This is totally overwhelming! I've decided to embark on a journey to publish my first novel and I've an idea in mind but frankly it's been a while since I've penned, well, literally anything and I definitely would love to meet some fellow novelists or novelists-to-be. I am in need of friends or mentors. It's dawned on me how big the writing industry is and I've never done something like this. However, I am determined to make the most of my new career, as I've always loved writing and have always wanted to inspire readers and make sure they truly enjoy my stories. I'm considering attending some creative writing classes to hone my skills so I'll definitely need to see if there's any in my area, but for now I simply need some people to relate to. So hi! My name is Juliet, by the way. I'm 22. I love writing and drawing, mainly. I'm also a big animal lover and adore just about anything pink (specifically pastel, rose or baby pink) and cute (a lot of it being kawaii culture). I use emojis a lot. Tell me about yourselves! I'm curious what everyone around here is like.
Hi @crownedroman! Welcome to the madhouse! Before you go any further I must warn this place is filled with the most disturbing kind of lunatics! They hide in dark secluded places for petracted periods of time. Most of them have limited social lives. They have all kinds of strange rules that no-one else uses. Half of them are on the autism spectrum and/or drugs! And they enjoy imaging things that aren't there! They're writers!! Anway as returned semi-official greeter I induct you as the first greetee of my new term! You're welcome for the honour! Here's some handy links: https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ https://www.writingforums.org/rules/ Have a lovely day and see you on the threads!
Thank you for your reply! Aren't we all a little strange, seeing things that aren't there? That's what writers are for. To make the impossible possible. Thank you for the honor. I will definitely check out those links!
Nice to meet you. Unlike a lot of forum out there I've found this one pretty active so im sure you'll find the friends you seek.
Thank you! I hope to find my place here. I definitely need support. It's a daunting task to be a novelist!
The best advice I can give you, is to keep your novel under 90,000 words. My own novel was originally 195,000 words. When I presented it to my agent, she nearly had a fit. Apparently it is very hard to publish books over 90,000. I had to spend many painful months editing out half of what I spent over a year writing.
I definitely will not exaggerate to that extent. I want to make three novels or so. I'm not quite sure what would be a fitting word count. The average is 50,000 and that seems big enough in itself. But who knows? Honestly I can use the advice, especially on how to satisfy an agent once my novel is complete.
That sounds like a good amount. I dont recall how many my books are but i do remember it was about 300 pages.
My recommendation is to start a progress journal and set goals for your writing. The act of setting a hard timeline goal to hit each day/week/month can make a huge difference. Whether you write on the computer or if you first put it to paper, make sure the writing environment suits you. It took me years to learn how important a good writing space can be. Good luck and welcome to the forums!
When I call someone 'weird' I'm usually being endearing, because being normal is not only boring, it's an illusion because what is 'normal' to one person is 'weird' to another. If I'm asking what they smoked before I saw them, that's when I'm implying that they've lost their mind. Anyhow, haven't been on this forum that long, but the banter is awesome, have fun!
Hi, I'm also new to this forum and looking to seek like minded individuals! I think my end goal one day would be to write a novel, but I'm starting on a much smaller scale to see how people respond to my writing. I'm going to start with short plays/monologues and see how it goes. What kind of novel are you working on?
It's funny how that works isn't it? How we talk about being normal like it's a virtue. But to me if you're normal you aren't special.
Things like this are why I picked up the belief that all adults are just teenagers with better haircuts. It's a really teenage thing to be caught between wanting to be special and wanting to fit in, but I'm absolutely convinced it's something that dogs most people their whole lives, moving between security and trying to express themselves in various ways. It's an ego/super-ego kind of deal and I'm pretty sure that it never really goes away, even though a lot of 'adults' tend to pretend it doesn't. This is why I like writing teenagers by the way, because they are honest about being caught between impossibilities. Makes them much more interesting to characterize. I am presently editing a book set in the (awesome) world of teenage beauty pageants and it's all kinds of fun to play with this stuff in that setting where everyone is fighting to be officially 'special'. Good times.
Awesome that you've got structure to your plan to build to a novel. I am working on a non-fiction book at the moment. What is the theme of your short plays, have you done much?
I am new to this forum as well as writing a novel. I have had a passion to write since i was little but have always been to scared to try and make it happen. Now i am writing my first novel and just like you, i am looking for people to be open minded and read my work and give me honest feedback. I look forward to reading your work and look forward to being friends on here as well.Happy Writing and good luck crownedroman!
Hi, I'm also kind of new. Hi, Juliet! I wish you the best with your novel writing. Question for the locals: Am I allowed to start a thread even if I haven't made 20 posts?
Anyone who seems normal is just someone you don't know that well yet. I'm glad to be among those who already know this!
I am awed by anyone who manage a whole novel, just trying to keep it all toghethr when it's 3'000 words is hard enough.
Welcome! I'm a little late on the welcome committee but since your just starting out on potential novel writing, I'll add a few new-novel-writer tips: 1) Writing a novel is hard and requires a lot of time, effort, and work. It's also extremely rewarding so the first thing to remember is KEEP GOING. There are times when it's frustrating, but if you push through, you'll thank yourself later. 2) Writing classes are great - but there's also a number of good online resources you can use as curriculum if you're starting out. I always plug the Writing Excuses podcast because it's what I used and because they break it down into non-scary fifteen minute chunks. Plus they're now on Season 12 so they literally have archived episodes for EVERYTHING. 3) Writing GROUPS may be as or more useful than writing classes. I would probably not still be at this if I wasn't able to meet on a weekly basis with other nutcases who spend too much time with their imaginary friends. I always recommend joining a local writing critique group (check Meetup.com) - even if you haven't written anything, go to a meeting or two to see how they operate. Also definitely lurk on the workshop threads here to see how critiquing works - although I do recommend in-person groups because it's easier to take harsh-but-needed critique from trusted friends rather than the internet. Also, it really helps to KNOW OTHER WRITERS PERSONALLY (the struggle is real, share it ) - especially because you want people who know the craft to read your stuff, not just friends. 4) Know going in that you're going to get some TOUGH criticism of your work. First drafts are almost always bad (unless you're Steven King) and writers are known to be a bit brutal with the critiques at times. But trust us, we like your work and if we swing an ax at it, we're trying to help you make it better (side note: critique is as skill that should be practiced, the more you edit other people's mistakes, the better you are able to look at your own stuff, and the more critiques you receive, the better you will learn which critiques to accept and which to ignore...and trust me, some you need to ignore). 5) DO NOT be afraid to make mistakes. Trial and error is how you learn. Give yourself permission to write bad stuff - for one it's probably not as bad as you think, but it's also important to learn to edit bad stuff into good stuff. Also, if you're writing a novel, you learn very quickly that getting stuck is a thing - the best way to get unstuck is to give yourself permission to write the next scene even if it's utter crap - because you need that crap placeholder in order to get to the next scene after it that's beautiful. Writing garbage is better than not writing, and you'd be amazed how good edited garbage can end up looking. HAVE FUN, AND WELCOME!
Thank you for that plug on writing excuses. I just listened to the first episode, and I have a feeling that this will be of massive help to me, and hopefully crownedroman as well. I just wanted to say welcome to crownedroman, and thank you, Lemming, for this amazing plug!
Haha thanks. Oh and actually if you do those I'd start with Season 10. That year they structured it as a masterclass and did the novel process in order from start to finish. Season 11 was also really structured, that one around different types of stories each month. Before that they did random topics each week - which is still awesome - but the structured seasons are good jumping off point.
