Serious about writing-- ATTENTION: ALL ORIGINAL FICTION WRITERS: SF/F Wrtiers' Guild contest!

I have just recently decided that I want to write for a living. I have such a good time writing that it just seemed like the right thing to d

I am a journalism major and I have a couple of stories that I have been toying with in the fantasy genre for about four months or so. I can't keep myself from writing Star Wars. I would love to have a SW novel published, but I also relize that will probably never happen.

@Tatooine Wizard- Keep your head up girl your a great writer it's going to happen to you. Just be patient.

 

Hey, can I join? <peeks around corner>

 

I too am intrested in professional writing etc. I'm actually considering going to a boarding school next year and "majoring" in creative writing.

:Targeter:

 

That's cool! I'm working on a book right now... I spend way too much time trying to find names, though. Does anyone know of a really good site that lets you enter a meaning and specify female or male names and maybe even the nationality?

 

I just use baby name books, it normally works pretty well. But if you go to Google, it should be able to find soemthing for ya.

:Targeter:

 

Behind the Name lets you search by meanings and description; option of searching separately for masuciline/feminine names; and also search by nationality and also has mythology, historical, biblical, etc. categories. It's a great site. There's also a random name generator.

 

Thanks! I'm obsessed with naming my characters according to their personality.

 

www.behindthename.com is good.

 

LOL. I obsess over my character's names. I think I spent two hours one day trying different combinations of sounds and letters for one character. Drove me nuts. Even when I find a name I like I'm not quite sure if it's good. But over time after thinking of the character with that name it sorta just sticks in my mind. If an editor or whover tells me I need to change the name for whatever reason I'd probably throw a fit.

 

I'm not necessarily writing a Star Wars fanfiction, yet I do want to share my story here, but I don't know where it would go. I tried posting it in the JC Community forum, but it was locked for both not being in the right forum and posting an outside link to my story. So where the heck do non Star Wars fanfics go? My story being about Disney and including elements of mythlogy and several films in the backstory.

 

This looks like a nice place. *kicks back*

 

So where the heck do non Star Wars fanfics go? My story being about Disney and including elements of mythlogy and several films in the backstory.


Sorry, but these forums are for Star Wars fanfics only.


You'll need to find another website to post anything else.

 

Figment Jedi - there's a thread over in the Amphitheatre forum where you can post original stuff. The thread is The Publisher's Desk. I'm not sure if it's for long stories though, more for excerpts.

 

When I was younger my dream was to be a Star Wars author some day. *blushes* Reading the author bios I figured out that I had to be famous to be picked, so I thought 'I'll just become so good they'll have to pick me!' Hey, who wasn't optomistic in their youth? So I focused on doing my own writing.

Now that I've been doing that for a few years I've put aside my Star Wars dream ? well, if they ask me I would... *goes off to fantasy land* ? but I am working towards publishing my own stuff some day. I have one book almost through the first draft, another that's rapidly taking shape, and plenty of fragments buzzing around in my head. There's hope yet, if I do say so my self!

(edited for stupid typo)

 

Good call My Happy Hobbit Padawan! I was going to suggest behindthename.com, I use it all the time. I love that web site.

 

What a thread. Sorry for my post's length? I wanted to answer everyone.

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[b]How I got into writing[/b]: It's a long story, and most won't read it, but I'll put it up for those who are interested. :)

When [i]Star Trek: Voyager[/i] came out and I saw my first [i]Star Trek[/i] episode, I started daydreaming, adding onto it and including myself. [i]Star Wars[/i] and other shows and books also got this.

Three summers ago, I got an original daydream and started writing it down. That was the basis for my first novel, which I completed within two years and am now completely rewriting.

It wasn't long after starting to write that novel that other novel ideas sprouted. I started writing down my Star Wars daydream, too, figuring it would be good practice. Eventually, I tried my hand at original short stories? Unfortunately, they sound like I've torn a chapter out of a book.

Now I have numerous incomplete original novels, short stores, novellas, screenplays? and a narrative poem. My last count was in the teens. I have short stories, an experimental novella, and a 40,000-word novel with too many main characters completed. Writing is my primary hobby; my means of relaxation.

Last May I learned about fanfiction. I don't remember how? But I found fanfiction.net. I did a novella as background to my umpteen-times restarted SW novel that had originally been started as a daydream. Then I did another, an experiment with speaker "voice" and a pure narrative story.

Somewhere along the way, I realized the benefit of experimenting with fanfiction. It would keep me from risking my original ideas with poor writing. It also helps me identify problems with my writing that aren't limited in a particular work. Fanfics currently hone my skills.

