1. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    I need a co-writer :(

    Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by blipsycat, Feb 24, 2014.

    Hi, I need a co-writer for a realistic drama novel about a woman in prison. PLEASE help me. :(
     
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Welcome to the forum. :)

    Please have a look through the Forum Rules, and the FAQ as a start. Therein you will find our rules regarding off-site projects.

    Have fun! :D

    Wrey
     
  3. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    If you have any questions about how a prison works, let me know and I can tell you some of the ends and outs, and probably some things you might not want to hear...seriously women in prison are worse than men.
     
  4. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    Will you be my co-writer?
     
  5. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    Nah I believe that is against site rules, but I'll be more than happy to be a resource as much as I can. I spent 5 years working in a prison, and although it was a men's institution we were trained on how to work with women as well. I was on an SRT team for three and a half years. SRT (Special Response Team) is like a prison SWAT team that does special training. I also was certified in RIB (Rules Infraction Board) on how to deal with inmates who break institutional rules and their punishments. It's been a few years but I can pretty much tell you the radio codes and other bits and pieces too. Like a signal 20 is a person's location. A signal 5 might be a fire, etc.

    Just feel free to shoot me a message if you have a question.
     
  6. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    hi, blipsy!

    i see you're trying to get a different response here, than your posts garnered on 'that other' site... sadly, you'll only be you the same kind of responses here that you did there... which is that you'll have only these options:

    1. pay thousands of dollars to a ghostwriter
    2. write it yourself and then pay a few thousands less to a professional quality editor/rewriter
    3. give up on the idea, till you become a good enough writer to turn out a marketable book on your own

    the thing is, no one who can write well enough to turn out a marketable ms will do it for free, since it will entail at least a year of hard work, keeping her/him from doing what's needed to keep food on the table... and no one with any brains will do it for half the 'profits' since even with the best ghostwriter possible, you'll still have little to no chance of it ever being published, or making more than a few bucks, if it is...

    and, from what you've told me elsewhere, what you need is not a 'co-writer' anyway, but a 'ghostwriter' who'll write the whole thing from scratch...

    love and consoling hugs, maia
     
  7. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    PLEASE HELP ME. I suffer from severe depression and am tired of people abandoning me. PLEASE help me, I am begging you. I need so much help with this fucking story. :(
     
  8. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Blipsy,

    I think the trouble is that you are seeking something other than that which this forum, and others of like ilk, are here to provide. I too am a member of that "other site" of which Maia makes mention. These forums are not the place to search for a cowriter or a ghost writer. The members who join such forums are not coming here with that frame of mind. They are here to try and improve their own work in general and the WIP's they have in front of them. Frankly, what you are requesting is expressly forbidden by our forum rules. I'm just trying not to be ham-fisted about things. That is the reality of this paradigm.

    Wrey
     
  9. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    There are 'other sites?'

    [​IMG]

    I hardly like to leave the house, let alone visit another site.
     
  10. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    Fine, what site do I go to get a co-writer who won't abandon me?
     
  11. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    Why did you abandon me, Lewdog? Your ideas gave me hope for the future, but now that is all gone. :(
     
  12. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    I was only going to help you, but you wanted me to do everything for you. I was willing to be a resource not a co-writer. I know fighting depression is hard, but doing everything for you isn't helping you, it is enabling you. Plus not knowing who you are, or anything about you, that leaves me at the disadvantage of having any help I do stolen with nothing in return. That's why ghostwriters will maybe write one chapter up front as a sample, but then they require a fee (sometimes half the cost) up front, another fee when half way done, and the rest when finished. Heck they might even want the balance at the halfway point, and then give the buyer a refund clause of payment return if the buyer isn't happy. Of course this all would be done with some sort of written agreement so that if the buyer isn't happy and asks for a refund, that the buyer can't just keep a copy and publish it after getting a refund.

    Basically what you ARE looking for is a ghost writer to do all the work for you. That's going to cost you money, and that isn't what people that answer a thread like this are looking to do.
     
  13. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    You could still help me with ideas and shit. :(
     
  14. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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    You don't want help. You want someone to do the work. I'm sorry, but that's where I'm done. Good luck with your piece.
     
  15. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    Fine, will anybody else help me? This fucking story is all I have to fucking live for.
     
  16. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Ok, this is not going in a constructive direction. Blispey, I don't know which sites cater to what you are looking for because it's not something I've ever had need to research. What I can tell you is that this isn't the place for what you are requesting. I wish you the best in finding what you need, but the kind of obligation you are demanding is not something any member here is going to be asked to satisfy.
     
  17. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    :(
     
  18. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Really? This worries me. If this is not hyperbole, then it's important that you do get some help. However, it's not the kind of help we can provide.

