Just wanted to say hello. I'm an engineer by trade, but rediscovering my old love for writing (from way back in my "Young Authors' " days. Not sure they even still do that!) I used to wait to be "inspired" to write, but that led to a sentence or two every couple years. Once I started writing more frequently I was amazed how creativity/inspiration comes from within the story. Sometimes you get lucky and the story almost tells itself. Most of the time though my brain gets tangled up like a cat playing with a ball of yarn...too many ideas and not sure which one to choose. I don't know, maybe I should just write all of them in a "choose your own adventure book" Anyways, I've been working on short stories for a while in the hopes of improving my story telling/whatever else needs fixing to make a better story. Hope to post some soon and read some good stories in the meantime!
I have looked into the Choose Your Own Adventure story thing before, there are some sites that offer ways of putting them together. Way above my pay grade, but you could consider giving them a look. Good luck and have fun.
Thanks Cave Troll, if I decide to go that route I'll have to take a look (It seems like it might be a nightmare keeping track of all the loops otherwise)
Welcome! What type of engineer? I am also of the inspired one sentence a year class, but such a state is being changed. Remember CYOY.... hehehe.... Honey I Shrunk the Kids Choose Your Own Adventure. Dungeons and dragons based book. You fight ants. Avoid cats. Get unshrunk, or die... so many traps for the small human. What does it eat? Will a crumb of sugar lead to cardiac arrest? Can cockroaches be considered a staple meal? How do you trap a cockroach?
Hi, and welcome to the forum! I'm one of the moderators here. But don't be fooled by my present location—Scotland—where I've lived for the past 33-plus years. I am actually originally from Michigan as well. NOT Detroit, but hey.... So you're an engineer who is doing creative writing. That's an excellent balance of writing/thinking skills, and maybe one with its own built-in dilemmas as well as assets. (Expository-technical vs Creative writing?) However, there are several members here who come from the same engineering background and are writing REALLY good stuff. You'll be in good company. I hope you find your writing feet soon. Here are a couple of links you might want to check out. New Member Quick Start and Forum Rules. These should help keep you right. This FAQ link here will give you quick access to most areas of the forum, so it's also a good one to have. (It's also listed under Information in the main page menu bar.) https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ If you encounter any difficulties, please feel free to 'start a conversation' with me, and I'll do my best to help out. Meantime ...enjoy yourself, explore the forum layout, enter into any threads you find interesting, get to know us and let us get to know you. Cheers for now, Jan
Engineering Physics..which is basically an "I don't know what kind of engineering I want to do" degree CYOY?? you lost me on that one, although it sounds like I probably shouldn't ask......
Thanks Jan...I'm not actually from Detroit either, but it's the closest place that people know! So you moved to Scotland! Nice! Very beautiful up there. We visited a few years ago....ordered a cheese board and a half hour later got a cheeseburger! I imagine you get used to the English to English barrier though
@Decacorn Heh great, I wanted to study physics before I became an alcoholic farm worker (Willpower and such) (I mistyped Choose yer own Adventure as CYOY---- choose your own yo-yo? Cherish your own Yoruba?) Love it when scientific minds approach writing, especially fiction. So..... what are yer short stories like : )?
Ah I see. I was fooled by your.".. he he he..." into thinking it was something more devious! Well hopefully you'll see some stories soon, once I get enough posts in. Nothing too technical though. I much prefer making things up than having to do research to make sure they're right!
Yeah, it's easy to think you know what's what when you move from the USA to Scotland, but it does take a while to fit in. I've been here for 33 plus years though, so I've kind of assimilated. I also worked as a GP medical receptionist for 12 years, and that put me front and centre with talking to people, etc. The cheese board thing baffles me a bit, though. But hey. Cheese... I was in the Netherlands a few years ago, and decided to show off by placing my order in 'Dutch.' The waitress gave me a very weird look when I ordered a cheeseburger ...and a little while later she brought me three of them. I don't know exactly what I must have said, but it turned out, in the course of the meal, that she spoke perfect English. So much for riding a wing and a prayer, eh. She also understood what a 'doggy bag' was.
