Boarders Writing a Novel: Take 8

[First of My Name]

I'm a little reluctant to post in this thread, as I'm just starting on my first "proper" writing endeavour. I've written a fair few things in the past, but have never finished anything, and never had the motivation to actually make a go of anything. But this time it seems different. I'm just starting out, have done some character profiles and got my basic plan, and generally inspiration strikes and I just write. I had a night where I wrote around 4000 words a few weeks ago, and since then have been writing bits here and there, but now uni is over I have some time to sit down and start writing properly.

My question is this: Does anyone have a writing blog? Where they share ideas/chapters/whatnot? I feel it might be an idea in order to get some feedback, and I'm definitely shy when it comes to my writing, so the anonymous aspect would work well for me :P

I don't, but I believe Jaime's Wench does, the link is in her sig. And good luck with your writing!

[Starkess]

I'm a little reluctant to post in this thread, as I'm just starting on my first "proper" writing endeavour. I've written a fair few things in the past, but have never finished anything, and never had the motivation to actually make a go of anything. But this time it seems different. I'm just starting out, have done some character profiles and got my basic plan, and generally inspiration strikes and I just write. I had a night where I wrote around 4000 words a few weeks ago, and since then have been writing bits here and there, but now uni is over I have some time to sit down and start writing properly.

My question is this: Does anyone have a writing blog? Where they share ideas/chapters/whatnot? I feel it might be an idea in order to get some feedback, and I'm definitely shy when it comes to my writing, so the anonymous aspect would work well for me :P

Welcome and good luck! :cheers: I do have a writing blog, but it's mostly just me bitching. :)

[Theda Baratheon]

I'm a little reluctant to post in this thread, as I'm just starting on my first "proper" writing endeavour. I've written a fair few things in the past, but have never finished anything, and never had the motivation to actually make a go of anything. But this time it seems different. I'm just starting out, have done some character profiles and got my basic plan, and generally inspiration strikes and I just write. I had a night where I wrote around 4000 words a few weeks ago, and since then have been writing bits here and there, but now uni is over I have some time to sit down and start writing properly.

My question is this: Does anyone have a writing blog? Where they share ideas/chapters/whatnot? I feel it might be an idea in order to get some feedback, and I'm definitely shy when it comes to my writing, so the anonymous aspect would work well for me :P

http://norma-bara.tumblr.com/tagged/my_writing

Not a blog dedicated to writing, but I occasionally post my writing on my tumblr and tag it as such. I'm really awful, but I don't mind.

[deleted01]

So many nice responses, thanks all! I'll check out those blogs, it'd be nice to get a feel for what others do. :)

[Zoë Sumra]

I occasionally whine about writing on my Lj (zoeiona. livejournal. com without the spaces), but I wouldn't call it a writing blog. Ebenstone's is one you should check out.

... and I have plugged my last hole! Yay!!!!! Draft 2 officially done, at just under 81,000 words. Draft 3 will consist of plugging a few remaining knowledge gaps between the characters and the readers, working out whether to write out the secondary villain at the end of the book as opposed to writing him into the beginning of the book (because I can't think of a way to write him in that doesn't involve echoing Nick Harkaway), filling in my descriptive deserts and checking the whole thing actually works qua novel, before giving it a line edit...

[Starkess]

... and I have plugged my last hole! Yay!!!!! Draft 2 officially done, at just under 81,000 words. Draft 3 will consist of plugging a few remaining knowledge gaps between the characters and the readers, working out whether to write out the secondary villain at the end of the book as opposed to writing him into the beginning of the book (because I can't think of a way to write him in that doesn't involve echoing Nick Harkaway), filling in my descriptive deserts and checking the whole thing actually works qua novel, before giving it a line edit...

:cheers: Woohoo!

[OctopusArms]

Awesome, Eloisa!

I've just finished my first draft of my current story, "All the Best Parts." Once I hit the end bit, things went much faster. I expected that, since I had an ending in mind and the hard parts were connecting the dots. The story sits at about 6,500 words right now, though I expect that total will go up in my next draft since I changed things in the middle and need to connect even more dots. After that, I hope to get it down to the 4-5k range via editing.

I hit over 2k words today though, most of which came in the last hour or so.

Also, Dracarya, I literally started a writing blog yesterday. It doesn't have anything on it yet, and I expect it will just end up like Starkess' -- with me bitching. I'll link it in my sig line, though, if there's any interest in reading it.