    This is not a flame. Seriously, this sounds like something you need to talk about in person to someone who is trained in crisis counselling.
     
    jannert likes this.
  19. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, I'll go with what @Cogito just said. Looking for major online help from people you don't know, and who don't know you? I think maybe you need something more personal than that. If there is a crisis helpline where you live, do give them a call. THEY are the ones who will really be able to point you towards the help you need.

    I'm interested in why you want to write a prison drama. Are you in prison yourself? That might explain your feelings, if that's what's happening to you.
     
  20. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    blipsey...
    as i've told you before, more than once, no one who can write this book for you well enough for it to have any chance of being sold will do it for free... and you are begging for someone to spend a year of their time without any compensation, just to do you this favor, which will take up the time and energy they need to spend on their own writings and making a living...

    and, no matter where you go on the internet, you still won't find a competent writer who'll do that...
     
  21. blipsycat

    blipsycat Banned

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    I'm not in prison, but my friend was for a while, even though she is innocent. So I want to write a novel about the corruption in the legal system as a tribute to her. :(
     
  22. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Are you planning to write a story based directly on what happened to your friend? Or will you want to create characters who aren't anything like your friend, or situations that are totally different from what your friend experienced? Does your friend know you're planning to write this? If so, is she on board with the idea? I suspect she'd be your best source of certain kinds of information, depending on how much she wants this story told.

    It certainly sounds like you've got the basis for a compelling story.

    You seem reluctant to try writing this on your own. Is it just because you don't have any previous experience as a writer? Gosh, neither do most of the rest of us! You are certainly able to string sentences together, so I think you maybe are selling yourself a bit short, if you think you can't write it yourself. I'd say give it a go.

    You don't have to start 'at the beginning.' Just write a scene or two, as they come to you. What happened between your main character and her bad lawyers? What were your character's experiences at her 'trial?' Were the judge or the jury biased? What was her first day in prison like? Does she have family members who are trying to help? Does she have children that she's worried about? A husband who believes she's guilty? If she eventually gets out of prison, how will she feel on her last day? How do your character's friends and family behave towards her, when she finally came out of prison? Did she make any friends in prison? Or make enemies in prison? Were there people on the outside who deliberately framed her for the crime, or was it just a quirk of fate that got her blamed for it?

    Just think your way through a few scenes like this, and have a go at writing them. Make us see and hear what's going on. Your story will start to take shape, and you can write scenes that come before and scenes that come afterwards, then link them up. If you start writing now, you could easily have one scene all finished by tomorrow night. Isn't that a great thing to know? If you write in short bits, like this, you can get your entire story told more quickly than you'd think.

    Once you've become a full-fledged member here (read the 'information' section in the menu above, for details) then you can post one of your scenes in the Workshop and forum members will give you feedback on it. That's how most of us started out here. Writing, then giving and getting feedback.

    Become familiar with all sections of this site, and you might find lots that will help you get started. For example, if you have research-type questions, you can pose them in the Research section, and if there are members out there who are familiar with your topic, they'll probably point you in the direction of answers. There are also sections for general writing issues, such as plot development, character development, etc. While you're fulfilling your quota of posts and critiques, just browse through these sections and see what's already been said.

    The other people who commented here are right. Nobody is going to write your story for you, unless you pay them a fortune.

    It's a lot more rewarding to do it yourself anyway, and I'm sure you can. We're certainly willing to give you feedback if you feel you're getting stuck, but you'll need to do the writing yourself. We're a 'community' of wannabe writers who are here to support each other and share our experiences. We're all working on our own projects. Writing can be lonely work, and it's nice to connect with people who understand what it's like to learn the craft of writing. You're welcome to join in—especially with such a good topic on the table. I certainly hope you do. :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2014
    minstrel likes this.
  23. erebh

    erebh Banned Contributor

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    ah come on guys, you're all writers, just write his book for him!
     
  24. Robert_S

    Robert_S Senior Member

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    Don't writers commission from time to time? Admittedly, it will require money up front and if the poster doesn't have any, he/she is s.o.l.

    My recommendation to the OP is either write it yourself or commission a writer, but give some money up front. If you had others leave you, it's probably because they have to work to pay the bills and still have their own project they dream of, so your offer must be lucrative for someone to sacrifice their dream project for yours.
     
  25. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    writers are sometimes 'commissioned' to write this or that, robert, but it does require up front money and balance of the fee paid in full, when the work is completed...

    i'm sure no professional writer will ghostwrite a book 'on spec' [= no pay till the property is sold] however, as there is never any guarantee it will ever be published, nor that if it is published, sales will return enough profit to pay for her/his time and effort...

    and the OP has said that he cannot afford to pay anything up front, so is definitely 'sol'...
     

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