[hr]
[b]tattoinewizard[/b] (I have some writing tips in here, too.)
? At least your editor told you [i]why[/i] it was rejected. Cheer up?even professionals have to face rejection. There's one 'zine that won't take a story unless it has at least five rejection letters!

?I think you might be misinterpreting what the editor said. It "didn't hold his interest", right? That doesn't mean he's calling your story a yawner?it means it didn't [i]yank[/i] his interest into the story. You seem to be assuming a story has to be fascinating or a yawner. A middle ground does exist.

Or it could be the editor's taste. I've noticed that while females tend to find my opening lines compelling, guys tend to say, "so what?" Have you run your story by members of both genders? Of various ages?

Find a blunt friend and ask him to critique your story. It's priceless, what they can give you. Be certain to analyze his critique, though, or you may end up changing the symptoms he picks up on and not the root problem.

I've noticed asking out of the blue what people think of an opening line helps figure out how much work it needs, too. If they ask questions about what the line means after you tell it to them, it's probably a good attention-grabber.

This is my way of trying to help. I honestly sympathize with you; I've had a story rejected, too.

[i]Keep writing![/i] :)

[hr]
[b]sircursealot[/b] (anything in italics I figured out the hard way)
? [b]Computer or paper?[/b] It depends. If it's an original work I'll do it on paper [i]in a three-ring binder[/i] so I can work on it anywhere, and it helps me get my ideas straight before I start writing, because I write slower.

Put the date in the margin. It's helpful for later reference, and if you want to get rid of a page you can still insert a section in your work without having to rewrite it. You just write in brackets "insert section from 2-4-02 here" or whatever.

But if you do it on paper, [i]start each chapter on a fresh page[/i]. This allows you do move them around later. I edit as I type it on the computer.

If it's fanfiction, computer. My ideas shift too much in that arena to waste paper, and typing's faster.

[b]Where do you set up your 'writing workshop' and what resources do you hav

 

First of all, computer or paper? I've heard about many people who were so much more inspired writing on paper rather than typing on notepad.

I prefer paper; however, when you are writing a screenplay it's much, much easier to use screenplay software. So when I'm working on that I'm in front of the computer.

Second, where do you set up your 'writing workshop' and what resources do you have?

I have a little home office in my second bedroom. (Living single in a two-bedroom condo.) I used to do relief work and needed the office anyway to send out resumes and stuff, so I just figured I'd use it for writing, too. I don't have much in the way of resources. I have the dictionary and thesaurus, and John Gardner's The Art of Fiction. That's about it. Fortunately I have a real eye for grammar, punctuation, and spelling, so I don't have to look stuff up much.

Pictures or quotes to inspire me?

I think what inspires me most is nuances of character. How people's minds work and why they do what they do, or how people can best solve problems within themselves or with other people that they have. So most of my inspiration is in my head. I will collect piccies sometimes, of Palpy for example.

And finally, do you keep notes on your characters, storyline, etc? If so, how extensive are they?

If I am working on a prose story or an audio drama script, it will have its own notebook and I will do pages of actual work and then break and write myself ideas, directions, and plans; then break into the story again. Of course, then I have to go untangle it all and type it up. Bleah.

My biggest problem in writing was that if it was someone else's character, someone else's universe, I could spin stories aplenty, but I couldn't come up with my own. On occasion when I did come up with a good original idea, I'd lose interest before I finished it. I finally realized that I shouldn't be trying to publish novels and stories. I just plain can't do them. I do best when fleshing out someome else's ideas instead.

My bf is the author Robert E. Bailey, who recently finished his third novel, which I line edited while he was writing it. Unfortunately it was rejected by the publisher, with a long six pages of inane blather by a brand-new and still-wet-behind-the-ears assistant editor, who hadn't ever edited before and obviously had no idea how to talk to authors. My job was to go through the letter and try to extract usable information for the rewrite. I feel like I directed a book! It was a pretty cool experience, and I think the rewrite produced a spectacular book, but now they're dragging their feet even getting it read. Sheesh.

The whole experience made me pretty sure I shouldn't be writing fiction, so after writing a SW audio drama I turned Bob's second novel into a screenplay. He's at a writer's conference this week and took it with him to try to find an agent for it. If it happens I'll faint!

So I'm a lone screenwriter in a group of people writing novels and short stories. One thing I recommend if you are serious about getting published, is join a writer's group, preferably one that meets in RL, and if you can find one, has people in it who are already published and further on the road than you are. We have several published authors in ours, and the people are very dedicated in getting writing DONE and making it the best writing they can do. It really helps out with your motivation, so you don't get so bogged down in the low points.

