The W1S1 Check-in and Chill Lounge and Bar

Lillie

practical experience, FTW
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,585
Reaction score
178
Location
Wales
Well, he knows I write, in a general sort of way. Not that I'm actually serious about it, or that I'm submitting stuff.

I'm naturally secretive about stuff. It bothers me if people close to me know what I'm doing.

I know that's weird.
I just want to quietly get on with doing my thing and not get asked what I'm doing and how it's going and all that.

He'd probably be supportive though. But he'd have ideas for what I should write.

Hard to explain.

I'm just going to have develop really awful hand writing so he can't read it. If I'm going to do the pen thing. And I think the pen thing is better for me.

Now you all think I'm a nutter with a weird marriage...
Lol
 

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
2,126
Reaction score
342
Now you all think I'm a nutter with a weird marriage...
Lol

Hee! I was just curious, because everyone's a little different. And no, no I don't think you're a nutter! When I was married (I have not been now for 6 years) I never offered to let him read anything. That would have been strange, especially since he was not a reader, and was not supportive in any way. (His reaction after I excitedly told him about my first published piece of fiction--"Oh.")

So I understand. Some things are just best kept to ourselves!

Shelley
 

Nathaniel Katz

The Evil Hat
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
414
Reaction score
50
I can understand that, Lillie. Up until a few months ago, almost no one outside of my family and a few select friends knew that I wrote. Now almost everyone does, but I've still only let very few people actually read any of it (and nobody who isn't a beta reader's read anything but the published tale). But the revelation isn't nearly as big a deal as it seems. Odds are, he'll either be supportive or disinterested (or, alternatively, an asshole, but I'm assuming by the fact that you're obviously with him that this option is unlikely). Though I would say that, if you want him to respect your writing, you definitely shouldn't belittle it in front of him. It's fine to not bring it up, but don't treat writing time as wasted.
 

Lillie

practical experience, FTW
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,585
Reaction score
178
Location
Wales
Mine's not a reader either. Not unless the book has dismantled engines in it.
Although once he read Jonathan Strange, entirely unexpectedly. That's the only book he's read from beginning to end in 16 years...
That's pretty odd in itself.

He's generally supportive though. And if I ever make a significant sale I'll probably tell him what I've been up too and buy us a Chinese take away to celebrate.
 

Nathaniel Katz

The Evil Hat
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
414
Reaction score
50
Jonathon Strange was his only book? I thought it was fantastic, but it was hardly what I'd imagine an only book would be (being long and full of odd - though fantastic - writing and magic).
 

Lillie

practical experience, FTW
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,585
Reaction score
178
Location
Wales
Yeah, isn't that weird?
He read a lot as a kid apparently, but then pretty much stopped when he got older.

He read Jonathan Strange because I'd raved about it so much. He liked it.
Also he's from Yorkshire, so that helped endear it to him.
 

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
2,126
Reaction score
342
My Shock Totem entry has been postified. :) I ended up liking what I wrote, for the most part, though I'm not sure it's really Shock Totem-ish material. That was fun.

Now I'll spend the next week reading the other stories and saying, "Wow, that's way better than mine. Damn, that's way better than mine!"

Shelley
 

soapdish

writing
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
17,205
Reaction score
6,050
Location
At the portal to the Pacific
I subbed mine to Shock Totem tonight as well. They aren't already "posted" are they? I have a hard time navigating their forum sometimes and wonder if I missed a thread. I think I'm spoiled using AW's forum. ;)

And Izz, we love you too. :D
 

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
2,126
Reaction score
342
I subbed mine to Shock Totem tonight as well. They aren't already "posted" are they? I have a hard time navigating their forum sometimes and wonder if I missed a thread. I think I'm spoiled using AW's forum. ;)

I didn't see any. Probably tomorrow. I'm unreasonably excited to read the entries. I almost put the title of mine in my W1S1 chart on my website, then remembered I couldn't. :p

And Izz, we love you too. :D

What she said!

Shelley
 

Lillie

practical experience, FTW
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,585
Reaction score
178
Location
Wales
And Izz, we love you too. :D

We duz, we duz indeed. :)

Edit.
And I've just finished the hand written draft.
Type it up tomorrow and sort it out.
That's the most writing, and the easiest writing I have done for ages.
I think the pen is the thing for me.
Nice black bic. Yay!
 
Last edited:

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 9, 2010
Messages
2,126
Reaction score
342
And I've just finished the hand written draft.
Type it up tomorrow and sort it out.
That's the most writing, and the easiest writing I have done for ages.
I think the pen is the thing for me.
Nice black bic. Yay!

:hooray:

Shelley (who would be screwed if she wrote by hand, because she cannot read her own handwriting)
 

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
11,882
Reaction score
1,557
Location
Just north of the Deep South
I can read my handwriting, but my brain is too fast for my fingers unless I'm typing. I leave words out in every sentence when I try to write by hand. (Which I do on rare occasions, but like I said. Missing words make it not very practical.)

As far as the touch typing goes, talking on an instant messenger helped me tremendously. But it does make my brain process the story differently, so I can see why writing by hand might be a better option for some.

