Where can I find out if this story is publishable?
Community Forums/General Help/Where can I find out if this story is publishable?
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| Hey folks! As some of you know, one of my hobbies is writing fantasy stories. I was wondering if there's some kind of resource\community\group out there, that could give me an idea of how 'publishable' my story is. I know that you can't tell for sure until you actually try to get your story published, but I'm just wondering if there's something out there so I can tell how good my story really is, before I go through trying to get it published. Or do I just rely on feedback from friends? Thanks, Here's the story if any of you want to take a look. http://joseruizwriting.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-than-ghost.html (If it were to be published, it would be part of a collection of Kate stories.) |
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| I'm sure there are plenty of online writing groups, there's local ones everywhere, check with your local book stores, library etc. Not really in that world myself but have a friend that's trying to make a go of it and he's had good feedback from a local group he found. |
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| You could post it to something like this: http://www.authonomy.com/ They apparently guarantee that those excerpts that get to the top N places will be read by a real life editor. I think a couple of other publishers have a similar service. That said... be aware that even though the vast majority of what publishers receive is rubbish, they also receive more than enough good submissions: your story basically has to be perfect for it to even have a chance, so keep editing it as long as there's any doubt in your mind at all. And remember that because of this, "Publishable" definitely doesn't translate into "will be published" - in fact, there's a very low chance of being published regardless of quality as long as you make unsolicited submissions (the "slush pile"). It may be worth investigating an agent (and of course, the good agents have a similar problem with too many unsolicited submissions). (I didn't read your story... wanted to be able to write the above without feeling sympathy. Will read it now) |
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| Thanks for the suggestions! Due to the fact that I live in an alarmingly small town(Or at least, near it), the only local option 'might' be the local library. I'll ask next time I drop by, to see if there are any writing groups. You could post it to something like this: http://www.authonomy.com/ I'll check it out :) And yeah, I'm aware that my story will have to be pretty darn good to even stand a chance. I think I'll try going through an agent, and see how that works out, after I find out how good my story is, and how much of a chance it might stand. Thanks! Keep those suggestions coming ;) |
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| Check out self-publishing. I believe amazon allows you to self-publish, but you'll have to do more searching, sorry. I saw a article about 3 weeks ago about a woman in her early twenties that is self-publishing. She put up a little story for 99 cents and sold 100,000 in like a month. Actually trying to get a physical book published by a big, elite, publisher? Difficult, to say the least. Even if you do get a book "deal", the cut you take is miniscule compared to the publishers pay-off. Just a warning. Also, no matter if you publish e-books, or physical, I hope your ready to be very thick skinned. No matter how good some people think your story is, others will rip it, smash it, and attack you personally. Just because they can. :) |
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| Actually trying to get a physical book published by a big, elite, publisher? Difficult, to say the least. Even if you do get a book "deal", the cut you take is miniscule compared to the publishers pay-off. Just a warning. I'm not in it for the money. I'll let my computer games do that. I just want people to be able to read it. Preferably quite a lot of people ;) I hope your ready to be very thick skinned. I'm good at dealing with harsh feedback. Just look back at some of the posts here, especially concerning my earlier games! The amazon self publishing option sounds very interesting indeed! I'm going to go research that now. |
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| Wow, the amazon self publishing options is awesome! Thanks so much Shortwind :) I'll just read up on all the legal argy bargy, and then go ahead and try publishing something, lol. |