 

Tattoinewizard, if you are still around on the boards, I'm sorry to see that you got a rejection. Have you ever thought about self-publishing? I've just come up with the idea for a fan zine for my Fantasy and Sci-Fi short stories that I'm going to place around in the local independent shops in Sheffield and stuff like that. I've even done a website so that people who don't live in Sheffield can read them. The thing is though, you need to have your stories copy righted to you so that people don't sell them without your permission!

There are publishers that do self publishing, so that's something you might want to look at BUT you have to watch that you don't get ripped off by paying aload of money to have a book produced and then finding that the quality of the book isn't very good. At least then if your book sells then the publisher might give you a more permanent contract.

I have looked into writing competions for magazines and stuff like that, but the majority of these tend to be the type of short stories you find in mags like (in the UK anyway), Woman's Weekly and People's Friend. These stories tend to be based on normal life, so if you are going to do this, then at least try to find the right audience - there's no need sending a Fantasy epic to a mag that publishes granny fiction!

There are a couple of Sci-Fi and Fantasy magazines like Interzone that you might want to check out.

One of the things I've found when looking for writing courses is that you tend to find ones for contempary fiction (granny stories) rather than Crime Fiction, Horror or Sci Fi and Fantasy, which I find disappointing as I'm not interested in writing these!

 

A thread made for me.

*sigh* I think I've entered heaven...

All right then, let's see.

How I got into writing... I've always made up characters and I've always placed myself in other roles. I remember being four and playing Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers. I was a girl that needed help and the Rescue Rangers were helping me. It was, in effect, a fan fic without being written down. I wasn't 'Jennie', I was...I think Michelle. Anyway, I've done stuff like that my whole life. I'd always be making up these complicated, long, drawn out stories and I loved to tell them to people.

But I hated writing on paper. Still do, actually. I do not write stories on paper. My muse is gone immediately if I do so. And so even though I tried (and I still come across shaky beginnings to fics I wrote like ten years ago), I never got more than a page written.

It wasn't until I was thirteen and discovered Harry Potter fan fic in March 2000 (which makes me a real oldy in that forum) that I learned to type properly, because I wanted to write a fic myself. And from that, I progressed to original fiction, preferring that to fan fic. Now, five years later, I write much more original than I do fan fiction. My problem is that I have no patience, am a huge procrstinator and essentially begin something, write a chapter or two- and then move on to the newest fic. I know I need to pace myself- but I don't. *sigh* That's why I think that NaNoWriMo is such a great invention, because it gives me a purpose and goal. The only problem is that it happens to be in November and November is when I have the most tests. It should be in July/August...that's when I have time.

As for names: I'm a name freak. I collect all sorts of names. I must have at least ten different baby-names sites favorite-placed on the computer. Sometimes I'll find a name and have to make up a character to match it, and sometimes I have a character and then have to find the perfect name. But really, I love naming characters. It's so much fun. I especially love the more 'odder' names. You can tell that by my screen name here, Alethia, which is the Latin version of the Ancient Greek term áëåèéá, which means 'truth'. Actually, all my user names are weird names, often that I use in my work and then when I need an original screen name, there one is.

Computer or paper?

Already answered that one. I can not write unless I type. It just doesn't work for me.

Where do you set up your 'writing workshop' and what resources do you have?

My desk in my bedroom and it holds a computer with a DSL interenet connection. And then the libraries in a 60 km radius are also my resources.

Pictures or quotes to inspire me?

It depends. Sometimes I'll see something or read something and *bang* my muse is back and ready to write. Other times, nothing inspires me. But I do have some favorite quotes that I like to look at and think about what I could use them for.

Do you keep notes on your characters, storyline, etc? If so, how extensive are they?

Yes I do- they're all in my head. For some reason, while I cannot remember why I went downstairs to look in the freezer sometimes or what classes I have the next day in school, I can remember all the details on a novel that I haven't touched in a year. Freaky, sometimes. I call it 'prioritizing'. *grin*

 

Yesssss - excellent thread!

I have serious creativity problems - mainly being that I'm too creative A part of my brain thinks I should be a painter, whereas the other thinks I'm a writer.

The writer part of me is my easier to stroke muse, whereas the artist in me is a cruel mistress, she's hyper-critical and impossible to please. So why would I even listen to my artist side? I don't know, maybe I just enjoy being frustrated and annoyed.

Recently I've been yearning for my artist muse because my writer muse has taken, it seems, a permanent vacation AKA Welcome Writer's Block.

A year and a half ago I began a children's fantasy story that I hope to one day finish that will launch a series of stories. Then life interrupted repeatedly and now I have ZERO interest in working on my baby.

