But it's rarely only one right? I registered to reply to a lonely thread with zero responses, but now that I'm here I might stay longer. It's been years since I was active in a forum, but I miss the format greatly. Apart from science-fiction, I don't read anything modern. I'm still stuck in the endless backlog of classics, probably because of the bias in education toward them. Maybe I'll escape one day. In years past my attention span was so limited that I struggled to read consistently, with only bursts of occasional inspiration; but the most recent period of focus has lasted over six months, and I'm starting to think it might be permanent. I hope so. My writing habits, which, depending on your perspective, could be considered bad, are; writing long sentences; using italics or bold for emphasis a lot; and mirroring the style of the last author I read. I guess I haven't found my voice yet. --- TLDR: Hello.
You are not alone. When the muse strikes, I must put away all my reading material. When I look over my old-old stuff I know exactly who I was reading at any given time. Anyway, welcome to it! You'll have received a PM from my upon joining. At least give it a skim. It covers the basic points and the the most frequently asked questions, especially regarding those areas of the forum that have requirements prior to posting new threads in them. Wrey
Interesting how our lives are such an ebb and flow. I'm new here and eager to interact and have some fun. Hope you find some enjoyment here as well.
That's not a bad thing. I find that happening to me, too. It's a natural part of finding out what works for you and what doesn't. And done wisely, it can be a valuable addition to your toolbox. If I want one character to tell a story as a Mario Puzo character would, I'll read a little of The Godfather and let it come out in the writing. The next character might tell a story in the style of Kurt Vonnegut, in which case I'll bone up on my Vonnegut to try to capture that cadence. That way, the characters don't seem to be copying each other's style. I confess that the two poems I recently posted on the forum were the result of my picking up the latest Billy Collins book. He certainly helped me form what I was trying to say.