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| Interesting story. I do have some questions/comments: 1. Do you have an editor? Doesn't have to be a professional, but you need a good third party to help you edit your work. 2. What draft are you on with this story? Do you have any kind of outline for your flow of events, and conversation? 3. I'll ignore the formatting, because I will assume this is a defect of the webpage. But you really need to work on your sentence structure. To many sentences with multiple concepts. Way to many commas. Your very first paragraph could easily be broken down into a more flowing structure. Also, this will allow you to expand your description of the situation, and the main character, creatively. It is your choice, and the choice of the story. Instead of directly telling the reader these nasty things about Kate in one sentence, you can instead allow the reader to infer this information through her own actions. This is a long term character. Someone the reader will want to get to know, and love or hate. If your intent is to convey that these are Alfred's feelings, there is better ways that character can present their opinion. 4. Don't stop writing. One very important thing to remember is you need to learn to separate your logical programming side from your creative writing side. These are two very different disciplines and until your mind is trained properly it will reflect in your writing. This is one concept that Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and others have talked about at length. How to seperate the scientific side of writing from the actual creative story telling. With out making the story seem like it was written by a robot or document specialist. Isaac Asimov was never really happy with most of his works. He credited his editor for a lot of his more famous series. 5. Read. Read what you like to write. You need to learn to how to read with a critical eye. There are actually not that many different styles of writing that get published. You need to study the writing techniques and styles of your favorite authors. Check out the New York Times best selling list and see how those writers convey their stories. 6. Tying into #5, short stories are a world apart from full length books. A short story shouldn't feel like it's trying to cram a whole life's worth of information into a couple paragraphs. The story is good. The idea is sound. You just need some good editing and revision. :) Last edited 2011 |
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| 1. Do you have an editor? Doesn't have to be a professional, but you need a good third party to help you edit your work. Sort of. Besides using Wordpads spell checker, I have my little sister look over my grammar use and sentence structure. She's really good at that kind of thing(And a better writer than me), so she usually catches any errors I make ;) 2. What draft are you on with this story? Do you have any kind of outline for your flow of events, and conversation? This is the second draft. I'm going to go over it again before I submit it to Amazon, and just polish it up a bit. And I rarely have an outline of any kind for my stories. I just go with the flow, and see where the characters go. Very little of the events in this story were planned. 3. I'll ignore the formatting, because I will assume this is a defect of the webpage. But you really need to work on your sentence structure. To many sentences with multiple concepts. Way to many commas. Your very first paragraph could easily be broken down into a more flowing structure. Also, this will allow you to expand your description of the situation, and the main character, creatively. Some of that's a flaw in the web page, but also some of the formatting is down to my own relative noobishness. And yeah, I know I throw in way too many commas, lol. With draft 3 I'll see about cleaning up the structure and formatting. 4. Don't stop writing. I write nearly every day. I'm starting to collect an alarming amount of short stories, not all of which are very good, but all of which are very unique. One very important thing to remember is you need to learn to separate your logical programming side from your creative writing side. Working on it :) 5. Read. Read what you like to write. We had the local handy-man add several book shelves to our living room, just because of how many books my family owns. I read quite a lot, and have lately been trying to take note of how some of my favorite authors achieve certain things. How they convey humor, mystery, etc. How they set up sentence structure, and so on. short stories are a world apart from full length books. A short story shouldn't feel like it's trying to cram a whole life's worth of information into a couple paragraphs. Agreed. I think I did try and cram a bit too much into Alfred's preface, and will try redoing it. Thank you very much Mr. Shortwind, for the superb(And detailed!) feedback. That helps me out a great deal :) My main influence for the Kaitlin Blackwood stories by the way, is Sherlock Holmes. I like telling them from Alfred's perspective, just like how the Sherlock stories are told from the ineffable Watson's perspective. Also I 'try' to add a bit of mystery to them, to make it so Kate has some kind of case to solve. I'm already several thousand words into the next story(Titled Into the Crypt), and have the basic layout for the third and fourth. Currently I'm planning to get these on the Amazon Kindle Single list, and maybe eventually(When I have around 8 or 12), try and get the collection published as a book. Thanks again, |