I don't outline, which I know is a problem - but whenever I've tried to do it - outlining ALWAYS kills my creativity...completely.

I DO know the rest of the outline in my head - it's a matter of:

A) remembering everything I've already written (character details, etc)(Which I'm working on writing up since, as before mentioned, I don't outline.)

B) getting the motivation to continue because NOW my writer's muse is being hyper-critical with me I have no idea if what I've written so far is good or not. I used to think so, but now I'm uncertain.

I recently did a complete edit of what I had finished, hoping that would trigger me into wanting to write...it didn't.

Now I'm stuck. I refuse to abandon my story because it's more than 1/2 way finished - and what's worse is I have the second book outlined in my head which I really want to get to.

I always knew the first book in my series would be the hardest because I'm laying everything out for the series and it's not as exciting as the rest will be. It seems that it's strangling me instead of encouraging me though.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Suggestions...hmm.

Your problem seems quite similar to one of mine. What I do, is work on something else for a bit. Unfortunately, then i never go back to the piece I originally wanted to work on. But if you make sure that after you have your muse back, you go back and write, that could work.

Otherwise, don't start right from where you left off writing. Start a few chatpers/pages/scenes later. Or start writing the second book. Sometimes that helps. OR go back and re-write the last scene you wrote and see if that helps any.

This is also one reason why I don't like writing High-Fantasy: because I don't want to have to make up an entire new world and then explain it to people. I think I'll keep my stories based in this world that already exists, except with a few changes...

Writing background info can be incredibly dull. Therefore, I suggest not writing all of it. Write only what is extremely essential to that scene. I'm going to confess something- I skimmed over 3/4 of Lord of the Rings. Why? Because I found the endless descriptions of just about everything boring and pointless. I think he could have managed with half of that description...

Plus when you leave details out, the readers love to guess. Just think about Star Wars and what's actually in the PT and the OT and what's been added in from the EU.

I hope I helped a bit. Writer's Block is the worse- I haven't really written anything except a short story (that wasn't very good) in months. So I definitely know what it's like and I also hope that you conquer it soon.

 

But if you don't put enough detail in then there's no point in writing.

 

But there's also too much detail. You need to find a balance between the two extremes. In one of my fics, for instance, there are times when I spend a sentence describing detail and there are times when I spend an entire page. It depends on how important the object is. Plus you have to decide which age group you're writing to, as well as what people from that age group. And then things like genres and plots play a role, as well as individual style.

There are some people who love detail and that's great. If it's your style, then go ahead. But if you're getting caught on something, and can't move on, chances are that you're not happy with what you've already written. A friend's mother writes books professionally and I once asked her myself about what to do when you get stuck. She's the person who told me that if you can't go on, it usually means that you're not pleased with what you wrote before and that you ought to go back and try to fix that first. And I did- there was one scene that I was never thrilled with and after I went back and fixed it, my writer's block was completely gone. And too much/ too little description, for instance, can be a reason for that.

 

Just found this thread...cool! Awesome.

I'm an unpublished writer. I would love to write for a living; my only concern is whether or not that will pay for the bills. But even if I end up finding a different career - currently considering astronomy - I'll write no matter what. It's just something we do.

Right now I'm editing an original children's story for middle readers. I think I'll attempt to send it to a publisher when it pleases me. And I'll probably be rejected over and over again.

First of all, computer or paper? I've heard about many people who were so much more inspired writing on paper rather than typing on notepad.

In the past, I have used both. I started out writing on paper, then I switched to the computer. Now I write the rough draft out on paper and then type it onto the computer as I edit it.

Sometimes I think I can concentrate better when I write on paper. And I guess it is more inspiring to actually write out the words in your own hand, opposed to just typing it.

Second, where do you set up your 'writing workshop' and what resources do you have?

Anywhere. I'm constantly switching the places I write. As long as I can concentrate, I can write there.

I use the Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market. It's very helpful.

Pictures or quotes to inspire me?

I don't know. People inspire me, books inspire me. Star Wars pictures are fun to post in your room, though.

And finally, do you keep notes on your characters, storyline, etc? If so, how extensive are they?

I keep notes. They're as extensive as I need them to be. Sometimes the information in my head will suffice for certain parts of my writing. Other times I write out the background information to brainstorm.

(edited to fix silly mistakes)

 

OMG!!!!

My bf was at a writer's conference in FL this week and passed my screenplay around to agents and producers. And they actually had good things to say about it!!!

Unfortunately, it's still 20 pages too long.

I don't know HOW I'm going to cut 20 more pages out of this thing.