I'm from the UK, and although I'm mainly an artist, I've also been dabbling in writing for the past ten years or so. Although I've not been published (yet), I had one unfinished novel attract interest from a publisher, but I wasn't able to tie the ending down. However, a new idea came to me a couple of weeks ago from a scene in chapter 4 of the 'old' novel, and this has now become the catalyst for a new novel. I'm pleased to say that I've already got characters, storyline and a plot developed for this (actually, the ideas are there for five sequential books in total) - and if that isn't enough, I stumbled across this great forum! Suffice to say, with the brilliant advice and comments I've already read here, I have a good feeling about this finally coming together.
Good to hear you've turned the old novel into a new wonder. Hopefully the old novel will help inspire the new ideas!
Welcome to Writing Forums, DannyA! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirments. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Cogito, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
Thanks for the welcomes! My original novel was the result of a conversation with a co-worker. It basically revolved around 'out of body' experiences that some people have as they're dying, like floating above themselves and being able to see and hear what was going on below. I mentioned that I'd got an idea about these 'spirits' on an etheral level, and my co-worker - who had a bit of a gothic undead motif going on - mentioned 'astral planes' etc (which I'd never heard about at the time). I struggled to bring it to a satisfactory ending, and with hindsight it was probably because I was trying to do too much in one book and hadn't really got my head around all things 'astral'. Clearing out some things the other week, I re-read it and a scene in Chapter 4 (a restaurant scene of all things) jumped out and said "This plot twist is more important than you allowed it to be." From nowhere I came up with a dozen character names, a very rough storyline and the title of 5 sequential books - even though I hadn't got a workable plot list. Then the scariest thing happened while I was doing some research. I clicked on what was the wrong link and found myself staring at a page that connected everything that had been going through my mind. These events have convinced me that what I'm about to write was meant to be! As a result, I've already written up (what I feel is) a cracking opening chapter, revised storyline, plots and found the elusive final ending (but not so final that the saga can't be continued). As far as demographics are concerned, whilst it's not about vampires, werewolves etc, it will certainly appeal to the Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Teen Wolf demographic and may well pick up some 'fantasy' readers due to the 'other worldly' feel about it. There is also the metaphysical aspect of the storyline which may interest others.