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| You should try the Amazon Kindle store and maybe also Apple's iBooks. You only have to convert your material into a format that it is compatible with their stores. It's free to upload your material to both stores and they only charge you for actual sales. It's an awesome opportunity. A lot of authors are doing it, and it apparently works very well for some. Well, at least I have been reading a lot of books lately that are not available in print, only in digital form in the Kindle store, and from a lot of unknown authors. There's a lot of talent out there that no publisher wants to touch because of the involved financial risks. But since this is the year 2011, publishers have lost most of their importance and their power. The same thing that happened to the music industry is now happening to the publishing industry - the Kindle and the iPad open a loot of doors for newcomers. So I don't think you should ask if a story is publishable, since you can always publish it yourself (at least in digital form). Writing good books and finding readers for them are the more difficult parts. Put your stuff in the Kindle store and post a link here. I'm sure a lot of us will help you boot strap your endeavor by downloading some of your works. |
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| Have you read the first Dune book? that is the best book ive read |
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| @Winni oh, thanks for brining up the Apple iBooks option. Didn't realize that one was out there :) I'm working on the third draft for my More Than a Ghost story now, and I'll try uploading that to Amazon when I'm done to see how things work out. If it works out well, I have a number of other stories on hand to upload ;) Have you read the first Dune book? that is the best book ive read Yes indeed I have. Although not the very best book I've ever read, it was certainly quite close. I only find it a shame that the rest of the Dune series sort of sucked, which seems inexplicable considering how good the first one was. |
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| Have you read the first Dune book? that is the best book ive read Each subsequent book in the series is worse than the prior one, though. |
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| Werdna: Something to amuse you. As she lies in her bed, her auburn hair flowing down around her bare shoulders, a look of anticipation crosses her delicate face. Her eyes, her golden eyes, shine in the light luster of the moon’s glow. Only a sheet covers the rest of her naked body. The breeze softly whispers around the room, the cool of this summer night finally taking hold. There is a peacefulness about this young woman. A warmth that radiates out into the room. Blissfully it dances with the rhythm of the breeze, touching each wall, and caressing every curve of her innocent form. Effortlessly the worn, tattered air vent comes into play. It stands snugly only inches off the floor. Silently it reminds the young woman it is there. Quietly she glances at her clock. The glowing red numbers seem out of place here in this dim, cozy little bedroom. They pierce the room with an all to eerie glow, discoloring everything. Eleven thirty mouths the numbers. Quietly the woman whispers to herself of the apparent slowness of those numbers. An eternity they have been saying eleven thirty. Only seconds more. Hurry and click to eleven thirty-one. Peace will settle into her at eleven thirty-one. The growing tension of the wait sends her mind backward, past the day's events, past the previous nights horror. She gladly lets those thoughts fade into oblivion. As if on request her mind settles into the memories of many nights earlier. Curiously she can’t remember how long it has been. That thought quickly vanishes as the replay of those wonderful, gentle memories bloom before her half closed eyes. Like always, she is blasted from those memories by the First, or at least that is how she has come to know the sound. Often she has sat and tried to remember what the First actually sounds like. But, in the light of full awareness she can never seem to drum up it's harmonics. As always it is here. Always when she least expects it. Quickly she glares over to her clock, eleven thirty-one. She knew before she even looked. She smiled. Always the First seemed to take her by surprise. Even now it is gone. But she knows it was there, scanning the room. She has come to see the First as a guardian. The caretaker of the others. The First establishes the safety. If all is well then the others usually follow. Many times she has tired to explain to her friends how the First sounds, and what it feels like. But the memory never seems to be there. She has called the First a blast of energy and an instant calm. But even with that she is so unsure. The First has never lasted more then a few seconds, that much she is certain. Then, it vanishes and timidly the others come. Not being a musician she hasn’t ever been able to find a way to reproduce the tones, or even the basic rhythm. Always they are different, but somehow, disturbingly the same. She has come to realize that they are sounds of love. Living entities of vibration soothing her to the soul. Tonight wasn’t any different. Except for her tape recorder. At least she hadn’t forgotten to set