Hello everyone! I am happy to be here and learn from all of you! I've always loved writing, since I learned to spell! I won awards in school for writing stories from grade 1 to grade 6. Unfortunately, when I hit the pressures of the later grades, I started to keep my writing to myself. When I was thirteen and life threw crazy stressors my way, I dove into writing my first novel. This was quite a while ago, just when computers were starting to become a common household object, but being from a poor family, not owning one. So I used paper and pen to write a 439 page story. I remember the times my hand would cramp before my mind was finished spilling out ideas. Or when I ran out of lined paper and resorted to scraps of paper, on the backs of my previous year's school assignments, lol! I ended up spending the entire summer writing it and then I started high school. I didn't let anyone read it until about two years later, when I handed over the three-inch binder to two school friends and my sister, only to get a vague "it was good." Since then, I have kept all my writing to myself, not trusting family and friends to be honest with me. Later in life, I started working, got married, and then time got away from me. Over the years, I occassionally went back to writing, starting stories, but never finishing them. Eventually, I became a drone in the work force, all imagination being sucked from me through pressures of working in the hamster wheel of life. Anyone else experience this? Now that it's been well over twenty years since I completed my first novel, I find it interesting that being struck with a condition leading to chronic pain has been the new driving force to my writing, since it was emotional pain that started it. Unable to work, or function very well now, I am left with a coffee table as my desk and a sofa as my chair, (as I am only comfortable lying down on my side); the keyboard balanced on the sliver of sofa cushion in front of me. I actually came here to learn as circumstances in my life didn't allow for any formal education in writing, and I feel very under qualified to post my work just yet. (I've just completed a novel and am working on the sequel). I look forward to learning from all of you! I've already been reading some forum posts, and my desire to give my input lead to my signing up. I hope to hear all your honest feedback for anything I do eventually post and mostly, I look forward to reading your work and ideas!
Hello and welcome from a fellow newb'. I must say I know, all to well, the it was good... make you wish they said "I hate it" instead. At least it would be an emotions that you, the writer, stirred. I can relate to you though. I never was a drone (Actually I had a crazy life that online nobody would believe), but I am older, not trained in the mastery of English and recently "hurt" too. I'm in the waiting period for a surgery to cure it. No word yet on whether I will even get it. I don't want to go into that because I've already had family members tell me how great this program or that program is, despite the evidence to the contrary, sitting in front of them, most likely grinding teeth from pain. The only thing I can do now is write, so maybe that's why my posts are long, because I can't do anything else anymore. I can barely drive for short runs, can't work on cars, do my math, and...somehow I ended up talking about me? See, I did mention my ego was big, in that other post. Now I am really curious to read your work. What type of novel it is, I hunger for details! AB
That's a sad, but beautiful story in a lot of ways. I hope you keep churning out what you're passionate about. If you ever need advice or info, this place is pretty useful. Welcome to the forum.
Ahhh.. the "hey have you tried this doctor or this home remedy approach"? I know it all too well. People are well meaning when they can't come up with anything else to say when they see a person in pain, so I smile and nodd and tell them to email me the details... so they feel better and think they've helped. Anyway, I may spill things about myself sometimes, even though I claim to be a private person. Speaking of private people ... I have a question that I've had on my mind since I finished writing the novel. Every website I've searched has encouraged authors who want to publish a novel to market themselves to publish the book. Honestly, one day I would like to make a living writing, laying on a couch all day doesn't pay very well, but I don't want all the glam and attention. I don't even aspire to being a best seller, just enough to pay the bills. Is this even possible? Or is it all in, or nothing at all? My story sounds stupid now that I am typing it out.. it's based about 150 years in the future. It's a 'what-if' all the twenty year olds living now, gathered together and formed a wave of anarchy and toppled the world's largest governments, which would eventually have a domino effect on the rest of the world's governments. Then how would the world look 150 years in the future with anarchists reigning (an ironic term, I know) and no laws and no money, but people still being the same kind of people they are today. Some with pure evil motives, others with good hearts, others with good motives but going about things in a selfish way. Who wins? Does anybody? Dumb, eh? (Sorry, that's the Canadian coming out of me, lol) I especially think you wouldn't be interested because although I'm not talking about politics in the story, it alludes to it. I hate talking about politics too, ironically. Anyway, my story idea came to me as a dream I had... so I don't know if that makes it even less likely to succeed or not, lol! Even if my story sucks in real life, I'm just glad to be able to do something semi-productive... I think I've watched practically everything on Netflix already, lol! So, I guess I'm still open to criticsm because I'm happy I actually finished it!
