I couldn't resist. Stan Lee just has a way with introductions. Hello everybody! I was looking for a place where I could communicate my ideas and thoughts with like-minded people and I've definitely found it. Everyone here looks friendly and helpful and this is just the place where I want to be. I have finished my first manuscript after developing it for the better part of 8 years. So far, I've gone through 2 revisions and I'm working on the third (the real nit-picky one). Using some of this downtime, I started to query a few agents and publishers. I've also toyed with the idea of self-publishing the book on Amazon (mostly as a "worst case scenario"). My career as a creative writer probably started the same time everyone else starts, in school. In Junior High, I was awarded a prize (which name slips my memory at this point in time) for the most creative short story and was published in a short release compendium of stories written by students my age. Ever since then, my creative juices never stopped flowing. During college, I was bored and toyed with the idea of fan-fiction for some of my favorite franchises. They were a good way to blow off some creative steam that had been building within me. I ended up writing over 250,000 words in the span of a few months to some positive reviews. It was at that time where I developed the idea for my current novel and what do you know, I finally got around to completing it... Just a little behind schedule. Currently, I'm in the final quarter of my M.B.A. program at CSUSB and will be graduating in June of this year. My list of hobbies can stretch all the way down the Pacific Coast Highway so I've always got something I'm tinkering with. Currently its website design and drawing. Sorry for the novel length intro . I'm excited to meet and chat with all of you.
Hallo, great to meet someone like you on the forums (Not that I've been on long myself, but), had a similar experience that got me into writing like you, wasn't as fancy or great, but I think it's similar enough. But man 250,000words... scary for me, but yeah welcome.
Thinking back to it, I pretty much wrote all 250k in my sleep. The content was just so exhilarating that I didn't even think about word count. I wish you would just write without having to worry about word count but then again, writing something amazing in 5,000 words is a lot harder than doing it with 100k.
Hello Joe, Welcome to the Creative Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Writing Workshop before you post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on 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. 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 Word Games, 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 forum 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!