Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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Juneluv12

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Hello everyone. I just had my worst workshop ever. I'm going to bed. Someone please wake me up when this week is over. =/

Yeah. I'm real tired of this literary fiction bullshit. Me and another girl were talking about how horrible our peers are at workshopping.

I used a "device" in my story that people didn't like. So they spent an ENTIRE HOUR talking back and forth about how they didn't like the device.

Fail. It's been my favorite short so far and I didn't get a single good comment. Not one.

:rant:Okay, just say screw it and screw them! JK

Srsly, take it with a grain of salt and move on. We know and YOU know you are a talented writer who is agented....I'm sure most or all of them can't say that.

That sucks that it went down like that. I had the BEST writing workshops in grad school....like they made me take my dreams of writing srsly again.
Hi all.....this thread piqued my interest so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring.....but I DO apologize I'm a little lost. Anyone interested in helping a newbie along?? Thanx in advance!

HI there, Moni!!

:welcome:


We'll be happy to answer any questions you have...don't hesitate to ask.

Quick run thru....

If you want to "rep" someone, just lick on those little scales under your avatar and then write in your comment. To see your reps, go to USER CP and you can see them as well as change your siggie, insert an AVI, etc.

We get together and write sometimes to give feedback....we call it YAWN, and it's over in the SYW or Share Your Work thread....
 

Moni

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Thank you all for the warm welcome. I decided that since I'm writing something of a Young Adult Paranormal nature, that this was the forum to be....& everything here seemed really chatty & fun....two things that I like lots! LOL~!


So.....noticed things about commas.....I think that I'm not that great at them since I have a tendency to use them in places that my Word program doesn't like. I guess I'm bad at it, what can I say? LOL~!
 

Rebecca_Rogers

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Sarah - Do I need to come to Cali and shank these people? I mean, srsly.

:welcome: Moni! You are definitely in the right place for YA. I'm a comma whore, so I tend to overuse them. lol



Morning everyone! *sips coffee*
 

Moni

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My dialogue tends to have them so much, but then again that's how we TALK.....I know that it's probably not grammatically correct, but who speaks grammatically correct all the time?? I know "I" don't.....and I'm pretty sure that if someone DID speak that way someone else would shoot them in the face after a while, cuz quite frankly, that can REALLY get on your nerves!! LOL~!
 

erica_henry

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Good luck, Erica! I'm currently sitting at work trying to look busy LOL.
thanks. I really wish that I could say that I was sitting at work though. I love being at home, but I need a job. I usually use my babysitting job to turn resumes but I decided today is just for me :D

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I decided that since I'm writing something of a Young Adult Paranormal nature, that this was the forum to be....& everything here seemed really chatty & fun....two things that I like lots! LOL~!


So.....noticed things about commas.....I think that I'm not that great at them since I have a tendency to use them in places that my Word program doesn't like. I guess I'm bad at it, what can I say? LOL~!
You are not the only one. I use them too much too. Sometimes they just have to go in there no matter what Word says.

My dialogue tends to have them so much, but then again that's how we TALK.....I know that it's probably not grammatically correct, but who speaks grammatically correct all the time?? I know "I" don't.....and I'm pretty sure that if someone DID speak that way someone else would shoot them in the face after a while, cuz quite frankly, that can REALLY get on your nerves!! LOL~!
Totally agree. Dialogue is definitely a place that you can get away with things. We don't speak formally and frankly, if we did it would be boring. I say write dialogue to fit your characters.
 

Kitty27

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:welcome: Hi,Moni! I have chocolate muffins and coffee for you!


This thread rules. You'll love it. I don't have a problem with commas. I have a problem with words. I am really out of control when it comes to word count. Really,what's wrong with a 900,000 word book? How dare these people expect me to go down to 100,000? Peasants.

*shakes fist*

J/K.:tongue
 

E. S. Lark

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No worries Moni, we'll help ya out. It has a bit of a learning curve, you know? ;)
 

Moni

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Thank you for the chocolate muffins & coffee....how'd you know that those were two of my myriad of favorite things? YUMMY!!!!

In so far as Word....I think that it's plain insane....wanting me to change a sentence like "I was here" to "I be here".....WHAT??? Where did they learn English? At the English as a second language institue. Can editors at publishers really pay THAT close attention to commas?? Just wondering...:Shrug:
 

Moni

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:welcome: Hi,Moni! I have chocolate muffins and coffee for you!


