:D
I just submitted Unwilling chapter 4! Yay! I'm so happy that's over and done!
It'll be online on Lit soon I guess, but I'll put it on my blog right now, because I know you want it, right?
Here goes: Unwilling Ch. 4
Freitag, 28. Dezember 2012
Donnerstag, 27. Dezember 2012
That's never gonna happen to me!
... yeah, right.
On Christmas Eve I woke up at 9:00 AM, because stuff's not gonna do itself. Just as I was putting on my clothes somebody rang the doorbell, so I answered the door. There was a nice postal office lady there, wanting my signature in exchange for a letter, which in turn contained a fixed penalty notice because I drove on a motor way without my road tax disc (called "Vignette" in German/Austrian) some time in November.
That one cost me 360 Euros - always buy your road tax disc, girls and boys, or Santa will bring you letters instead of presents!
But that's not all, ooooh no!
I walked back inside, letter in hand, head smoking with anger, just to find my much beloved PC dying of overheated CPU. For those of you who don't live arms-deep in hardware, that's something like the heart of a PC, and mine was pronounced dead that beautiful Christmas Eve.
So I had to live three whole days without access to my stories, which is horrible. Was horrible.
Today I fixed everything, and I'm back, and happy. My beloved editor hasn't sent Unwilling Pt. 4 back yet, but I'll try to get it online before 2013 ;)
Hope your Christmas Holidays were better than mine!
On Christmas Eve I woke up at 9:00 AM, because stuff's not gonna do itself. Just as I was putting on my clothes somebody rang the doorbell, so I answered the door. There was a nice postal office lady there, wanting my signature in exchange for a letter, which in turn contained a fixed penalty notice because I drove on a motor way without my road tax disc (called "Vignette" in German/Austrian) some time in November.
That one cost me 360 Euros - always buy your road tax disc, girls and boys, or Santa will bring you letters instead of presents!
But that's not all, ooooh no!
I walked back inside, letter in hand, head smoking with anger, just to find my much beloved PC dying of overheated CPU. For those of you who don't live arms-deep in hardware, that's something like the heart of a PC, and mine was pronounced dead that beautiful Christmas Eve.
So I had to live three whole days without access to my stories, which is horrible. Was horrible.
Today I fixed everything, and I'm back, and happy. My beloved editor hasn't sent Unwilling Pt. 4 back yet, but I'll try to get it online before 2013 ;)
Hope your Christmas Holidays were better than mine!
Samstag, 22. Dezember 2012
Unwilling pt. 4 is on its way!
Hey guys and gals!
After all that bla bla in the last two posts it's time for a more positive and interesting blog entry ;)
I just sent "Unwilling pt. 4" to my trustworthy editor, and believe me, it was a fight I nearly lost! I've been writing on that piece ever since I submitted chapter 3, but somehow the kinky parts just wouldn't come out of my brain.
It took Ray Bradbury and his very fascinating "Zen in the Art of Writing" to finally get me going again, but when it flows, it flows. If you're stuck at some point of your own stories, I heartily recommend to get motivation elsewhere, it definitely works!
I'll probably get the edited version back some time in the next week, and if (!) there's not too much marked red in there I'll submit it straight to Lit and of course put it online on my blog.
You'll be the first to know, that much is for sure!
Have a lovely Christmas! Don't forget to lean back, just chill and watch the world turn once in a while - no holiday is perfect if you're too stressed to actually experience it!
Love,
meta
After all that bla bla in the last two posts it's time for a more positive and interesting blog entry ;)
I just sent "Unwilling pt. 4" to my trustworthy editor, and believe me, it was a fight I nearly lost! I've been writing on that piece ever since I submitted chapter 3, but somehow the kinky parts just wouldn't come out of my brain.
It took Ray Bradbury and his very fascinating "Zen in the Art of Writing" to finally get me going again, but when it flows, it flows. If you're stuck at some point of your own stories, I heartily recommend to get motivation elsewhere, it definitely works!
