Greetings everyone, Don't get me wrong, I do want to say hello. Though I thought it prudent for you to understand how important your site and the personal time you take to help, is to a writer like myself who dreams to be more. Coming from a poor family, I didn't have any additional education outside of high school, and though I finished with honors, that's where I let my hopes of writing die. I remember one teacher pulling me aside and telling me, "Whatever I should choose to do with my life I should not waste the rare talent given to me. His opinion was clear, if I did not care for it, water it, bring it into the light each day, it would wither away. Odd the things you remember. The years go by, first my wife gets sick and I care for her for a good decade, then another decade goes by and it's me who's sick. So here I sit, Ill, 45 and still waiting for me to scrounge up the pennies and go back to school to chase that dream, all the time watching it float away on some random breeze. Well, I have had enough of that. Hoping that time will someday come when money is free and my health is improved is for the birds. About a year ago, I picked up my confidence off the mat and started getting serious about reaching for that dream before it is truly gone. Well since then.. There are things I am proud of. I did get two short stories and one poem published. (not much, but it is what I have) More importantly. I finished my first novel, first draft true, but it is written. Twenty three chapters and just shy of five hundred pages, it's not War and peace. It is a start. I am very proud of how it came out, to me it's very good and I tend to be highly critical of my own work, but like all lumber right out of the woods, it needs sanding. My tools are dull, I can tell a story well, better than many, but my craft needs love. My punctuations and sentence structure are my challenges, and I am in need of help. Also I am so confused with the online vs print vs kindle vs agent, ect.. it makes my head spin on how to make it happen without being ripped off because I am naive, or worse, forgotten because I have put my eggs in the wrong commercial basket. I am learning much from reading the critiques of others, so I am doing more reading at the moment. Though I will be soon adding my thoughts on story line and feel to the work I read, I think it is only fair if others are stepping forward to help me. This is my second attempt, I was on this board a while ago before I became ill, and let it drop as everything went upside down. But again, I am tired of waiting. I want to be what I was meant to be. With your help I may get there, so Yes, I want to say hello, but mostly thank you. Dave..
I'm a noob here, I even have less posts than you, but I have a few things to say. - You should write your life story in a book. The way you introduced yourself and summarized it tells me that 1) You're a good writer 2) You're passionate 3) You have a lot of stories to tell. Last of all, thank you for sharing. What you've written is completely relevant advice to everyone. I wish you all the best, I hope your dream never dies.
Hello Dave, Welcome to the Writing Forums, from another Dave. Your teacher's words are wise. I'd like to add, don't let either school or its absence get in the way of your education. The desire to learn, and the willingness to put in the work required, is worth more than a cadre of instructors. More so than ever before, in fact, because the Internet places information at anyone's disposal who has the appliance to access it. Learning to filter the legitimate information from all the garbage is the hard part, and that too is a learnable skill. Please read How to Use the Review Room before you post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out the RPG forum for improvisational fiction. Also try our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Thank you for sharing your life like that; I agree, you should write a book about that, because you're very passionate and a good writer. It's wonderful to have you here, and I hope you enjoy your stay!
welcome back, dave! if you want any one-on-one help with that novel and/or with navigating the 'getting it published' maze, feel free to drop me a line any time... love and hugs, maia
Thanks Metal, You comments are very uplifting. I appreciate it. Cogito, Thanks for the links, I bet they will come in handy. I will visit each one and prune some knowledge, it always helps to know the lay of the land. Eunoia, That was kind of you, I will take that luck, I am going to need it. Gigi_GNR, I appeciate the support, looking forward to bumping elbows inside the forums. Maia, That is some offer, I may just take you up on that friend. I will be getting my feet for a bit, but I am honored you offered. As for writing of my life, not sure If I can pull off non fiction but maybe someday I will think to give it a try. Never thought of it before. My life has been odd since the beggining, I grew up as a child as a Dyslexic Bipolar who dreamt of being a writer, when I couldn't even get my letters to face the right way until the third grade. If my talent was a bird, it would have to swim in the sad oceans in the morning, forced to float in high space in the evenings, and never really know for sure if it was flying south or north for winter. but, I haven't given up yet, so you never know. Thanks guys, Dave