that up. Once and for all she would have proof to her unbelieving friends that the music did come. Each night it came to soothe her. To warm her. Moments passed without even a whimper. Something was wrong. Peering around the room she noticed it seemed darker then usual. She then noticed the clock. It was off. “Electricity must be off.” she thought to herself. Of all nights. Calmly she slid out of bed. Throwing on a shirt she walked out into the living room. Glancing out the window she saw nothing except for the faint outline of the other apartment building across the street. The moon even seemed to have gone out. “Brewing storms must have blocked even her gentle light.” she thought. Walking into her kitchen she felt along the wall. There she found a flashlight. It’s beacon screamed into the night, almost blinding her delicate eyes. Startled by her own actions she giggled. Moving carefully she retrieved some candles from the cupboards. After lighting a couple candles and snuggling up on the couch she asked herself why she even bothered. “Why not just go back to bed.” But there was no comfort in that empty statement. The music would not come tonight. She had found it strangely unnerving when it didn’t play. She found security in it’s timeliness, and knowing it was there. All she felt now was a pressing fear. Not really a strong fear. But she still hadn’t become accustom to living by herself in this city. Even though the neighborhood was a good one, she always seemed to get a bit paranoid when things like this happened. Only one other person lived in this building. He was a secretive man. He was the one that somehow released those comforting tones each night. She hadn’t any idea where he came from. Although she did know his name. At least the name on his mail box. But strangely he didn’t ever receive any mail. Even her land lord had asked about him. But what could she say. Suddenly she heard the familiar creek of the stairs. He was coming down. As she listened she noticed how gently and calculated his footfalls seemed to be. Momentarily they paused in front of her door. The knock was almost inaudible. Without thinking she jumped off the couch and scampered to the door. Throwing the lock and unfastening the chain she quickly opened it. A smile and girlish quiver crossed her face as she looked into the candlelit eyes of her neighbor. He was a slender built man. But that didn’t concern her. His face was that of a gentle, intelligent man. There was a look of concern on that face. But it showed little else. Calmly he spoke, “Catherine, the power plant seems to have had a major overload because of this unrelenting summer heat. It’s strange how cool it is now. But I suppose that’s because of the growing storm that will be here around two or so.” His words were soft and gentle. Catherine looked into his eyes. Nothing. She was good at reading people. Especially eyes. But each time she had spoken to this man she seemed to never get anything from his eyes. Except an unnerving and disturbing mix of timid concern. Just as gently he continued, “I hope I didn’t awaken you. If you need anything I’ll be upstairs. I’ve got my small generator from the roof going. If you need power for anything I can pipe some down this way.” Catherine looked at him, growing affection lofted through her, “John, thank you. Would you like to come in?” What was she saying? John looked at her with slight embarrassment. Averting his eyes back to hers he quickly said, “Thank you. But you're not really dressed for visitors are you?” A warm smile crossed his lips. Realizing what little she had on Catherine blushed a deep, bright red. Even in the dim light of John’s lantern she noticed that her shirt wasn't doing much for covering anything. She laughed, “I'm sorry. I completely forgot. Just a moment.” Turning quickly she dashed to her bedroom. “Come on in.” She hollered to him as she darted around the corner. John noticed to himself how beautiful a woman she was. Back in her bedroom she couldn’t keep from laughing at herself. If it was a freebie that he was wanting then she realized she had just made it too easy for him. She looked at herself in the mirror. There was just enough light from the half obscured moon for her to see that he had just gotten a perfect look at her legs, not to mention other parts down there that she wished were more in shape. Especially now. “Not that there is anything wrong with my behind.” she thought. Just a bit more firmness would be nice. She then glanced at her shirt. At least that was obscuring what was there. Besides, she liked her upper body. At least something on her was close to perfect. Throwing on her old sweats she hurried back into the living room. John was there sitting on the couch. His lantern burned brighter now and she saw that he had brought a small cooler with him. Going around the couch she sat down beside him. Softly, more because the quiet of the night seemed to call for it, she spoke, “I’m sorry John. I hope you don’t think I’m some kind of...Well you know...” She blushed slightly as her companion quietly smiled. He looked at her. Always in the eyes. She wasn’t sure if he was still embarrassed, uninterested, or just shy. But she took comfort in