and other word processors and I applaud them but for me I need KISS.

So, when I start a story, I don't bother with any extra formating other than I turn on the paragraph markers and make sure that there is one of those little "P" thingies between each paragraph, line of dialogue and any other place in the text where a space would make things clearer. To separate time periods, I simply use a line of "tilde" (~) characters, nothing too complicated.

So after I cut and paste it from my word document to the input place on BCTS, then I go back and center the title, my name and a few other things. It all seems to work out jolly good.

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As far as the particulars about BCTS, it does seem rather straight forward, and I like it, but it did take me quite a lot of time to finally feel comfortable because I generally find computers to be a bit frightening and inscrutable at times.

But for the new, and the few like me, here is my understanding of the process:

I go to "Create content", "fiction", and then wend my way through all the menu selections. Most of my stories are either "General Audience" or "Mature" as I don't seem to write explicit stories any more, if ever.

The word count, I get from the little counter in Word that tells me.

Then, once I have made my way through, all that, I press the Preview and then Submit buttons, and magically it all appears there on the screen before my wide eyes.

There is a little menu along the top of the box where my precious text is displayed, so I go there and make the title and things bold, and center them, and then press Submit I think.

I know that my method is inglorious and simple but I like it.

Much peace

Gwendolyn