Hello, On a recent family visit to the Appalachian mountains, I announced to my wife of 25 years that I wanted to write a novel. She uttered "That's nice dear!". Of course I knew she was laughing inside. Other than a few Tom Clancy or Stephen King novels, my primary source of reading has involved technical material. I can't seem to find the time to read unless it's related to a problem I'm trying to solve related to computers, databases, Excel workbooks, and the like. My wife Grace has been an avid reader of the classics since she was young girl. In comparison I've been a TV and movie junkie. She certainly had reason to laugh. My only claim to creativity is tied to computers, children, and a canvas or two. I have programmed several computer games for friendly competitions. I've designed game play, created most artwork, acquired music and sound effects, and tied it all together with the C++ programming language. As a father of five, I always ended the night with a story that I created on the fly. The kids were either absorbed by my creative magic or were humoring me in an attempt to avoid going to bed. I've always sketched as a kid and have managed a few paintings in acrylic. My wife has insisted on hanging a few paintings around the house in rooms that are actually seen by many visitors. I have a fictional story I want to tell and to share with others. Three years ago, I wrote a draft 'first' chapter. I asked my wife to read and edit. It was complete bloodshed. I shouldn't have given her the red pen and the instructions to be absolutely honest. I licked my wounds and went away. I rewrote the chapter and she reviewed my revision. She said it had 'potential'. I've decided its time to 'self-actualize' and begin this project in earnest. I've paced many steps in my backyard out of sight of my neighbors, brainstorming out loud. So far I've identified the theme, main characters ( their relationships, conflicts, challenges), several of the beginning and ending scenes. I stumbled upon Hemmingway's quote referenced in the title of this post. It seemed prudent to heed his advice. I've since hacked various pieces of the story design. My family has been gracious to provide feedback on various details. As a result I've gone back to 'hack' some more. I do have lots of questions about writing styles, techniques, character and plot development, and much more. I decided to get 'plugged' into a writing forum which is why I am here. I look forward to surfing previous threads, becoming familiar with 'writers', and asking questions. Regards, Chuck
Nice to meet you. It sounds like you're really getting into writing! Good luck with it, and thank goodness you have a wife that can really critique your work!
Welcome to Writing Forums, Chuck! 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 requirements. 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
Hello Chuck, Good luck. You're 50, so I know you have a story in you. Stop letting your wife read your stuff and consider a blovel. You seem to know the mechanics of writing, so you've got that going for you. If you want my advice I recommend you be very careful of the advice you take to heart. You may be ready to kill your literary babies, but writers tend to eat their young. PM me if you want more advice--like most wannabe writers, I have tons of it. Again, good luck.
Hi, Thanks for the warm welcome. I was made aware of this site via a Google search. I was looking up the use of an exclamation point. Sure enough I found a good discussion. I particularly like the Writing 101 section. Regards, Chuck
