1. Scarlet Claws

    Scarlet Claws New Member

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    Generic Intro Thread Title

    Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by Scarlet Claws, Oct 28, 2019.

    This morning, I've woken up with the urge to do something about my writing to take myself to the next level, so I've made a profile here. I love writing, always did, and always wanted to write books since before I knew how to write. (I have still small booklet where I drew pictures to illustrate my story along with strings of random symbols meant to represent letters.)

    So, hello! You can call me Claws, I guess. Why the name? I love monsters, demons, and stuff from around Halloween. The scarlet is meant to represent passion because I love romance as well. I'm at the younger end of the millenial generation (20+ years old) and female. The olders word document I've got saved on my computer tells me that I was eight years old when I attempted to write a book for the first time. I'm currently seeing a specialist to see where I am on the spectrum exactly, as I've very recently discovered that I have Aspergers, which explains why I'm so obsessed with writing (but got to kick myself in the ass to try anything new.) I also draw and my icon is an autoportrait. I'm a student. I've been told I'm blunt, a bit of a scatterbrain and cheerful.

    By joining this forum, I am hoping to gain insight into the writing process of others and meeting other people with similar interests. I've written a lot in my life but for the most part I've kept it to myself, as it helped me overcome a lot of difficult times. I've always wanted to make a living out of it. I don't want to become famous though, that sounds really stressful.

    I write fantasy and romance, mainly, but I'm also strongly interested in science-fiction, urban fantasy and any genre that tends towards some sort of escapism. I have a mild interest in historical fiction but mostly as a reader. I never know if I should call myself a pantser or a plotter as I do a little bit of both. I get in very heated debats with my pantser friend about planning stuff while setting up the equivalent of a castle of cards when I think ahead. For the moment, I post a lot on free writing sites such as Wattpad and Archive of our Own but I'm looking to self-publish. Trad pub scares the living daylight out of me, especially since I write in English but live in a non-English speaking country.

    I think that's all I can think about. I've noticed it's a bit long, I don't know if it's too long for a first post. Thank you for reading.
     
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  2. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Welcome Claws! I'm Iain, one of the mods here. If you haven't had a chance to yet, be sure to check out New Member Quick Start and Forum Rules, and don't be shy about contacting me or one of the other active mods (jannert and big soft moose at the moment) if you have any questions or problems.

    You'll need to have two weeks' membership, twenty posts (which include two constructive critiques of others' writing) before you can post in the Workshop for critique of your own work, but until then, feel free to poke around and jump into any one of the numerous discussions that are ongoing here. Those initial requirements will fly by.

    We've got members of all ages here; the youngest I know of for sure is 13 years old, and the oldest are in their 70s. We also have a number of members who self-identify here as being on the autism spectrum, and we all do our best to keep that in mind when interacting with them.

    As far as writing, there are folks here who are traditionally published, self-published, "exposure-only" published, and "still haven't started a blog yet" unpublished. Once you get to know a few people, you'll be able to sort out the kindred spirits and hopefully make some friendships in addition to getting some good advice.

    So welcome aboard!
     
  3. Scarlet Claws

    Scarlet Claws New Member

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    @
    Thank you! I've skimmed over both things after you posted it, as I was busy and couldn't reply right away. I'll make sure to come to you or another mod should I have any questions about the site in general. I'm mostly excited about getting to see what other people are up to and get to read some stuff, although I don't know how good of a critique I really am. But I'll try my best, as always.
     
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  4. Tralala

    Tralala Active Member

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    Hello. Looking forward to seeing you around!
     
  5. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Hello - I'm another one of the forum moderators (piling in here) and I'd like to suggest another link that might help you with the critiques.


    https://www.writingforums.org/threads/constructive-critiques.20627/


    It was written a long time ago by one of our former moderators who has since retired. However, it's still exactly spot-on advice about the kinds of critiques we encourage here on the forum. Hope it helps.

    And welcome from me, too. :)
     
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  6. Scarlet Claws

    Scarlet Claws New Member

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    Thank you very much! Same to you!

    I've read the advice in this thread and I will most definitely be coming back to it in the future to offer some critique. It's super useful! I'm always a little hesitant to offer some critique since I've collected some pretty bad responses when offering some to people that were only looking for praise. Thank you very much!
     
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  7. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Lots of people are extremely defensive about their writing. However, as long as your points are well taken, constructive and courteously offered, I pretty much guarantee the writers will at least THINK about what you said. Maybe they'll snap back with a dismissal at first (they might even be kinda rude about it—after all, this is a project very close to their hearts) but in time, the things you point out just might click. If not ...well, you can't win 'em all.
     
    Some Guy, Tralala and Scarlet Claws like this.

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