This thread rules. You'll love it. I don't have a problem with commas. I have a problem with words. I am really out of control when it comes to word count. Really,what's wrong with a 900,000 word book? How dare these people expect me to go down to 100,000? Peasants.

*shakes fist*

J/K.:tongue



How DARE they.....??? What were they thinking....just cutting your art up like that! ;)


Maybe between the both of us we can make something great?? LOL....kinda like that song "You've got the looks, I've got the brain, let's make lots of money"...Only in this case you've got the comma skills & I have the ability to to be uber non-wordy! *snicker snicker*
 

erica_henry

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:welcome: Hi,Moni! I have chocolate muffins and coffee for you!


This thread rules. You'll love it. I don't have a problem with commas. I have a problem with words. I am really out of control when it comes to word count. Really,what's wrong with a 900,000 word book? How dare these people expect me to go down to 100,000? Peasants.

*shakes fist*

J/K.:tongue
Like I said earlier Kitty you are a machine. I don't think I could pound out 900K. Just saying. Even though my outline for Freak was 32K so maybe *shifts eyes to see if editors are looking*

Thank you for the chocolate muffins & coffee....how'd you know that those were two of my myriad of favorite things? YUMMY!!!!

In so far as Word....I think that it's plain insane....wanting me to change a sentence like "I was here" to "I be here".....WHAT??? Where did they learn English? At the English as a second language institue. Can editors at publishers really pay THAT close attention to commas?? Just wondering...:Shrug:
I know. It is so annoying. My thoughts on how close attention they pay, a ton. But if you have a great enough story and that is the only thing they have a problem with, it shouldn't hold you back.

Oh and just because I'm the multiquote queen in this thread I thought I'd tell you how to do it.

To single quote one person just hit the quote button. If there are several people to quote. Hit the button that looks like this " right beside it. It will highlight it. Once you have chosen everything you want just hit POST REPLY and they will be in there.
 

Lunawriter

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Hello everyone. I just had my worst workshop ever. I'm going to bed. Someone please wake me up when this week is over. =/

Yeah. I'm real tired of this literary fiction bullshit. Me and another girl were talking about how horrible our peers are at workshopping.

I used a "device" in my story that people didn't like. So they spent an ENTIRE HOUR talking back and forth about how they didn't like the device.

Fail. It's been my favorite short so far and I didn't get a single good comment. Not one.

Sarah, didn't you say that your professor announced to everyone that you were agented? I wonder if a lot of is is sour grapes. I remember Hannah Moscowitz writing about something like that on her blog, once. They're probably all feeling defensive and need to bring you down. Sooooo....up theirs! Hope it gets better. :Sun:

Welcome, Moni. :welcome:

I have to go out and move one of my poor little ducks into our "hospital coop" this morning. She's getting picked on. Birds can be evil little raptors sometimes. First I have to get it all set up for her and warm. Just fortifying with :Coffee: before tackling the project.
 

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That would probably explain a lot if it were sour grapes!! Some people can be nasty when they're envious.
 

lindzmill

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Sarah in my workshop experience, those writers who feel most "threatened" are the ones whose feedback is the harshest (just for the sake of being harsh not to actually help you make it better). I don't know why b/c if anything, one student's success only ups the program's rep in the long run and oh, yeah, there's plenty to go around. More than one person can "make it."
But it's like they're afraid their candle isn't bright enough so they want to snuff out yours, too. LAME.
Fortunately, my program had lots of supportive (self-assured) writers who didn't feel the need to put others down or just blow smoke up bums-- a happy medium is best. But there were a few (sometimes even the instructors-- who've often bought into the myth of lit fic=high art and therefore experience little commercial success and carry a huge chip b/c of it) who were meanies.
EFF them. ;)
 

Moni

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Human nature is such a funny thing....and if you're agented & they're not....you MIGHT have that sour grape patch where you live and breathe....no worries though...just inform them that you have a great reciepe (sp?) for sour wine! LOL~!
 

Juneluv12

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Sarah in my workshop experience, those writers who feel most "threatened" are the ones whose feedback is the harshest (just for the sake of being harsh not to actually help you make it better). I don't know why b/c if anything, one student's success only ups the program's rep in the long run and oh, yeah, there's plenty to go around. More than one person can "make it."
But it's like they're afraid their candle isn't bright enough so they want to snuff out yours, too. LAME.
Fortunately, my program had lots of supportive (self-assured) writers who didn't feel the need to put others down or just blow smoke up bums-- a happy medium is best. But there were a few (sometimes even the instructors-- who've often bought into the myth of lit fic=high art and therefore experience little commercial success and carry a huge chip b/c of it) who were meanies.
EFF them. ;)


We did something called Feather Circles where we had to read our pieces outloud as well as bringing a copy for each person. Then after the feather circles, we had to write Thank You notes for each piece, telling what we liked and all.

