Hello. I've already posted a couple of critiques, but I feel compelled to respect this ritual. I'm a millenial getting on in years and hoping to finally take writing seriously. I doubt I am alone in having proclaimed that I would do so many times, ultimately failing to endure the struggle. In that time, I've done a lot of reading, but it's time to get some of these stories out of the Limbo that is my diseased mind whether the results excite or not. I hope to find fools like myself, those passionate underachievers fighting against their own inertia. I hope to find idiosyncratic and confident authors with stories I long to read. I hope to find a community which reminds me that stories are meant to be told, and perhaps seamlessly integrate into it. Here's hoping.
Hey, Cope Acetic! I'm one of the moderators here, and I want to extend a very warm welcome to you. I just took a quick look at a couple of your posts, including one of your critiques, and I'm very impressed by the thought and effort you put into it. You seem to be exactly the kind of new member who is likely to become an asset to the forum. I like that you started with critiques, as they are so appreciated by the people who post the work. Many folks start by wanting to post their own, but we really appreciate the people who start from the other end. If everybody just posted work without doing critiques, we wouldn't get much in the way of feedback going, would we? Anyway, that aside, I hope you just dive in and get some storytelling done. If you are coming from a background of academic writing—and I'm just guessing here—it's sometimes difficult to make the transition between that kind of writing and the pure storytelling mode which enchants and engulfs readers. It does require a major mindset change, I reckon. I solved that problem for myself using a very simple technique. When I was a child I used to make up stories all the time (I ALWAYS had a couple of them going on in my head ...usually sagas of some description.) I used to tell them to my younger sister, and she was constantly pestering me for more. (No writer's block allowed!) So when, at the age of 46, I finally decided to start writing a novel, using a story I'd been developing in my head for some months, I broke through the excessively formal format I'd been using in academic writing by pretending I was telling the story to her! Not as a child, of course, but her as she is now. An adult, only four years younger than me. It worked a treat. I found if I kept her in mind as my 'audience' I was able to just tell the story for 'effect.' Of course I ended up with a tome that needed severe editing, cutting, rearranging, even re-thinking in parts. It was also a tad more melodramatic than I'd expected. BUT I got the danged thing done, and now I'm pretty happy with it. The only think keeping me from getting it self-published at the moment is my reluctance to dig into the software issues that I'll need to do to get it formatted, etc. Anyway, to make a long story short—my constant task—maybe pick an audience and 'tell' the story to them, to get you started. And don't make them into a critical audience or that will defeat the purpose. Make them the kind of audience that is hanging on your every word. See what happens? That aside, it's my Moderating Duty to introduce you to a couple of links you should read, if you haven't already. They'll show you the framework of the forum and let you know how we operate. New Member Quick Start Forum Rules And here are two other links you might find useful. The first is simply a site map that will get you around to all areas of the forum quite quickly. The second is a link to our forum contest section. You might want to read the entries in our current contests (short story, flash fiction and poetry) and vote on them, when the contests end. You are also welcome to enter the ongoing contests yourself, even as a new member. It's a good way to get an idea of what our members produce. https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ https://www.writingforums.org/writing-contests/ If you encounter any difficulties while you're getting settled, don't hesitate to ask me for help and I'll do what I can. Cheers for now, Jan I'm also sending you a private message regarding another issue, so please check your Inbox as well.