Thank you so much for your kind words. Although, I just realized how sad my life is now... so thanks for that. (Just kidding!) I will definitely be looking for advice and ideas here! Thanks again for the kind welcome!
That sounds interesting though. If the characters are well rounded it would be outstanding. The only thing (which I have to say because good things become meaningless without bad, right?) is the 20 somethings. That's mostly because of this rash, yes, rash--but there's no ointment for it rash--of kids in sci-fis. I would look into subplots too, or focus on a few people and how their paths cross, into some culminating point. I have been trying to write once sentence that covers my novel... (read this in movie voice over guy voice) A man wakes up from a car accident only to find out he remembers a different life,different technologies...and that girl in his head. Governments want his technology, alien empires fear him...in a race against time, to repair the timeline of his alternate timeline... Ok, that was really bad. I couldnt even do it in one line. But humour aside, this guy wakes up knowing how to build a little shuttle, and attracts all the wrong attention. See, this is the case of needing a publicist, because I fear Imay have killed my own book in the womb of my mind! As far as the docs, worse that recommending Dr Killpatient or have you tried herbarootleaf tea? It's "you gotta be positive." That one tics me off. I know pain, I've survived a lot...careers where people wanted me dead, airplanes (that always try to kill you, just ask any airplane!), 20lbs (or was it kilos) of tumors, so I know hurt. This is the worst. I nearly was a paraplegic, and I way end up one if I cant figure out a way to pay for this surgery. (Insurance is useless, and I have three of them) Sorry about that, I got myself angry, if you can believe it. I don't really want to be positive on somebody beck and call. Or there's the I once had a pinched sciatic nerve that always gets me. I have murder in my eyes! But, I can laugh about it, and it's why I write funny things too. My novel isnt comedy but I always forget about my autobiography and a screenplay for a comedy cartoon. It's a world were politically correct-ness took over and well, I think it's funny (that should tell you, it's not lol) Wow, at this rate I'll have 8 posts and look like a newb forever! So what if my 8 posts have a word count of 45k AB
Yayy for 8 posts! Congrats, lol! Yes, people tell me about their headaches and such. I had one lady tell me about a pain she felt for 5 whole days! Wow! I've only been like this for about 16 months now, but 5 days is a lot. And she had to take one whole Advil... (Where's the eye-rolling emoticon?). Anyways, docs are still ruling out the common stuff that my issue isn't. So there's still no firm diagnosis which makes people want to help me even more. (And, no it's not fibromayalgia or chronic fatigue). I guess, you're from the US? I'm guessing based on the fact that you have to pay for the surgery, ugh. I can't even imagine the added stress of having to come up with the money for that. So, not only are you suffering physically but you now have to figure out a way to pay an overpaid person to save your life, or at least increase the quality of your life? I feel for you, I really do. I guess I shouldn't complain about waiting months between each test, if I don't have to pay for it. So, I really hope things improve for you in every way. Your story sounds cool to me. I would be interested in reading it, especially with your wit. I guess I was more vague than I should've been in describing mine I'm just so nervous about putting my story out there. The anarchist thing is really the background. The story is just one person's point of view on the world filled with anarchy, trying to survive and find a peaaceful place to finally call home. She encounters someone who tells her of a mysterious place that has been rumoured to be peaceful, but it's a long journey. When this new friend is killed, she is forced to continue this journey alone, until she meets a boy that eventually she falls in love with, but not right away. But this boy has a secret past. There are some sub-plot twists, like they eventually get kidnapped and taken to work on a military base, now run by anarchists who have now organized themselves into an army. I realize that, again, is an irony, but in my strange way I guess I am expressing the idea that even people who want to live without laws, are still living with laws... such as the law of gravity Anyway, the main character is constantly facing issues of morality and conscience and she needs to choose what type of person she wants to be, with no human laws to guide her. I ended the story with her finding the supposed peaceful place, (after eluding some other people looking to kill them for secrets they learned while at the military base). But my sequel is how this place isn't all that she thought, and I start tying in some unanswered questions from the first book. Now, I'm wondering if I should make it all one long book? Anyway, it's a little bit of an action/love story. I've never written action before, so I'm going to need lots of help with keeping the pace moving, etc. Now I feel nervous that I revealed this much because I can already hear the criticisms, but then again, that's what I'm here for.. so crtique away! (You can also tell by the time of my response that I'm a little bit of an insomniac, but I'm sure you know how hard it is to sleep when you're in constant pain.)
