What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

[TheDancingWriter]

I can't decide whether to pursue self publishing (going indie) or sticking with regular publishing and hoping to be found. I just can't keep on waiting for someone to find me (yes, I've sent some queries, all of them were a no, but I'm still improving my work every now and then)...
Indie is appealing to me, because I have full control and decide what I earn. There's so many options... I'm just afraid that when I do it, there's no going back :S

Oh well....

I've taken the time to create a cover already. For when I actually might publish my own work. Plus, I was already planning on placing a few chapters online as bait . So why not give those a nice cover to attract more fans? What do you guys think?

I think the pic is gorgeous, but is there any way you can remove the blue arm? I mean, I get what it's trying to show, but I think it's distracting more than anything. If both her and whoever that blue arm is attached to were in the frame, it would work, but as it is it's visually awkward.

 

[Silver-Midnight]

I have the urge to write fan fiction again.

*gradually sneaks away*

 

[WriteMinded]

I haven't been able to write now for three weeks. It's really bothering me. I need to stop being depressed.

I know just what you mean. Unfortunately there's no OFF button, plenty of ON buttons, though.

I can't decide whether to pursue self publishing (going indie) or sticking with regular publishing and hoping to be found. I just can't keep on waiting for someone to find me (yes, I've sent some queries, all of them were a no, but I'm still improving my work every now and then)...
Indie is appealing to me, because I have full control and decide what I earn. There's so many options... I'm just afraid that when I do it, there's no going back :S

Oh well....

I know just what you mean. That once-you-jump-there's-no-going-back idea keeps me paralyzed.

I've taken the time to create a cover already. For when I actually might publish my own work. Plus, I was already planning on placing a few chapters online as bait . So why not give those a nice cover to attract more fans? What do you guys think?

The dress. Pretty, but it SCREAMS. A softer color IMHO would work better and give the whole thing an eerier feel. But maybe you don't want eerie.

I think the pic is gorgeous, but is there any way you can remove the blue arm? I mean, I get what it's trying to show, but I think it's distracting more than anything. If both her and whoever that blue arm is attached to were in the frame, it would work, but as it is it's visually awkward.

I like the blue arm. Had to get past the dress though, before I saw it lurking over there.

 

[buz]

The dress is gorgeous.

I think the way that bottom of the "y" intersects with the name doesn't quite work; I feel like the S.P. needs to be shimmied over to the left a little bit.

The blue arm--I like what it hints at, but I agree it does look a little awkward. I would almost prefer it if the woman were shifted over to the right some, to get more of that arm in there, (maybe other body parts too? not too much, obvi ) and maybe cut off just a little bit of her to keep it from being quite so up-and-down the center...and if the arm/hand received as much detail as her own hands (right now it looks cartoonish to me, which contributes majorly to the awkwardness, where as she's more "real").

Overall, though, I like it. It certainly grabs one's attention.

...Never critted art before and I'm not an artist, so uh, don't pay too much attention to me. Just my thoughts.

 

[S.P. van der Lee]

Oh btw, b4 you read: I didn't show her eyes on purpose (it's to ensure the illusion).

The dress. Pretty, but it SCREAMS. A softer color IMHO would work better and give the whole thing an eerier feel. But maybe you don't want eerie.

I like the blue arm. Had to get past the dress though, before I saw it lurking over there.

Hmrrr true, I agree it screams. The reason I chose it was because she's wearing this in the book Turquoise dress.

The dress is gorgeous.

I think the way that bottom of the "y" intersects with the name doesn't quite work; I feel like the S.P. needs to be shimmied over to the left a little bit.

The blue arm--I like what it hints at, but I agree it does look a little awkward. I would almost prefer it if the woman were shifted over to the right some, to get more of that arm in there, (maybe other body parts too? not too much, obvi ) and maybe cut off just a little bit of her to keep it from being quite so up-and-down the center...and if the arm/hand received as much detail as her own hands (right now it looks cartoonish to me, which contributes majorly to the awkwardness, where as she's more "real").

Overall, though, I like it. It certainly grabs one's attention.

...Never critted art before and I'm not an artist, so uh, don't pay too much attention to me. Just my thoughts.

Thanks for the tip You mean the S.P. van der Lee should be a little to the left? Smaller too?

The blue arm looks weird indeed. I keep doubting if it should be in there, though this is certainly what the book is about (mainly). If I keep it out, some people might lose the idea behind the book? Or is it not that much of an important part?

The reason it looks weird is because it's actually a computerdrawn arm I found and reused. I overlayed it with a couple of stuff such as pattern and shadows and filters etc.

Unfortunatly I don't have any other body parts of this, so that would mean I'd have to find a different model (one with a entire body LOL) and reshape the entire thing that could work. Though I doubt I would want them both on the cover. The problem with the blue arm is that when I take a regular person and turn it blue, it becomes all cartoonish because the defined shapes go away (a human arm has shadows and lighting to create a 3d effect etc.)

What do you mean with cut her out? Is she too big? Or should she be more to the left or the right? Or is she too much upwards?

I think the pic is gorgeous, but is there any way you can remove the blue arm? I mean, I get what it's trying to show, but I think it's distracting more than anything. If both her and whoever that blue arm is attached to were in the frame, it would work, but as it is it's visually awkward.

True, if everyone dislikes the blue arm then that's a definite sign it doesn't work well. But is it clear what the book is about just by looking at the cover? Or am I not telling enough?