And, in other news, I have decided to do something completely different than what I had first thought for the Sword and Sorceress anthology. It'll be tight getting it done, but I think it'll be a better story at this point. (Too many plot holes to be worked out in the other one.)

And I'm still waiting on the R's to roll in. Nothing yet.

Aggy, nervous
 

AlwaysJuly

slugging through
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 24, 2009
Messages
1,296
Reaction score
159
Location
Washington, D.C.
Website
thisisnotnotmydayjob.blogspot.com
I'd also be in trouble if I had to write by hand. As it is after meetings for work where I take notes, I end up saying things like, "Can anyone figure out what I meant by - um - this looks like 'rectified triangle engine acrostics'?"

But Lillie, I totally get the secrecy... I don't mind strangers reading my writing, but I wish people close to me would never read anything I write. My husband is supportive, but very rarely is allowed to read anything I write -- he isn't pushy about it, though.

I'm catching up on W1S1 again. 17 stories, 16 subs.... I'm soo close to being back on track!
 

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
8,265
Reaction score
2,550
Location
NZ
Website
www.justgoodfiction.com
w00t! go, AJ!

I'm another who doesn't like family members or friends reading what i'm writing. I don't mind them reading something once it's been published (most of the time), but other than that, no. I used to be the opposite before i was really writing seriously, but for some reason the mentality changed almost as soon as i started seriously working at getting stuff to a publishable state.

In particular, i don't like the typical writer talking to friends about writing conversations. The first question is almost always, 'so, what are you writing?' and i find it very difficult to make most stories sound interesting in general conversation.

And also because i find a lot of people, while not openly mocking, seem to treat the fact that i write SF as a humorous aside ('so, when's the movie coming out?' 'you going to do the next star wars, are you?'). I think it's the general idea that SF is just badly costumed aliens fighting men with stilted voices, coupled with the subconscious tall poppy syndrome that's so prevalent in NZ, and someone identifying themselves as a writer is (in their subconscious estimation) putting themselves above the pack and needs to be politely chopped back down to size. Heh--of course (and amusingly), that would all change if i were a household name, which is one thing i have no intention of being.

That being said, i do have friends and family who are very excited that i write. But, still, i don't let them read my unpublished stuff :D
 
Last edited:

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
8,265
Reaction score
2,550
Location
NZ
Website
www.justgoodfiction.com
Also, seeing as it's check-in time at the w1s1 blog: how did y'all go this week? Good, bad, indifferent? I know we've all been pretty good at checking in over the course of the week, but maybe a quick summary of where we're at might be good for the memory-impaired such as myself.

Also, what are your writing goals for the coming week?


Me: i took last week off writing. I did figure out that the story i finished as my write2 for last month isn't finished at all. Needs waaaay more cowbell. So i'll rip into that this week. And there's a hard SF story i started last month that keeps calling to me, so i might do some work on that this week too.

I've also decided to start reading 1 short story a day from this week, rather than my typical read 2 or 3 in a row than go a week without reading any more. And, at the end of the week (or possibly middle of next week, or some other undetermined time) i'm going to choose my favorite of the lot and review it on my blog. I'll be grabbing ideas from this thread, so the more story recommendations in there the better! :D
 
Last edited:

Nathaniel Katz

The Evil Hat
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
414
Reaction score
50
I think the best thing that can be said about my past two or three weeks is that I perfectly confirmed what I knew perfectly well about myself: if I take a break, no matter how small, my momentum is gone. (Case in point: my nano was 75 thousand words. I took a one day break to celebrate. I've yet to add a word to it.) The only thing I acomplished these past weeks is two awful flash pieces, a rewrite of my SYW piece (which I just subbed), and some misfires. The Sword & Sorceress deadline is finally pushing me back into writing, and I'm trying to have that done by Friday through good ol' self deprivation - until I've written a thousand words that day, I'm no longer letting myself go online to do anything but check email or, if the day calls for it, post a blog piece. After the S&S piece, I need to do some edits.
 

Lillie

practical experience, FTW
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,585
Reaction score
178
Location
Wales
I'm glad I'm not the only one who don't like their nearest and dearest reading their stuff.

Last night mine looked at me again and said 'You're doing super secret girl things with writing and paper...'
Well, duh!

How am I doing?
Fine. I've been at this write one sub one for a month now, and I've subbed out three things, one of them has two rejections under its belt already and it feels like a proper story.
All three are currently out.

For next week.
I have to edit my pig story and get it ready to be sent out. It's not about a pig really, it just has one in it. And I can't remember what its title is right now. Maybe it don't have one yet.
I have the story I wrote last night and if I can get it ready in time I might send that to the Sword and Sorceress thing, as it has a sword and a woman in it.
And I have the thing I'm writing now, which is sci fi and maybe that will go to Daily Science fiction. I was hoping it would be flash, but it's up to a thousand words already and it's not done. I should be able to get some down in the editing, but I don't know how much.

Anyway, assuming I get all three finished and out in the next couple of weeks that will make 6 and I'll have caught up with the W1S1 monthly thing, even though I started late.

Yay me!!!