I'll probably get the edited version back some time in the next week, and if (!) there's not too much marked red in there I'll submit it straight to Lit and of course put it online on my blog.
You'll be the first to know, that much is for sure!
Have a lovely Christmas! Don't forget to lean back, just chill and watch the world turn once in a while - no holiday is perfect if you're too stressed to actually experience it!
Love,
meta
Donnerstag, 20. Dezember 2012
Typical errors you should avoid (1)
Okay, so this might be a bit confusing, but this isn't some quaint piece about daily life - It's another advice you get for free if you're thinking about submitting a story. I'm writing this one as an avid reader of literotica "gay male" stories, not really as an author, but since I am kind of both, I tried to mash up tips and tricks from both angles.
There are only a few things that make a good story unreadable, and they're not something magical or something that you'd need a lot of special talent for to avoid. It actually is pretty easy to make all those little problems besides storyline and creativity go away, and to ignore those things is a sacrilege in my opinion. If you really like your story, you don't go half-assed into submitting it!
Here's the first list, maybe others will follow:
Remember, remember...
Your character names, their quirks, their background, their looks and everything else you deemed worthy of being written down. If you describe a character as shy, don't make him rush into sex, even if you meant it to be an exception from the norm. Your reader doesn't know your character's normal life, he just knows what you show him - remember "show, don't tell"? This is exactly what those pesky tutors and guides meant.
Also, please try to remember your own character's name. I do know that a new story and a new character take some time to warm up to, and of course to build, but if you do that, take notes. They won't stop your writing spree, and they do help if you pause for a few days and then continue writing. You may not notice the sudden changes, because it probably took you days to weeks to write the story, but your reader will zip through it in a matter of hours, and they WILL notice.
Lost in writing
There are a few different ways to make sure you didn't miss any grammar or spelling mistakes. One of them is the built-in dictionary every word processing software offers. The red lines might be aggravating, but they do actually help to make you notice those little errors everyone makes.
Please also try to keep an eye on punctuation. Remember: punctuation marks aren't herd animals, they like their solitary existence. No matter how many exclamation marks or question marks you put in a row, the sentence won't get any more impact, it'll just look like a teenager's twitter feed.
Hold your horses!
So you finished your piece? Feeling giddy there, pal? I do too, every time I get something finished. I'd love to just slam it into the submission field, fire in some nice labels and yank it online as quickly as possible, because, damn, that one's really good!
Unfortunately that's the road to hell, especially if you just finished writing a second ago. Don't do it!
Having been working on a text for hours and hours on end has made you routine-blinded, which means, even though the mistakes in there are probably very obvious, you simply won't see them. But others will, and to a reader, simple mistakes in even simpler words ("hi"instead of "him", "were" instead of "where", "ho" instead of "who" and so on) look like disinterest in your own work.
As hard as it may be, just put your finished piece aside for at least 2 days, better a week, and then look it over again. You'll be surprised how many mistakes you'll find in there! You may even want to think about getting an editor if you're feeling unsure, but don't forget to at least read it yourself before submitting it!
There are only a few things that make a good story unreadable, and they're not something magical or something that you'd need a lot of special talent for to avoid. It actually is pretty easy to make all those little problems besides storyline and creativity go away, and to ignore those things is a sacrilege in my opinion. If you really like your story, you don't go half-assed into submitting it!
Here's the first list, maybe others will follow:
Remember, remember...
Your character names, their quirks, their background, their looks and everything else you deemed worthy of being written down. If you describe a character as shy, don't make him rush into sex, even if you meant it to be an exception from the norm. Your reader doesn't know your character's normal life, he just knows what you show him - remember "show, don't tell"? This is exactly what those pesky tutors and guides meant.
