I'm trying to write a novel, been writing one for a few years now, studied creative writing in college. Just curious who else is aspiring to be a novelist here.
I already gave that up along with my other stupid teenage dreams.
Less cynically, even supposing I could write something publishable I know I'm not capable of doing anything particularly new or innovative so I don't really see the point of trying.
Hmm, I'm doing it for the sheer enjoyment of writing. If I could earn money doing it more power to me but even if I sell 2 copies to family members and they both hated it I would still enjoy the experience.
Then you should try to get a shitty part-time job that doesn't take you too much time and earns you just enough to pay for the rent and some noodles, and use your free time writing then trying to sell something. Don't do it as your main job until your career is launched.
Yeah i'm a writer, and have been for a little over 2 years.
Started with art, then drew up a character, and then decided to write something about her. Then it grew from there.
I took several creative writing classes as well, and loved them.
I currently working on a 4 book story. i know it sounds kinda immature, but I want it be as popular as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the such.
I sent a short story into a publisher, and he would of tried to get it publish, but he wouldn't because it was science fiction and there was too much sci fi out there.
>I sent a short story into a publisher, and he would of tried to get it publish
PLEASE tell me English isn't your first language.
Well, just finished my first book about half hour ago. 136,449 words, 738,573 characters.
I feel tired.
To any of you writers here, do you guys post your works on any websites? And if so, which ones?
Did any of you guys actually have good luck with a creative writing class? I took one once and it was like "Write a sixteen line poem using exactly this format and no other about this experience, that I, your instructor, not you, had. Extra credit awarded for kissing up to me and if the poem is as anti-male as every single facet of my being. By the way, all men are rapists and can just drop my class now."
Come to think of it, I probably just had a crappy instructor...
Yeah, I do. Most of the writers there aren't professional, but there was, at one point, some published British author on their, dispensing advice.
Site was looks it up in favorites TES Fiction. 'Tis a forum.
>>5
Um.This is random, sorry I'm a grammar freak... but if you intend to be an author, you should pay attention to this too.
Your "name" is "Seaking Answers". I don't know if you meant "Seeking Answers", or if you did that on purpose.
I'm not gonna rant on about punctuation and the like, because people get lazy when they write in forums and chatrooms.
but... "I sent a short story into a publisher, and he would of tried to get it publish, but he wouldn't because it was science fiction and there was too much sci fi out there."
You can't send a short story INTO a publisher... just to one... and "Would of" should be "Would have" and "publish" is "published"
Unless English isn't your first language, or you intend writing in another language, I suggest you brush up on your grammar, like >>6 said.
Yes.
>>10
I just finished my degree in English with that concentration.
LET ME GIVE YOU GUYS A LITTLE INSIDE INFORMATION, BURIED WITHIN THIS WALL OF TEXT:
Creative writing is a waste of time.
If you're interested in writing, take composition and literature courses. I learned more about writing in one course on Modernism than I did in working my way up to "English 496 Advanced Fiction Workshop." You will learn more from canonized writers who give useful insight into literary composition than you will reading some short stories or poetry and trying to imitate it.
IMPORTANT POINT: All, and I mean ALL of my creative writing courses were mainly based upon peer review. This amounted to mostly the blind leading the blind, heavily sycophantic behavior from the peers, and professors who were too afraid to give honest criticism. Good taste and a hint of genius cannot be taught, and there are far better methods of refining whatever talents you may have.
I had considered, for a time, going to graduate school and getting an MFA in creative writing. Here are some reasons why, if I do decide to look at graduate schools, I would go for something along the lines of composition/rhetoric instead:
A) You're going to go to a college and pay a bunch of money with the hope that someone might provide a useful critique of your work. If you decide to pursue graduate school for an MFA in creative writing, you'll be processed through, pointed to some publishers, lose about 50,000 dollars, and end up with a degree which will allow few options outside of teaching.
B) Every man, woman, and their dog wants to write a book these days because, guess what, they can. Maybe it's the internet, maybe it's because modern man has more free time...who knows. What advantage will you have over them? You got to find some people to whom you were able to show off your "work"?
C) There are other English degrees which have commercial viability (e.g. job opportunities) that will still allow you to develop your skills as a writer. Technical/professional writing, composition, and web-related masters programs (and maybe undergrad, depending on where you are) all will land you a decent job that won't consume all of your time, allowing you to pursue something a bit more meaningful than helping other people get rich.
Good writing is the product of life experience and the ability to articulate the emotion and vividness of memory and imagination. It is not the product of hours upon hours sitting in classrooms with books shoved up your ass and professors spouting so much shit that you couldn't stay above it if you had a helicopter. You can work like a fiend and end up in a school where the academics do a good job of bullshitting you, or you can go to a mediocre school where people are too lazy to cover it up.
