All--- My name is C. N. Nevets, and I'm a writer. You can call me Nevets. Most folks do. I've been writing since I was teenager. My first novel was a Western I wrote when I was about fourteen. It has unfortunately, I believe, been lost to time. It was in the neighborhood of sixty pages long, and I seem to remember that it was full of gripping suspense. Since then I've written just about anything one can write. Fan fiction, poetry, genre fiction, experimental literary fiction, screenplays, audioplays, etc... With the exception of scripts I wrote for two years for a college radio sketch show, most of my stuff has never seen the light of day. I am currently embarking on a committed path to changing that. I have pledged to write on at least one project each day, and to send out at least one submission or query each week. One thing that's held up my writing was several early rejections. Being rejected per se did not fluster or even necessarily surprise me. Form rejections were very disheartening, however, because they left me uncertain where to go from there. A couple other rejections showed by comments that the readers hadn't really paid attention to what they were reading, and that frustrated me to. What I've learned at this point in my life is that there's nothing I can do about those sort of things, and I can't let other people stop me from persevering. The other thing that has held up writing has been a reluctance to pigeon-hole myself into a genre. That continues to this day. I write about characters and their internal struggles. The context of that varies based on the struggle I'm dealing with. I know that marketability requires that I pick a basic genre / form, but I still haven't figured out how to do that without robbing myself of the potential I see in other genres and forms. Any advice on that front from other writers would be tremendously appreciated! That's more than enough for now, I'm sure. Look forward to getting to know you all better. .Nevets.
Hello Nevets, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Posting your own work should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Hi Nevets! That is a standard greeting, don't worry about it. Cogito is full of warm and fuzzyness once you get to know him. Welcome to the board.
Hi Nevets! Good luck on getting published! You have the right approach; don't let any rejection stop you! And about the genres? I know that's what people say, but I personally believe it's better to experiment with many types of things. That way, you can go back to read your work and discover which genre you're best at! Welcome!
Thanks Thanks for the greetings. As far as genres, I've been experimenting with them all my life, and have written stories I'm pretty happy with in almost all of them and have had a ball trying. There are certain extremes I can't do, but my possibilities are too broad. Agents like you be a writer of ______, and to build a solid platform you also need be a writer of _____. Not to mention there's a benefit to my own focus if I settle in on one particualr genre to be disciplined about attacking. Eventually, once I get established, I know I can earn a little more flexibility. But it sure seems like to get started, I need to pick a line and go with it. Hate to just draw lots. LOL .Nevets.