The reason I picked a girl in a dress is because most books that are picked up by readers feature a girl in a dress (+ she wears this in the book).

 

[Buffysquirrel]

The utter impossibility of trimming this novel without destroying it.

 

[Chris P]

Just subbed some short stories, and although I know I won't hear anything for 90 days I keep wanting to check my email.

 

[Saija]

Lately I feel like I have all these great ideas, but I just can't seem to execute them properly. It seems like every sentence I write sound forced and doesn't come out smoothly.

On the bright side, I've been putting off editing a book for about 3 months now, and began a new book in the hopes that getting "away" from the first for awhile would help me find inspiration again, and it did! I looked at the first book today for the first time in quite some time.

 

[southbel]

It's so hard to write humor. I think I spend more time on the humorous parts of my WIP than anything else.

 

[buz]

Thanks for the tip You mean the S.P. van der Lee should be a little to the left? Smaller too?

Not necessarily smaller, just barely shifted so that there's a more respectable space between the P and the bottom of the y...

The blue arm looks weird indeed. I keep doubting if it should be in there, though this is certainly what the book is about (mainly). If I keep it out, some people might lose the idea behind the book? Or is it not that much of an important part?

I like it in general; I just thought it looked a bit off, given that the human hand has all the shadowing and whatnot and the blue hand is...well, cartoonish

Unfortunatly I don't have any other body parts of this, so that would mean I'd have to find a different model (one with a entire body LOL) and reshape the entire thing

Not a big deal, it was just food for thought

What do you mean with cut her out? Is she too big? Or should she be more to the left or the right? Or is she too much upwards?

I would prefer her slightly off-center (like, over to the right a bit) and a bit more of the blue arm--but, that's just a preference, and as I said, I'm not sure what the hell I'm talking about. (I think she's a good size.)

Just some dumb thoughts, nothing you should take too seriously, and all suggested adjustments would be...small...hopefully

 

[ap123]

Feeling hopeful that maybe, just maybe, there's a way to reduce the suckage and get a better story from it.

 

[hologram]

I'm pretty excited. For the first time, reading back on what I had written I developed an image of the scene and in particular my MC. I don't describe him, or the scene in any details at all so I'm pretty happy with his. It's a good sign right?

 

[DarkSongofErrin]

Just discovered a major plot hole that destroyed my whole story. How stupid of me not to see it before!

 

[hologram]

Just discovered a major plot hole that destroyed my whole story. How stupid of me not to see it before!

Ouch that isn't pleasant. Can you work around it?

 

[DarkSongofErrin]

Ouch that isn't pleasant. Can you work around it?

Not without some major changes. It's a really obvious mistake (don't know how I did it). There is a quick fix but it would make the story too unbelievable. Let's just say the hole is about the size of 99 years.....

 

[southbel]

Not without some major changes. It's a really obvious mistake (don't know how I did it). There is a quick fix but it would make the story too unbelievable. Let's just say the hole is about the size of 99 years.....

Ah, that's all?

Teasing, of course. I had an abandoned project where I ran into a similar problem. So I feel your pain.

 

[DarkSongofErrin]

Ah, that's all?

Teasing, of course. I had an abandoned project where I ran into a similar problem. So I feel your pain.

Haha, thank you. I think mine will also have to go into the abandoned pile.

 

[AutumnKQ]

I'm wishing I could just start writing Part 2, but I know I need to plot first. And I feel so stuck and overwhelmed by the complexity of the task and by feeling like I need to make decisions about which scenes come between all the gaps I have.

 

[Immortal]

I still can't decide which direction I want to go with my WiP. It's the most frustrating thing because you feel stuck in the research stage and you have nothing to show for it.

 

[southbel]

Too much coffee and now I can't sleep. I've been writing, however, so I guess it's not all bad. Another chapter down and I finally figured out a pivotal plot point. My only hope is that I still love it tomorrow once the coffee and 3 am great ideas buzz has worn off.

 

[S.P. van der Lee]

Not necessarily smaller, just barely shifted so that there's a more respectable space between the P and the bottom of the y...



I like it in general; I just thought it looked a bit off, given that the human hand has all the shadowing and whatnot and the blue hand is...well, cartoonish



Not a big deal, it was just food for thought



I would prefer her slightly off-center (like, over to the right a bit) and a bit more of the blue arm--but, that's just a preference, and as I said, I'm not sure what the hell I'm talking about. (I think she's a good size.)

Just some dumb thoughts, nothing you should take too seriously, and all suggested adjustments would be...small...hopefully

Thanks for clarifying I'm gonna figure this thing out

 

[Buffysquirrel]

expletive deleted woman just write some description into the story already!

 

[DragonHeart]

Ah, lots of progress today. About 2000 words, not including my ongoing writing exercise, from two 'blocks' of time. Technically I was supposed to be editing a different story during one of them but this one is so close to being done and it's flowing so well that I just bulled on ahead. At this pace the draft will be done tomorrow.

The writing might be flowing but it is going to need a lot of work in revisions. Meh. I'll worry about it when I cross that bridge. I'm just happy to be producing.

 

[Chris P]

Dusting off some old short stories to see if they are worth cleaning up and sending out. I probably will, but I'm not sure what exactly to do with them yet.

 

[Crescendo2020]

Being new to this and figuring out for the first time the amount of things that need to be taken into consideration is quite overwhelming.
That, on top of the fact that I've started another story so ugly that not even my Mother can love it.