What kind of pain, except that it's been mentioned as chronic pain, if it's no secret? I ask that because at least twice in my life I had chronic pains too, and I solved it.
I love that irony of organized anarchists. Its like_______is the worst governing system except all the others too. Or something to that effect. Yes, Im in the US and our new medical and insurance acts have legalized hospital and doctor robbery. They want half a mil...Im scrambling now, because if I wait any longer the damage to my spinal cord will be severe, as in paralysis. I already have permanent damage. Insult to injury was my work firing me. I wont go into those details because of pending legal matters. Even if it was fibro, my ex has it, and I know it's real, although lately we argue that her pain is worse. It maybe, I dont know, but my bravado is against me, because I tend to not show pain, smile and be merry even if I feel like taking a dull fork and experimenting with how many collinear punctures I can jab in my eye before it plops out...(Yes, I know that's graphic, but words fail me at describing it, or my own emotions of what I could do) I saw you figured out how to follow...how do I do that? AB
I totally get your graphic explantion of pain, I sometimes have similar feelings... Like what kind of pain will distract from this? Anyway, I wasn't saying fibro is not a real condition, I believe it is, but I've had some people suggest it to me, even when I've explained that my pain is localized, not all over. So I just wanted to clear that up that I totally sympathize with people who suffer from pain no matter what the condition, including fibro. To follow someone, click on their name and a box will appear with various options including "follow". I found it by mistake, lol!
Yes, I figured that out! Although I dont know what following actually does, because my alerts still only show likes and posts to threads I follow. (I still get the image of a cartoon mouse following a thread, picking it up and walking along its path, past the kitchen, into the living room, out the chimney, across the plains, through a stream, past the porch of Santa's workshop, at the bottom of a lake, through suburbia, down a backyard slide, to a kitchen where an all to obvious mouse trap lay.)
Cool, that cartoon mouse haunts you too? Tell him I say "hi!", or did the mouse trap finally do him in this time? That was strange... what just happened? Where am I? I guess I'm in a strange mood... Anyway, I think following a person alerts you to what they're doing. For instance, when you commented on another person's intro page I got the alert, even if it had nothing to do with me.
Thanks Aiden! I've seen one or two of your critiques and I like your viewpoints. One day I hope you will critique my work. (It just may be while before I post it since the Word doc is on my hard drive in my fried computer. I have it as a pdf in my email, so all is not lost if my hard drive is, but it may take me a while to recreate it, plus it's a good excuse to rework it.) I will check out your work too!
Lot's of things haunt me...and speaking of moods, I'm in one too. I have been reading a lot of random threads too, but there's always one that annoys me. I wont go into it because I really don't want to get into politics, but its there, staring at me. Its probably the cat that ate the mousy and is hungry again Moral of the story, beware of following threads? I think... AB
It's nothing. Politics, insults, and posters that agree and pat each other on the back. I gave up a long time ago on rational conversations with people in this generation. Nobody wants discussions or debates, they want people to nod and agree with whatever they may be saying
Ahhh, got you. That sucks. You hope people start threads because they want different perspectives, different opinions, not just smily emoticons. That's too bad.
I can understand a lot of it, and I have always been good at placing myself in other's shoes. The problem is when the insults come out, especially by people that claim to be enlightened and intelligent. It happens all to often. I turn on the TV and there it is! Well, who am I kidding, my TV serves as a pedestal for a bison. Yes, I am strange. There is a bison on my unplugged TV, one of the old ones, not old as in classic and worth something, just old TV/DVD/Cassette in one unit. AB
Hey Morgan, I find your life story very interesting. It makes for a very rounded character, very much like the kind Woody Allen likes to make. About your book Idea, if you already wrote the book, whats the harm in publishing it? Although one of the hardest parts is marketing. Story wise, I feel like its a classic momentum loss, twenty years ago it was in tune with the general atmosphere of the punk -youth culture, and what if stories. Nowadays it seems morally grey is more dominant. This shouldn't matter much if the story you wrote describes a more personal journey. Because, personal = interesting.