I'm happy and relieved to hear that. I'm still worried I was being too harsh or giving the wrong kind of feedback, but I'm sure I'll adjust to local expectations. I suppose it's a good thing I decided to join a bit before being prepared to share my work. I like the 2:1 rule, it makes a lot of sense! Oh no, is it that obvious? Yes, much of the writing I've done is of a scientific bent, where clarity and precision are as important as concision. If you can already tell, I'm sure there will be plenty to critique once I do begin to post my work. I can only hope there are plenty here as insightful as you. It's funny, I have a similar story. When I was young, my first close friend was a girl who shared my melancholic disposition. The connection was immediate, and we wanted to spend more time together than we could. We would talk on the phone for hours, and the main topic were episodic epics we would tell each other, always trying to up the drama with each phone call. I'll take your advice to heart. I'll try to summon that young boy, getting lost in his friends imagination as she got lost in his. This may seem too forward, but I have a great deal of experience laying out books and preparing them for print using InDesign and the TeX markup language. I've mostly done instructional manuals for games, but I like to lay out my work to see what it would look like. If you need and advice, hit me up. I'd also be happy to lay it out for you, I really enjoy doing it. I think I will try entering the poetry contest. I'm a terrible poet.
Another little trick, to summoning up that inner child. Start every story (in your head anyway) with 'Once upon a time...' It's amazing how that changes the vibe from erudite 'writing' to absorbing 'storytelling.' I'm nearly 71 years old, but that's the hook that gets me every time. Start speaking or writing by saying 'Once upon a time,' and I'm suddenly all ears/eyes/brain. It's a very primitive, but effective, way to suspend my disbelief and make me ready for anything. Those really are magic words!
Referring to the title of the thread, back in Lovecraft's day writers would belong to pen-pal groups. He was a member of a group of them who would send each other their manuscripts, pass them along to each other, and comment on them, as well as just write letters to each other on the subject of writing. Now we have the internet for that. Welcome aboard, virtual penpal!
Lovin' me some of that avatar! Welcome! Plenty of little sisters in the Character Chatroom (the PG one).
Welcome. Disease is a question of perspective, same goes for the diseased mind. Evolution doesn't care much about mutations, as long as they don't interfere with the execution of basic functions. Some mutations end up glorified as signs of beauty. There are tons of monotone, heartless crap out there. After reading your intro, I'm hoping myself you've set yourself the goal to do better than that, perhaps have the means and the guts to do it. Looking forward to read your stuff.
To a certain extent, but my disorders have certainly made things harder than they would be otherwise. It may give me an interesting perspective, though. I really hope so. Thanks for the welcome!
That's nice! You're pushing the narrator's voice forward. I like using Morgan Freeman's voice. "Andy Dufresne ran the best damned karaoke bar in ten counties. They came from miles around, fat wallets in hand. Yeah, they skipped mass on Sunday to sing like alley cats for old Andy." You use Morgan's voice, then you delete all the Andies. Or you can try Eastwood or Alan Rickman or whoever and it'll shift the tone. Jump into distant narration and that gets that storyteller voice. I'll have to try that once upon a time trick . . .
I use Woody Harrelson sometimes, especially as Mickey Knox. When he drops into his Texas accent, it evokes exactly what I want even though I'm surrounded by perfect examples every day in real life. He doesn't narrate so much, but he monologues like a genius. I also like Ewen McGregor as Renton in Trainspotting. Once you get going, it's hard to stop, and you end up with something in the Hornsby/Palahniuk/Bukowski area of narrative, or at least I do. And if you really get into the flow, it's easy enough to keep it up after you drop the accent. I'd like to try Mindy Kaling as Mindy Lahiri and see what happens. She has a completely different take on voice-over narration and I think the character is horribly under-rated. It should be interesting. Morgan Freeman has gravitas. Mindy distinctly does not.
Hail, brother. A strong narrative voice is difficult to develop. I tend to let my character speak to me in a stream of consciousness for a while and clean things up later. I've never considered channeling Shawshank.
I like to imagine narration by Uncle Jessie from the Dukes of Hazard sometimes, or Willie Nelson (did he play Uncle Jessie in the movie? I think so, but only saw trailers for it). Or James Earl Jones. Or just occasionally the guy who narrated the beginning of Rudolph. Don't recall his name, but he was a folk singer or something. And also a snowman.
Writers Writers who need writers Are the luckiest writers In the world (narrated in Barbara Streisand voice)