[Ebenstone]

I'm a little reluctant to post in this thread, as I'm just starting on my first "proper" writing endeavour. I've written a fair few things in the past, but have never finished anything, and never had the motivation to actually make a go of anything. But this time it seems different. I'm just starting out, have done some character profiles and got my basic plan, and generally inspiration strikes and I just write. I had a night where I wrote around 4000 words a few weeks ago, and since then have been writing bits here and there, but now uni is over I have some time to sit down and start writing properly.

My question is this: Does anyone have a writing blog? Where they share ideas/chapters/whatnot? I feel it might be an idea in order to get some feedback, and I'm definitely shy when it comes to my writing, so the anonymous aspect would work well for me :P

Here's the link to my blog:

http://johnzeleznik.blogspot.com/

I talk a lot about the writing process, my experiences and other ramblings. I'm not quite ready to put up any of my stuff yet, but I will be when I finally get my website.

Give it a look and see if there's anything in there to help you.

As for me, finished the novella and it's off with betas. They'll be news on that in the near future I hope.

Presently working on a YA scifi: think Hunger Games meets Firefly meets the Bachelor (the TV show).

[Starkess]

Also, Dracarya, I literally started a writing blog yesterday. It doesn't have anything on it yet, and I expect it will just end up like Starkess' -- with me bitching. I'll link it in my sig line, though, if there's any interest in reading it.

It's funny how many writing blogs end up like that! :lol:

[Jaime's Wench]

Wait, I thought the definition of 'blog' was 'dumping ground for a person's bitchy thoughts?'

I try to keep mine updated and non-bitchy. I deleted my most recent entry for being too much like a teenage angst rant. Mostly when I do talk about writing, it's about what I have achieved recently and my philosophy of writing/editing.

@Dracarya: Just a note of caution. If you do post sample chapters on your blog for people to read, bear in mind that it could be read by anyone for any reason. I had an unfortunate incident of flaming a few months ago because I left a rough version of my chapter on my blog for people to read, thinking it'd only be those who I knew and trusted who would bother to look it over.

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

Sounds like most of us have had a productive week in here!

I myself came in just under my weekly target of 25 pages, hitting a modest 23 (just over 6 thousand words).

[Zoë Sumra]

@Dracarya: Just a note of caution. If you do post sample chapters on your blog for people to read, bear in mind that it could be read by anyone for any reason. I had an unfortunate incident of flaming a few months ago because I left a rough version of my chapter on my blog for people to read, thinking it'd only be those who I knew and trusted who would bother to look it over.

Also, if you put more than three chapters on your blog (or any unlocked website - hence the locked forum at our writers' site), that classes as first publication rights, so your book isn't available for traditional publishing.

[Florina Laufeyson]

Wait, I thought the definition of 'blog' was 'dumping ground for a person's bitchy thoughts?'

I try to keep mine updated and non-bitchy. I deleted my most recent entry for being too much like a teenage angst rant. Mostly when I do talk about writing, it's about what I have achieved recently and my philosophy of writing/editing.

@Dracarya: Just a note of caution. If you do post sample chapters on your blog for people to read, bear in mind that it could be read by anyone for any reason. I had an unfortunate incident of flaming a few months ago because I left a rough version of my chapter on my blog for people to read, thinking it'd only be those who I knew and trusted who would bother to look it over.

Is..that why theres a link to it in your sig? I do hope you stopped posting chapters in it, if you are afraid of such things, and yet still kept it in your sig.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Almost finished my 3rd draft of Resurrection Men, coming in at 'just' over 100000 words. I'm reading through and amending the odd bit here and there. I'll do one more read-through, to focus on polishing dialogue, then I think I'll call it a day and start looking for test readers.

I also need to find a word for a vampire 'base'. Nest is overused. I'm using Lair at the moment but don't like it.

For my 4 stages of vampirism, I ended up going for Revenant, vampire, Elder and Rexus (Rexi for plural). Elder is so overused and I was tempted to go for the latin word, which is 'senior', but senior doesn't sound right given how it's used now.

[Snowborn]

I generally lurk on this topic because I study editing, and it's always interesting to see the thought processes behind writing. I'm not a writer, nor do I want to be one. I'd like to be one of those people who help to make a good book out of a good manuscript, instead.