Also, please try to remember your own character's name. I do know that a new story and a new character take some time to warm up to, and of course to build, but if you do that, take notes. They won't stop your writing spree, and they do help if you pause for a few days and then continue writing. You may not notice the sudden changes, because it probably took you days to weeks to write the story, but your reader will zip through it in a matter of hours, and they WILL notice.
Lost in writing
There are a few different ways to make sure you didn't miss any grammar or spelling mistakes. One of them is the built-in dictionary every word processing software offers. The red lines might be aggravating, but they do actually help to make you notice those little errors everyone makes.
Please also try to keep an eye on punctuation. Remember: punctuation marks aren't herd animals, they like their solitary existence. No matter how many exclamation marks or question marks you put in a row, the sentence won't get any more impact, it'll just look like a teenager's twitter feed.
Hold your horses!
So you finished your piece? Feeling giddy there, pal? I do too, every time I get something finished. I'd love to just slam it into the submission field, fire in some nice labels and yank it online as quickly as possible, because, damn, that one's really good!
Unfortunately that's the road to hell, especially if you just finished writing a second ago. Don't do it!
Having been working on a text for hours and hours on end has made you routine-blinded, which means, even though the mistakes in there are probably very obvious, you simply won't see them. But others will, and to a reader, simple mistakes in even simpler words ("hi"instead of "him", "were" instead of "where", "ho" instead of "who" and so on) look like disinterest in your own work.
As hard as it may be, just put your finished piece aside for at least 2 days, better a week, and then look it over again. You'll be surprised how many mistakes you'll find in there! You may even want to think about getting an editor if you're feeling unsure, but don't forget to at least read it yourself before submitting it!
Donnerstag, 13. Dezember 2012
The thing about comments..
... is: you will never be able to produce a comment that actually says what you intended it to without insulting someone. That's the way of the world, I guess.
A few days ago I had this bizarre encounter with the husband of a writer, because I left a comment on her story that obviously wasn't well received. Even though I had taken every precaution before sending it, making clear that I didn't mean to speak for any other reader than myself, shit hit the fan in the most unpleasant way.
That got me thinking (as most criticism does, even the cranky stuff), so I read up on tips and ideas how to comment in the right way. Funny stuff, I have to admit, but I tried to take from those guides what I thought was most useful. Like...
... If you want to say something about a story, start with something you liked, something nice, something you can praise without blushing.
That way, the more unpleasant stuff you want to communicate will go down a little easier. You'll still be 'the asshole that didn't like my shit', but at least you'll be taken a bit more seriously - in most cases. If you can't find anything you liked, please don't comment, just move on.
... Don't flood your comment with every little mishap you spotted. K.I.S.S.
There's no need for your comment to be the perfect, exhaustive list of every small detail that didn't quite fit. Pick a maximum of three problems you found, don't generalize, stay on track and just explain what went wrong in your opinion. Then just stop. If there are too many errors to stay within that 3-problems-boundary, offer to edit for the author, or just don't comment.
... Don't get personal with your opinion or the author.
I think this is quite important, even though I didn't find it in any of the guides so far. Do. Not. Get. Personal. You don't know the author, so don't pretend to, it won't lead anywhere. Comments that judge the author's abilities or their character are commonly either ignored or getting erased. If you get personal, you will have wasted a few precious seconds of your life on something that doesn't even register with most people. It's like farting in a sewage plant, your comment stinks but nobody cares.
... If the author reacts pissy, just move on.
We're all people, and people react poorly to criticism. There are some of us who can keep the pissyness hidden, work with it and take the criticism in stride to get better, but most of us just can't stand it to be paraded around like some kind of idiot. It always feels this way, that's just how it is. You also shouldn't judge a pissy author by his reaction to your comment, because (see above) you STILL don't know him or her, you just read stuff they published! Nobody will ever hug you for verbally undressing them, so don't expect it. Do expect bad reactions to your well intentions, and just back off. With commenting like described above you've done your deed, and there's nothing else to be won there.
That's it for "How to comment like a BOSS" ;)
Greets,
meta
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