knowing that he had at least shown the courtesy not to stare. Still smiling she noticed how his words seemed to come easy, and natural, “That's ok. It’s my fault for not giving you fare warning that I was coming down.” Catherine realized what an attractive young man he appeared to be. Even in the dim light she could tell he meant what he said. She knew without knowing that he was a kind, and gentle man on the inside. Now the nervousness set in. She wanted to kick herself for that. Why was it that she could never seem to stay calm when so close to someone like this. Shifting around a bit he made himself more comfortable. Still keeping a tad distance between them he turned so he could more easily look into her face. “I’ve been meaning to formally introduce myself, but, oh well, excuses, excuses, is all I can come up with for now. Not all of them being rational I must admit.” His words danced around her. It was like his music she thought. She had no doubt now that he was the creator of that beautiful music. The thought occurred to her that she should ask him about this music, “John, how do you produce the music that I hear each night?” He looked away. She had caught him off guard. She was surprised by this, he didn’t seem to be the type to show things like that. Never before had she ever surprised him with anything. But never before had she asked him any real personal questions. Everything up to that point had just been a scant hello in the hall, or her introducing herself when she moved in months ago. She thought to herself that he was in some respects correct. He hadn’t formally really introduced himself, this would be the first real conversation they had ever had. Quickly she continued, “If you would rather not talk about it I understand. I have a friend who plays piano, but only when she thinks no one else can hear her. Sort of like my singing I guess.” “No, that’s not it.” He quakingly began. He remained somewhat calm, although he still wasn’t really looking at her. “You see, no one has ever asked me about it before. No one besides you has ever heard it.” He slowly looked over her entire face before he continued. Glancing back to his hands he slowly, steadily proceeded, “Catherine, until tonight I had only seen you from afar. This may make you uncomfortable but,” He looked at her now, seriousness in his face, but still strangely that look of loss didn’t leave his eyes, “you are an attractive and intelligent young woman. I've heard a couple of your lectures at the local school. Brilliant is all I can say.” Pausing he seemed to be waiting for something, not getting it he continued, "I've been working with the music, as you call it, for some time now. But it never had shape, or form. Somehow seeing you the first time, hearing your voice, it changed. Now I have somehow accomplished the form, the shape." Again he paused, but as before he continued. A slight smile crossed his face as he began, "I'm not really sure why. But the music seems more beautiful then it ever did before." Then, as if on queue she heard a quite murmur from her bedroom. Surprise over took her. A long, happy smile came into her eyes, and crossed her face. "John, is that your music?" she asked him, already knowing the answer. He looked at her for a moment, puzzled. "You know, it sounds much clearer then I ever imagined. I was never real sure how it sounded down through the vents of this old house. If you'd like to get a real sense of how it sounds then your welcome to come up, and listen." She thought for only a moment. Running into the bedroom she grabbed her tape recorder. Slowly the music rolled around the room. It was if a dozen small fireflies were buzzing around the room with small instruments. The notes came from every wall. Every corner was filled with soothing, gentle music. Carefully she sat down on her bed. There were so many beautiful sounds tonight. Many she hadn't heard before. The rhythm was much gentler, more caressing then ever before. She couldn't help but feel calm and unnerved. All the stress of the last week was slowly being stripped away. Only the music remained in her thoughts, only the handsome man that made it all possible. Slowly she laid herself down in the bed. Carefully she closed her eyes and listened. The music seemed closer when her eyes were closed. It seemed less afraid, and more vibrant. Moments later the whole room seemed filled with even more individual players. Each one different, but all more or less playing the same theme. She could feel a slight brush across her face as a note or two danced closer. How alive they all seemed. They reminded her of a spring day. They reminded her of how it felt to be a child and lie in the tall spring grass. The sky above looked clean. There were no clouds, only the deep blue of the sky. The sun was there. Bright and warm. It's light played through the budding of the trees. She thought to herself how fun it would be if her friends could be here now, listening to the music of spring, hearing the notes, feeling the rhythm. But they were gone. They were not real friends. They did not believe she was hearing such wonderful music from the apartment upstairs. How handsome a man she had just came to realize that he is. How now, he was sitting in her living room, waiting to take her to the source of this magical music. "Oh no!" she shouted to herself. Lifting her eyes she looked at the clock. It was there, flashing. There was the normal glow from the window, the normal glow of early morning. Jumping from the bed she ran into the living room. No one was there. She had fallen asleep. He had let himself out. In her hand was the tape recorder. She had even forgotten about that, again. Looking down at it she noticed that it had not been turned on. That wasn't a very big surprise. Somehow, someday, she'd have to find a way to record this wonderful music. Someday she'd prove to her friends that it was there. Irritatedly the phone rang. Without thinking she answered it. "Hello." She said. