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Anyone want to read a 2.5K short story written by a complete beginner?

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GhostReporting

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Hi everyone, I was wondering if anybody out there would want to read a short story written by a complete noob writer?

The story has everything, including bad grammar, terrible pacing and of course cliché characters! All joking aside, I really am an absolute beginner with zero writing skills who aspires to start a journey of writing. I have always been too scared to show anything I have ever written and really need to break the ice. So, I wrote this quick short story last night and want to get some feedback. Is it interesting?

What I need most from this post is for someone to tell me where to start learning based on my skill level? I was thinking a freshman English textbook. Would that be best?

Please remember that I am a beginner, wanting to change myself for the better. I made some mistakes and partied my way through high school, and academics were the last thing on my mind.

Let me know if you are interested.
Thanks
Nick
 

GhostReporting

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Sorry just remembered the 50 post requirement. I will try and delete this. Thanks!
 

Unimportant

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Judging from your post, your English skills are well above average. Grammar, punctuation and sentence structure aren't a problem.

The craft of writing for the reader is an entirely different skill set. I would suggest starting with this book, which covers all the basics.
 

Marlys

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A couple of suggestions, without seeing your work: Strunk and White's Elements of Style for the basics of composition and grammar. Stephen King's On Writing and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird for good writing books. Eventually, add Browne and King's Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

There are tons of other books out there that will help, but those are the ones I'd recommend to get you on your way.

Also, get thee over to the Share Your Work section ASAP (password is vista). No, you can't post there until you reach 50 posts, but you can read other people's work and the critiques thereof. Once you get a sense of how it works, dip your toe into critiquing. Don't worry if you don't feel confident enough yet to advise people on, say, dangling participles or point of view. You can still tell them if something worked for you as a reader, or if it didn't. Whether you would want to read on, or what stopped you from finishing the excerpt. Whether a character or bit of information rings true to you based on your real-world knowledge.

Interacting there will both help get you to your 50 posts and show the community that you want to give as well as receive.

Welcome, and I look forward to seeing you around the boards!
 

alleycat

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Sorry just remembered the 50 post requirement. I will try and delete this. Thanks!

The 50 posts requirement is for starting a thread in Share Your Work. You can still ask for a beta reader.
 

GhostReporting

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Thanks alleycat! I could not figure out how to delete the post anyway haha.
 

cylemmulo

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I would enjoy giving it a beta read! Pm sent

Also, I second the Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Stephen Kings on writing, as well as I suggest Sol Stein On Writing. If you swing by your local library they should have a section on writing with a lot of books too. The most important part is to keep writing though!
 
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TeamWingless

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Send me a PM. I'll critique it.
 
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