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Calling All Writers!

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by Sebby45, Apr 1, 2017.

  1. Sebby45

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    I get the same feeling. Not to mention if it is something deeply personal that you have written, you don't want to hand it over to just anybody! The whole thought sends shivers down my spine.
     
  2. Aspen

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    I've submitted multiple novels to agents and received hundreds of rejections. I'm really hoping the book I'm working on right now is going to be The One. It's terrifying but, at the same time, there's such a great sense of community and knowing that there are people who can help.
     
  3. ConnectedToWall

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    There's this author who wrote ten books and all of them were rejected. Then he wrote a book for his daughter years and years later and his wife created a publishing company for it. It sold. Then a well known publisher picked it up. His book is called Thief of Swords.
    I've realized my fan fictions turn out better than my novels. Writing without the pressure of the industry is so much easier, at least for me. I'm thinking about trying short stories.
     
  4. Lazuri

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    I like to think about the fact that Harry Potter was rejected so many time that Rowling thought it would never be published. D'you think those publishers who turned her down regret it today?
     
  5. Creativemind

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    I personally choose not to publish my work. My writing is for fun and for the eyes of my family and friends. I get money from other jobs I choose to go to. It's a lucky way to avoid stress, lol

    But I feel for anyone trying to get published. I heard that rejections can happen a lot at first, so It's normal.
     
  6. Aspen

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    Probably but they shouldn't. If a different publisher had chosen Harry Potter, it wouldn't be the same book we have today. It would've had different editors, a different cover artist, a different marketing team. The game of chance that made Harry Potter one of the bestselling book series of all time would've been entirely different. Maybe it still would've been an international phenomenon, but maybe not. Maybe none of us would've even heard of it.
     
  7. Lazuri

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    My point is that even if you get rejected over and over, it doesn't mean that success is far off. Each attempt has the same chance of success as the last one and the one before that and eventually, you might find a publisher willing to publish it. Just keep at it!
     
  8. Sebby45

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    Here is a question for you all...what medium do you prefer to use when writing? Paper and pencil/pen or computer/tablet?
     
  9. ConnectedToWall

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    Definitely prefer to use a computer. I hate the extra time it takes me to type what I have handwritten. If I get an idea when away from my computer, I type it into the notes section of my phone then email it to myself, then copy that text into a word document.
     
  10. ConnectedToWall

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    My family reading my work stresses me out. I'm always worried they'll read something into it, or think it's not very good and that I'm a failure. I prefer having strangers read my work, which is why I like fanfiction writing and posting it on archive of our own or fanfiction.net.
     
  11. swimmingfly

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    SAME. they always think that like just because i'm writing about a gay guy from victorian england does not mean i want to be a gay guy from victorian england
     
  12. Creativemind

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    I have the opposite problem...I don't like strangers reading my work at all. They always give me destructive criticism I didn't ask for (though I enjoy constructive criticism from time to time), and fail to realize that I do this for fun/de-stressing, and have no interest in making it professional work. I love talking about my characters in the same way people like talking about their significant others, so sometimes I just don't want a serious opinion, I just want to gush about them in the same way some people want to gush things in their own life.

    Sometimes I like constructive criticism and will ask for it to improve the story, but since I don't want to publish anything, the opinions of professional authors can get really preachy at times. That's why I like it more with family and friends.
     
  13. ConnectedToWall

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    Exactly! And it's the worst if you're writing about the characters parents or siblings or family at all, because then they'll be like, are you writing about me??
     
  14. tranonymous

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    I always use my computer, because I like to write fast and then go back and tidy it up afterwards.
     
  15. Ozma

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    I write screenplays for the films I direct. I guess that counts.
     
  16. swimmingfly

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    YES
     
  17. SomeAverageBoy

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    Though I'm only 15, I'm considered to be very good at writing fiction (my english teacher will say so)
    A lot of my stories focus on characters, more specifically outcast kind of characters, like asperger/autism, people from other countries and of course, LGBT people. However I'm a big fan of show not tell, so if I had a gay character I wouldn't be like "Hey this guy's name is Jack and he loves boys like him" but I'll instead make him say something like "I never really liked girls" at some point. Even if the character's sexuality is an important part of the story (which is often since I'm a big sucker for romance x3) I'll still try to not just outright state it.
    I also like to leave the reader with interpretation, once I wrote a short story about two male friends and their relationship is vauge just enough so it can either be interpreted as outright romance or just a really strong non-romantic bromance
    One last thing is that I always like to break norms and cliché expectations
    When I was an edgy 12/13 year old, I made a secondary character for a story, who was very manly and liked manly things just as much as his boyfriend
    This was my response to the "girly weak gay guy" stereotype I was so sick of seeing, being very prominent in my area when I grew up
    From then on I write gay/bi characters as just average people that simply happen to like the same sex, how it should be
     
  18. ConnectedToWall

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    My main character is a lesbian, but it's never stated. She has a crush on someone, but that's never explicitly stated either. She just thinks about that girl a lot. I think about half way through the story readers will be able to tell though. They should at least be suspicious by then lol. Does anyone like NaNoWriMo?
     
  19. ConnectedToWall

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    The most negative comments always come from family in my experience. It's awesome that you don't have that problem though.
    When I was writing this one fanfiction, I got a lot of positive reviews for a while. Then people didn't like one of my plot points and started criticizing the story. It was hard at first, and I ended up deleting one comment because it was a personal attack. But then my other "fans" (I love the idea of having fans) stood up for my story, and even though they were the minority I felt that they were the ones who really understood the story. It was great to have that.
    On a different note, most reviews on Archive Of Our Own and Fanficiton.net are just from people trying to manipulate you into updating your story (I've left some of those myself, to be honest). I have been trying to focus more on my own work lately simply because I feel like I want to have a story completely my own, but a lot of times I feel like some of my best writing was in fan fiction.
     
  20. Twist

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    Gideon and I both write. In fact, we write together. We participate in interactive literary role play together. It's how we first met.
     
    #140 Twist, Jul 24, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2017