Anyway, this is what I wanted to say:

Let's consider this scenario. You're a writer, you're really proud of what you do, so you talk about it all the time. Not only to people you regularly talk to, but also to complete strangers in a chatroom. This goes on for weeks. You talk about it so much you don't listen to others, you don't care about discussing anything but your writing, even when others don't want to talk about it, and one day you mention you put up a chapter of the novel you're writing on your blog, come on guys, go take a look. So, the same people who had to listen to you all that time go and check the sample. Some feel neutral about it, some don't like it. You still talk about what an awesome writer you are, and, if someone tries to point put a flaw on your work, you dismiss them right away, saying that you don't want to hear negative criticism. One day, you start asking the people in the chatroom about their honest opinion about your writing. People, then, proceed to give you their opinion, pointing out the flaws they found, and many said they didn't like it at all. You, then, get so mad at these people, you insult them, call the incident a flaming, and now, when you're not talking about your novel, you talk about the people who bashed it and can't appreciate your efforts, without considering that it was you the one who asked for an opinion, you the one who uploaded that chapter to a public site and told people it was there, and that you cannot abide any kind of criticism because your ego is so big it doesn't allow you to listen to others.

[First of My Name]

I generally lurk on this topic because I study editing, and it's always interesting to see the thought processes behind writing. I'm not a writer, nor do I want to be one. I'd like to be one of those people who help to make a good book out of a good manuscript, instead.

Anyway, this is what I wanted to say:

Let's consider this scenario. You're a writer, you're really proud of what you do, so you talk about it all the time. Not only to people you regularly talk to, but also to complete strangers in a chatroom. This goes on for weeks. You talk about it so much you don't listen to others, you don't care about discussing anything but your writing, even when others don't want to talk about it, and one day you mention you put up a chapter of the novel you're writing on your blog, come on guys, go take a look. So, the same people who had to listen to you all that time go and check the sample. Some feel neutral about it, some don't like it. You still talk about what an awesome writer you are, and, if someone tries to point put a flaw on your work, you dismiss them right away, saying that you don't want to hear negative criticism. One day, you start asking the people in the chatroom about their honest opinion about your writing. People, then, proceed to give you their opinion, pointing out the flaws they found, and many said they didn't like it at all. You, then, get so mad at these people, you insult them, call the incident a flaming, and now, when you're not talking about your novel, you talk about the people who bashed it and can't appreciate your efforts, without considering that it was you the one who asked for an opinion, you the one who uploaded that chapter to a public site and told people it was there, and that you cannot abide any kind of criticism because your ego is so big it doesn't allow you to listen to others.

To whom does this relate?

[The Marquis de Leech]

Let's consider this scenario. You're a writer, you're really proud of what you do, so you talk about it all the time. Not only to people you regularly talk to, but also to complete strangers in a chatroom. This goes on for weeks. You talk about it so much you don't listen to others, you don't care about discussing anything but your writing, even when others don't want to talk about it, and one day you mention you put up a chapter of the novel you're writing on your blog, come on guys, go take a look. So, the same people who had to listen to you all that time go and check the sample. Some feel neutral about it, some don't like it. You still talk about what an awesome writer you are, and, if someone tries to point put a flaw on your work, you dismiss them right away, saying that you don't want to hear negative criticism. One day, you start asking the people in the chatroom about their honest opinion about your writing. People, then, proceed to give you their opinion, pointing out the flaws they found, and many said they didn't like it at all. You, then, get so mad at these people, you insult them, call the incident a flaming, and now, when you're not talking about your novel, you talk about the people who bashed it and can't appreciate your efforts, without considering that it was you the one who asked for an opinion, you the one who uploaded that chapter to a public site and told people it was there, and that you cannot abide any kind of criticism because your ego is so big it doesn't allow you to listen to others.

Um, a key part of writing is realising that you need to listen to outside input. This is probably less an issue with unpublished authors like ourselves, and more an issue with major published authors who become Too Big to Edit - the Editor becomes reluctant to pull the author up for sloppiness, because the author can always go elsewhere, and the author knows full well that readers will buy them no matter what.

(Plus, it's also an issue for the Terry Goodkinds of this world. But they were insane to start with).

[The Marquis de Leech]

I also need to find a word for a vampire 'base'. Nest is overused. I'm using Lair at the moment but don't like it.

Redoubt?

[First of My Name]

I also need to find a word for a vampire 'base'. Nest is overused. I'm using Lair at the moment but don't like it.

Hideout, mayhaps?

[Howdyphillip]

I have a question for writers here on the board. I have fallen completely out of the practice of writing. In my collegiate days, I was fairly skilled and even had articles published, but it has been 20 years since I actually wrote anything longer than a post. I am finding an urge to express creativity through the writing process again, but I find several obstacles in my path.

My typing has become atrocious. It is taking an inordinate amount of time for me to physically express my ideas. By the time I am finished typing a sentence, I effectively squash the creative process. Does anyone have any ideas on how to increase my speed that isn't just mindless redundancy?