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. "Hey girl, did you get your music recorded last night?" Came the sarcastic voice from the other end. "Or did the short power outage scare it away?" The voice laughed. It was cold, and cruel. She looked at the phone. She looked at the tape recorder. Silently she set the tape recorder down, thought about last night, how she'd finally sort of really met the man who made the music, and said, "I don't want to here about it." :) |
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| Hello. Shortwind, I don't know if that's yours or werdna's work but my initial thought was that it contained way too many adverbs and they sometimes didn't make a lot of sense - quietly she glanced at the clock? I don't know about you but my glances rarely make any noise. Trim 'em. Goodbye. |
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| That excerpt REALLY needs a spellcheck. |
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| That's his work :) Shortwind. Although I don't really like it , that's mainly because I don't care much for the romance genre, which is what I'm counting it as. Saying that, I think it is well written, and rather interesting. Certainly better than the average Joe could do. How long have you been writing for, if you don't mind my asking? |
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| SoggyP, :) Malice, spell check? Examples please? Only one actual "spelling" error that I know about... :) Werdna, just fun. A old piece I wrote in my youth. Many problems with it. How long have I been writing? Longer than you've been on this earth, my friend. :) hmmm. Let's calculate it: I've been writing for 35 years. Fiction was always just a exercise for the mind to relax, a psychological release so to speak. True communication is through the written word. Both in the process of writing and reading those words. It is a dying skill in this new technological world. Everyone is in a hurry now. The greater work is actually a sci-fi/psychological themed mystery. The implied romance is just that, implied. (Ask yourself this: When the music starts to play after the power outage, who/what is she really experiencing as she describes something touching her? Is there malice involved? Is she just really being played?) A work that could ever get published? No. A work I'd ever publish myself? No. There are many problems with the work that I can not fix. Problems that are beyond my "fiction" writing skills to correct. Have I ever published any works, fiction, research, technical? No, nothing public. :) Have I had paying writing positions? Yes, technical documents, research. :) We are probably going to get flamed for talking so much about writing. LOL :) Last edited 2011 Last edited 2011 |
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| Malice, spell check? Examples please? Only one actual "spelling" error that I know about... :) Nice try, but I'm not gonna do it for you ;) Here's a few to start with though. "I don't want to here about it." Then, as if on queue AND heard a quite murmur she had just came to luster AND coloring AND Realizing what (maybe just US?) Even her land lord had asked about him The grammar needs some work too; especially when to put in commas, when not to use full stops (or 'periods'), not beginning a sentence with 'And' or 'But', and how to write speech or thoughts within quotation marks. Last edited 2011 Last edited 2011 |
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| Let's calculate it: I've been writing for 35 years. Yes, technical documents, research. :) Gah, didn't realize you've been writing that long, lol. No wonder you have such excellent advice :) The greater work is actually a sci-fi/psychological themed mystery. Very intriguing! Is it available online anywhere? (Or if nothing else, via e-mail?) It is a dying skill in this new technological world. Alas, tis seems to be so. The written word is so very overlooked now. Me and a friend were just talking today about how it's too bad people don't send letters anymore. They all write e-mails instead ;( We are probably going to get flamed for talking so much about writing. LOL And as I was just telling a buddy of mine. I should definitely base a game on this story. Yep, a computer game, that I'll make at some point. That's why I posted this in the first place of course. Just looking for advice on the quality of that game. Yep, that's all it is. Nothing to see here moderators, move along. not beginning a sentence with 'And' or 'But', There is technically correct writing, and then writing that comes from the soul. The second doesn't have to follow the rules of the first ;) |