I'm such a nerd that I kept all mine, and they've totally give me inspiration during downtimes!
 

erica_henry

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We did something called Feather Circles where we had to read our pieces outloud as well as bringing a copy for each person. Then after the feather circles, we had to write Thank You notes for each piece, telling what we liked and all.

I'm such a nerd that I kept all mine, and they've totally give me inspiration during downtimes!

I don't think you are a nerd for it but that might be because I save all of my reps from MDW well YAWN now and have them saved to read when I'm feeling down
 

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hey guys :)

welcome moni. i too am comma challenged. i don't put them where they belong and stick them randomly in places where they have no place being. they are truly my writing nemesis :)

i'm in a MUCH better place today. had a nice long conversation with Shari yesterday who brainstorm with me some amazing ideas and ways to tighten my first 10 chapters. I worked until 1am and i managed to cut 4400 words and the first 10 chapters are now the first 7. i can't believe i did it. it is so hard to let words go sometimes, but i know it has made the pace even better, so...

thanks for all your words of understanding and support yesterday. coming back and reading all your comments made me cry. i was such an emotional mess. not the first time, won't be the last :D. anyway, since i'm in a chopping mood, the plan today is to see where eles i can cut. there are a few more chapters that i'd like to really chop up and then i think this book will be as ready as it can be.
 

Juneluv12

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hey guys :)

welcome moni. i too am comma challenged. i don't put them where they belong and stick them randomly in places where they have no place being. they are truly my writing nemesis :)

i'm in a MUCH better place today. had a nice long conversation with Shari yesterday who brainstorm with me some amazing ideas and ways to tighten my first 10 chapters. I worked until 1am and i managed to cut 4400 words and the first 10 chapters are now the first 7. i can't believe i did it. it is so hard to let words go sometimes, but i know it has made the pace even better, so...

thanks for all your words of understanding and support yesterday. coming back and reading all your comments made me cry. i was such an emotional mess. not the first time, won't be the last :D. anyway, since i'm in a chopping mood, the plan today is to see where eles i can cut. there are a few more chapters that i'd like to really chop up and then i think this book will be as ready as it can be.


Hey, did you get my PM? AW was acting very wonky.....
 

Moni

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Here I am....busy enjoying chocolate muffins & coffee (thanks again by the way *CHEERS*) and now I'm busy procrastinating.....I SHOULD be pounding away at Salem.....but instead I'm having too much fun playing here.....UGH!!

Anyone else get in this position.....where you have a chapter that's irritating you....what's in there is just right...but then you have to put something else in....& you just don't know how to do it?? Am I confusing anyone yet? Cuz I'm confused....or as we say here "CORNfused" since this is the Husker's state! LOL
 

mellymel

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Melly, do you have IM?

no, i don't do im :( long story, though maybe one day i'll get brave enough to join some of you ladies on the one here.

Hey, did you get my PM? AW was acting very wonky.....

yeah, did you get my email? i was wondering if it went through cause my attachment button on yahoo mail was acting wonky yesterday.
 

erica_henry

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Ok, I lied. 500 words written and I had to pee. Thought I'd stop back in.

i'm in a MUCH better place today. had a nice long conversation with Shari yesterday who brainstorm with me some amazing ideas and ways to tighten my first 10 chapters. I worked until 1am and i managed to cut 4400 words and the first 10 chapters are now the first 7. i can't believe i did it. it is so hard to let words go sometimes, but i know it has made the pace even better, so...

thanks for all your words of understanding and support yesterday. coming back and reading all your comments made me cry. i was such an emotional mess. not the first time, won't be the last :D. anyway, since i'm in a chopping mood, the plan today is to see where eles i can cut. there are a few more chapters that i'd like to really chop up and then i think this book will be as ready as it can be.
Glad you are having a better day and way to go on your revision. Keep that steam and keep at it momma

Melly, do you have IM?
I have yahoo IM. I'll message you so you can have my name. I never use it but I have email running all the time when I'm on the computer so you'll be able to get through. I sent you an email with my info.
 
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