>>15 I wouldn't say Creative Writing is a waste of time...I don't think I would have ever written a pantoum on my own, so I guess I can credit my previous Creative Writing course to that much. You are completely right in your description though: very much an awkward, blind-leading-blind experience.
As for "success" with Creative Writing, I wouldn't exactly say that anyone is really successful during -- or immediately after -- a Creative Writing course. Creative Writing will make you feel like you can write anything, like you're ready to go and don't need any of that other crap you're required take.
Realistically though, all English courses are designed to give you a fuller, more robust appreciation of literature -- no one college-level English course is going to magically turn you into a successful, publish-ready writer. If there's any course that does do just that, Creative Writing certainly isn't it. It really just serves to make you aware of and get you actively involved in the more creative, abstract side of writing, and also to provide a balance to the courses that teach form, structure, and the technical aspects of writing.
i wrote the harry potter books and currently thinking about doing another saga, maybe with ninjas this time.
>>17
I suggest you fall down a flight of stairs for inspiration.
For a deep existential humanistic philosopher as am I, writing allow optimism and release.
Heres a bit of a tip: all but pop or exceptional speculative fiction is turned down because the market is flooded with generic material.
A way for a developing novelist to break into writing is to prove worth and join a shared world setting. This would be through a company like Wizards OTC, and has established authors like M. Stackpole and others.
I write Political Science case studies and essays, so yes.
I want to be a writer, but I hate myself too much right now.
No, seriously; I have this urge to think of ideas. I must write to get them all out. I don't know what will happen if I don't, but I'm currently rather backed up. It hurts, in some strange abstract way. No wait, it just feels like constipation.
>>5
I've started on a book series that falls in roughly the same category, the phantom 'YEAH THIS WILL BE FAMOUS SOMEDAY' category. I don't believe in it, but I'd like to believe in someone who believes in it. That would help a lot.
>>15
I considered being a creative writing major, but I chickened out, thinking the kind of popularity I want can't be taught. I wanted to apply the writer's equivalent of Tarantino's philosophy: 'I didn't go to film school; I went to films,' or whatever he said. That said, I still want to take creative writing classes because it's hard for me as an introvert to find someone to critique my work.
>>16 blind-leading-blind
Ugh, I don't really want that, though. Also, I'm afraid that creative writing would drive me to alter my stuff, even making new things, in the attempt to impress others. This would not relieve myself of the backup in my metaphorical bladder. What to do?
I applaud >>20,
Take note, the important thing is to break into writing; though too many poor, arrogant journalists write books.
>>21, do study philosophy and write to improve, a degree to talent does not equate.
Practice, get reveiw, and never submit a work written in mania for a final (unless coherancy isn't key, as in humour and poetry). Some great fiction, from, Frankenstein to Kafka, came from writers circles. Most great authors have reveiw by friends. Good Musings.
Fictionpress.net if none else.
I intend to do a Creative Writing and English Literature course at university. Have I made a big mistake assuming this is a good place to start to become a writer, then?
I am currently doing the first year of my English Literature and Creative Writing degree. I chose to do Literature as well just in case it turned out to be bullshit. I still worry about the Creative Writing half, but I have found everything I have learned to be very useful, especially the screenwriting module I did recently that not only inspired me creatively but explained a lot about formatting scripts and how to pitch your work to production companies and all the stuff you need to be taken seriously. The literature seems pretty good so far, learned a lot about criticism and the role of the author in the creation and reading of a novel. The only things I don't like about the course is one teacher who isn't really bad enough to comment on, and word limits on creative assignments. 1500 words to write a short story isn't enough, and though I understand they have goodness knows however many students' work to go through, but my plot ideas tend to just make for stories much longer than they allow for. Because of that I wrote one of the worst things I have ever written, and I even though the first year doesn't count toward the actual degree, I still panic about my grades a lot.
>>21 Being a first year I suppose I can't dispense with much advice, but consider the possibility of taking a Creative Writing course combined with something else, and then you can alter the proportions of your degree later on - my university allows me to alter it as I go along and if the slightest thing goes wrong that's going to be my first plan of action.
Sorry for wall of text, I had to get that off my chest. Whenever someone goes "Creative Writing is useless!" I always imagine myself aged and balding, stacking shelves at the nearest Tescos. I have lots of ideas, I just hope I can get out there.
My novel is unmarketable according to one publisher and a poor business decision at this time according to another. It doesn't end happy so I know it's a tough sell but I'll keep plugging away. Hemingway wallpapered his walls with rejection letters, I frame mine.
Yes.
It is a hobby of mine when I am not doing physics.