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| Malice, :) Hmm, these are syntactical errors. The compiler must need debugging. ;) (just kidding.) Alright, here instead of hear. Also, quite instead of quiet. Luster, coloring? What's wrong with those? :) (Or do you want to see colour?) Land lord, ok typing problems. hmm, realizing? Oh, you'd prefer realising? :) she had just came to -- no comment, just... crap. |
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| Werdna, well the entire work isn't on my computer. As I said, I originally wrote this work in my youth. I was around 16 when I wrote this piece. You know, when the hormones are flaming and the thesaurus is your best friend? ha ha. Anyway, back then I did most my creative work on an old manual typewriter. We didn't have home computers back then. I can see what I can do to get the entire piece into the computer and email it too you. You would do yourself a greater favor by reading Garth Nix's Abhorsen series. Lireal is my favorite, don't know why, just is. It's actually the last book in the series, but oh well. Are you going to college? Do you have the ability to setup a forum on your website? Or is this just a blog site? I've racked my brain, but I can't remember the answer. There is a free service on the net somewhere of professional editors/educators that will read your material and offer you technical advise. Might be worth checking out something like that. Also, if you have any chance to get into a writing club that would be helpful as well. I've not done any searching on the subject, but in this day and age there has to be writing clubs on the internet. If not, then maybe that's your million dollar project? :) If your not buying, or subscribed to the magazine "Writer's Digest", do so. A place to possibly look for more information for new writers is "fan fiction" sites. I know the Harry Potter realm has a huge fan fiction base. (As well as Star Trek, Buffy, Angel, etc.) Look up some of these sites and see if you can find forums or groups that can help you in your writing. Your in a delicate phase of your writing at this time. You really need hard-hitting technical advice and help from someone who can justifiably put your work on the chopping block. You can't do this alone. Any successful writer will tell you this. Steven King wrote a lot of crap before he came into his own. And he has even admitted that he still writes crap from time to time. But it is part of the process. In the end a twenty page short story can be the hardest project you may ever work on your entire life. Look up Hugo award winning authors and read their short stories. Then, go back and examine the works from the technical point of view. It can take years to define your own voice. As far as professional editors? Well if you were to actually find one that would work with you, don't expect to pump out a short story or novel in three drafts. More like 50. The real editing process is harsh, sometimes cruel, and definitely a pain in the ass... unless your just a genius. :) Don't know if you read Tom Clancy, but he's one of those "genius" writers that doesn't actually write. ha ha. He actually "thinks" his books, then dictates them to his secretary who actually does the writing. There is a famous interview of him on 60 Minutes if you can find it. Sorry, I got the rambling bug... :) :) Last edited 2011 |
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| Hey Shortwind, Yeah I wsn't sure on colouring, realising, luster - what I meant by "maybe US" was if you were writing American English, then of course, it's correct for you :) "fair" instead of "fair" "cue" instead of queue, "accustomed" instead of "accustom" "creak" instead of "creek" I might have come across somewhat terse with my initial post. I hope I didn't offend. I think the style of your writing is good, so it's a shame to see it fall down on the spelling and grammar. |
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| Malice, no one offended here. :) Interesting about your example of cue instead of queue. Because what we call a cue here is usually referring to a pool stick. (Billiards) LOL, don't look it up in the dictionary, it just gets even more confusing. Apart from some of the crap in the piece, I suppose this is a perfect example as to why computer translators still don't work very well. :) |
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| i'll read it for you if you want. a cue would be a pool cue or a cue to do something, a queue would be a line of something/a sequence. Last edited 2011 |
