I recently picked up writing as an interest. My writing is poor, my thesaurus is withered, and my vocabulary is blue. Thus, I figured acquainting with other more adept and intellectually barbed individuals of the art would be a good idea for the sake of critique, inspiration and most important of all: good times. I hope there are blunt critics willing to criticize every word of my upcoming works to the point where I might as well rephrase each sentence, unless it is of adequate quality of course. My preferred genres regarding writing are drama/thriller/crime/horror – comedy, romance/erotica, children stories … not so much. I live in Denmark, despite my supposedly English username. Aaron Smith is a pseudonym that I came up with and its main purpose being for matters where anonymity is preferred. Cheers, Aaron.
Hello Aaron, Welcome to the Creative Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Writing Workshop before you try to post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here anyway. 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. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Writing Prompts, or the Writing Workshop, 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 site rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Writing Workshop, 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. We also impose a two-week waiting period before you may post writing for critique, to give you time to become familiar with what is expected and how the site operates. The Writing Workshop 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 Writing Workshop forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. 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 the RPG forum for improvisational fiction. Also try 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!
I will say hi and welcome Aaron, although I'm new here myself and so it feels a little odd doing so. My main reason for posting though was to ask why you decided to use a pen name. I just wondered as you put the reason as being anonymity, and so I half wondered if it was down to your wish to be famous from writing, if you were famous in another field, or were just planning on writing something controversial. The latter didn't seem likely given your preferred genres, but I've often been curious about why people use pen names. I know sometimes it's asked for by a publisher, or the author does so because they don't feel their real name fits their chosen genre very well, and sometimes by established authors that are switching from their normal field of writing to publish in another and they don’t want it attached directly with their normal writing. Anyway, I was curious and so I thought I would ask. If you don't want to elaborate I completely understand, and excuse my asking if that is the case .
I will not speak for each and every writer out there, however I will reason for myself. To me some words have a personality, and despite their definition I might see something different. For example, arbitrary is a tall, crooked, skeletal man with thin, bony fingers, and a malicious, eerie smile on his face. Pale as the clouds in the sky, and frightening as the Devil himself. The same goes with Aaron, but of course he looks different. In my mind, Aaron is a tall attractive man with crystal blue eyes, and a muscular body. His face draws a beautiful contrast to his chocolate brown hair. The surname, Smith, has a rather peculiar story to it. I’ve always liked the name; its pronunciation flows off the tongue as a leaf blows in the wind. Smith has an intriguing appearance. The generic English posh accent, the Don Vito charm, and the cliché 20’s gangster Cuban cigar, set comfortable and oblique in his mouth. Woven together like strings, Aaron and Smith constitute an interesting character. Whoever he is, I admire him.
I thought for quite a while if I should reply to this post, as I was concerned I may cause some offence, but in the end my curiosity won out. So hopefully I'll choose my words carefully and not cause offence, and if I do, please understand it is not my intention, just an interest in the subject of why people opt to use pen names. In your first post you said you use the name for the sake of anonymity, but this second post seems more like the creation of a character for a book itself. I know when I sit down to write I don't even really think about myself at all, but your post made me wonder if others actually do think about themselves in the process. To me it sounds like you are an actor getting into a role in that you see this person’s name and see someone other than yourself in connection with it. Is this part of a process that helps you to write? Or am I misreading your posts intent? Anyway, if my thoughts or questions are intrusive please ignore them. I'm often too inquisitive for my own good.
It is fine, Huntsman. I’m not that easily offended. I will answer your questions (including implied questions) in a chronological order down below. I think it might have been a small misinterpretation on your part. “Aaron Smith is a pseudonym that I came up with and its main purpose being for matters where anonymity is preferred”. Emphasis on ‘main’. I’m in a very fatigued state as I write this, but despite our very short relationship, I can already tell that you are intelligent enough to derive my point from what I've already said. I would be happy to elaborate at another time if you wish. No, I’m not an actor. However, vividly envisioning the character down to the last detail genuinely helps me to construct a flamboyant image via the power of words. So yes, it does help me write. I hope I addressed all of your questions.