But, you know, I'm a house wife. I have bugger all else to do except watch Jeremy Kyle and avoid the housework.
 

soapdish

writing
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
17,205
Reaction score
6,050
Location
At the portal to the Pacific
In particular, i don't like the typical writer talking to friends about writing conversations. The first question is almost always, 'so, what are you writing?' and i find it very difficult to make most stories sound interesting in general conversation.
This.

And also because i find a lot of people, while not openly mocking, seem to treat the fact that i write SF as a humorous aside ('so, when's the movie coming out?' 'you going to do the next star wars, are you?').
...and this. Only substitute "horror" for SF and Stephen King for Star Wars. Then when I try to explain further...they say..."oh, like Twilight, right?" :rolleyes: I have learned to just not talk about it. It's really better for everyone involved :D

And I've just finished the hand written draft.
Type it up tomorrow and sort it out.
That's the most writing, and the easiest writing I have done for ages.
I think the pen is the thing for me.
Nice black bic. Yay!
I love, love, *love* writing by hand. Only I use a pencil usually. But it's very scattered. I write in the margins. I use arrows and asterisks and symbols. I've created a system of recognizable symbols for me. But they wouldn't be recognizable to anyone who picked it up and tried to read it.

My progress: wrote and submitted my story this week. So, for the rest of the month I think I'll be editing one from a month or two ago so that I can sub it next month.
 

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
11,882
Reaction score
1,557
Location
Just north of the Deep South
I'm behind. Life has been crazy. (Talked enough about that for now, I think.)

Trying to get back into the groove with the S&S story.

That's about the whole of it.

:)
 

alexshvartsman

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 27, 2010
Messages
2,049
Reaction score
156
Location
Brooklyn, NY
My experience has been different. My friends are generally supportive of the whole crazy writing thing, and several of my very close friends are on my beta reader list (which means they get to see pretty much every story I write in an unpolished state). My wife reads all of my stories even though she does not like SF/F at all (except Harry Potter) and actually seems to enjoy them. I keep trying to trick her into reading some good SF novel, but no luck.

This past week I wrote and subbed a story to the Shock Totem contest but got nothing else done at all. Today was spring cleaning - I went through a bunch of older stories, made some small modifications here and there and re-submitted three that weren't currently at any market. That leaves me with a grand total of 10 stories current out on sub right now, and 2 more needing to be re-subbed.

I have an idea that might work for the Sword & Sorceress antho so I'll try to get that written/subbed in time for their deadline. Still nee to get back to "A Better Tomorrow" - a SYW story I posted a few weeks back that needs a lot of reworking. That's the plan so far, but I often get distracted and end up writing something else entirely.
 

GreenRoom

brain in a vat
VPXVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
219
Reaction score
30
Location
California
Well, I just finally managed to finish my S & S story. It ended up at nearly 6,000 words, way longer than I intended, though hopefully it'll shrink some in revision. I think it might need a lot of revision... And I'm not sure the subject matter will really work for S & S -- there is a strong female protagonist, and magic and swords, but it sort of took a weird turn from there -- but at least draft 1 is done!

This last week I wrote my S & S story, and a flash piece for the Shock Totem contest, making it one of my most productive weeks ever.
 

zanzjan

killin' all teh werds
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
VPX
VPXI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
9,728
Reaction score
3,208
Location
home home homityhomehome
I don't let anyone read what I'm writing until I have at least a finished draft, and then it just goes to my beta readers. I was the same way when I was making art: something about my creative process requires me to have hit a certain level of completion and/or confidence that I've got pretty much what I want before I'm ready to hear other people's opinions. Not quite necessarily finished, but the shape of the whole solidly established, if that makes any sense.

I used to be kind of bummed out that my family wasn't interested in reading my published stuff, but my last story had naughty stuff in it so I'm kind of glad now. (-: As far as writing SF, I think I scream "geek" from far enough away that it's not a surprise to anyone, if we get to talking, that that's what I write.

As for this week: not a writing week for me. Sick kids, big work projects, springtime garden stuff (yay! we finally have leaves on the trees again!) and a large art project took up all my time. I need the break. I'm mulling over some tweaks to the story I finished a week or so ago, and trying to figure out if I'm going to jump back into my novel revision or try to finish up another short that's been sitting too long. I think, once I get back to writing, I'll have it figured out.

Still waiting on stuff I have out. Passed the one year mark at Tor.com. Everything else is well within expected wait time.

-Suzanne
 

MattJ

Publish or Die Trying
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Messages
279
Reaction score
23
Location
FWB, FL, USA
Website
wayofthewriter.blogspot.com
My wife reads all of my stories. However, I would feel uncomfortable with other family members reading them unless I become respectably published. The way I see you, you can get one of three reactions:

1. "I love it!" But you don't believe them anyway because they're family.

2. "Meh." This would make me very sad.

3. "You should really try something else." Without a solid pub, how can you strike back?

On other fronts, the Shock Totem contest has officially frightened me. Not because of all the creepy spider stories, but because of the general level of prose.

I haven't been this unnerved since I saw all the Duotrope rejections on RSS.