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| Sorry, I got the rambling bug... :) lol, not at all! I appreciate your lengthy posts :) I can see what I can do to get the entire piece into the computer and email it too you. Twould be most appreciated! I'd just like to see a bit more of your work. Are you going to college? Yep, and it conveniently has a rather nice Writing Center. Do you have the ability to setup a forum on your website? Or is this just a blog site? I 'think' so. I know I bookmarked some PHP code awhile ago that supposed to help you set up a forum. However my website is in major need of an overhaul, and I'm way too busy to do that right now. There is a free service on the net somewhere of professional editors/educators that will read your material and offer you technical advise. I'll google around and see if I can find it, since that would be invaluable. And yes, I belong to a small writers group ;) You really need hard-hitting technical advice and help from someone who can justifiably put your work on the chopping block. Agreed. I need to find someone who can really slam the technical side of my writing, and show me what I need to do to fix it. That's the one problem with having friends review the work, is they're generally a lot less harsh than they could\should be. And I have yet to read anything by Garth Nix or Tom Clancy. Thanks for the advice! W E R D N A |
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| A cue is indeed a pool/snooker/billiard 'stick', and a queue is a 'line' for waiting. However, in the context used, the "cue" is a prompting cue, such as those used in theatre for line synchronicity or musical cue-points . That's the origin of the phrase "on-cue", an actoir(actress) delivers their lines on-cue. |
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| You are correct, of course. I just like to have fun. :) I married a linguistics specialist, so I'm constantly irritating her! ha ha Again, I just write fiction for the hell of it. My mind doesn't work in such a way that I'd ever win a Hugo or Pulitzer. :) Have fun. Be safe. :) |
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| http://www.zoetrope.com/tour.cgi Last edited 2011 |
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| I've been working on giving the story a thorough polish before sending it to amazon.com. It still follows the basic sequence of events, but things have been cleaned up a bit, such as grammar and a few logic gaps. It's just more awesome now all the way around, and a few thousand words lengthier, although I'm only about a fourth of the way done with the polish. Some sections are still a bit rough and icky, until I get to em ;) Thanks again for all your help Shortwind! (And everyone else!) |
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| WERDNA, check out www.critters.org. It's an online writers workshop that you would find extremely useful. I can't recommend it highly enough. Don't take this the wrong way, because I really admire you for developing your writing and being open to criticism, but if I were you, I'd hold off on attempting to be published until I'd further honed my craft. You're not ready, yet. But if you keep at it, one day you will be. |
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| Don't take this the wrong way, because I really admire you for developing your writing and being open to criticism, but if I were you, I'd hold off on attempting to be published until I'd further honed my craft. You're not ready, yet. But if you keep at it, one day you will be. Hey thanks for the advice! And never worry about me taking stuff the wrong way, I'm always open to critiscim :) Also thanks for the critters link, I'll definitely check it out! Now having read your advice, and I know that my technical grasp of writing is somewhat lacking, I'm going to send my story to Amazon.com regardless. Perhaps it's a bad move on my part, or then again who knows? Maybe I'll make some sales. I just really wants to see what happens more than anything else ;) Cheers, and the new version of the story is about half done now. |
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| Hope we get a sneak preview here, Werdna, and all the best! Either way, you won't know until you try and it's something that you can always work to improve on :) |
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| But they were gone. They were not real friends. They did not believe she was hearing such wonderful music from the apartment upstairs. How handsome a man she had just came to realize that he is. How now, he was sitting in her living room, waiting to take her to the source of this magical music. So when do the sparkly vampires show up? |
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| The story is about three quarters of the way done now, and I shall be uploading a sneak peek preview for everyone later today, or some time tomorrow. A lot of new goodness has been added to the story(And about 10,000 extra words!) and several logic holes have been filled :) Cheers, And thanks again for all of the help! (And for the Critters link, JustLuke. It's awesome.) |
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| Many apologies for being a bit slow in uploading the preview, I have been swamped with college work for the last few days, and working things out with a friend of mine. However now that that's taken care of, here's a preview of the NEW first two chapters of the book, in the ever lovable .pdf format. http://www.mediafire.com/?k8dooavstfiz7dv Enjoy, and I'll have the story itself on amazon 'soon'. |
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