Introductions like this always give me pause. I'm not really sure what the appropriate combination of personal factoids to give is, so here's what I've scrambled together for lack of an actual answer: 1. It took me a day and a half to figure out that the intermittent squeaking I was hearing was my fan, not yet another bird directly outside my window. 2. One of my favorite self-promotional facts is that I've been barefoot in six countries. 3. One of my other favorite self-promotional facts is that I own somewhere between 30-40 pairs of shoes. I don't like wearing shoes, but for the occasions that require it, I have options. 4. I love letter writing, and written correspondence shows up in just about everything I've ever written. 5. I also love drawing, and actually have an art degree. I have drawn pictures of my characters for as long as I have had characters. My introduction to my favorite character and name-sake, Diluvian, was him demanding to be drawn. One of the projects I've been working on and off on for the last several years is a multi-genre piece that involves me drawing and designing everything from police records to coupons. 6. I refer to everything, eventually, as playing. Life is too short to take everything seriously. By this statement I mean I will actually say things like "Do you want to come play yoga?!" 7. I lead a life of many tiny mischiefs. 8. I really enjoy copy editing. No one knows why. For a more direct, normal, writerly introduction: I have done a lot of collaborative novel writing, and a lot of straight forward on-my-own writing. I tend to consider myself a surrealist. I like lyric writing, and romance writing makes me queasy. I am drawn to dystopian and "gritty" scenery: I like my castles dirty and my people imperfect. I'm interested in character and character development, and the psychology behind relationships. The project I'm currently re-working is an old collaborative piece. It's set in a semi-medieval fantasy world. This was most certainly overkill. If you read through everything I just typed, thanks.
Hello Diluvian, Welcome to the Creative Writing Forums. I just want to know whose navel you're gazing at so intently. And it's not overkill. It's just enough kill. Please read How to Use the Writing Workshop before you try to post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here anyway. 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 Writing Workshop, 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 Writing Workshop, 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. We also impose a two-week waiting period before you may post writing for critique, to give you time to become familiar with what is expected and how the site operates. The Writing Workshop 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 Writing Workshop 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!
