Congrats Writer_Gurl

am in the process of writting my first book and am not sure if i will do it all in one or write them thru a series i guess ill figure it out along the way. i would like to publish it at a certain point in time. any way good luck!

I notice lately that when I read something great it just frustrates me and makes me want to quit writing. Normally it should inspire you right? I remember, years ago...I read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and almost quit writing immediately cuz' I was sooo jealous that I didn't think that story up. It seemed so perfect to me that I wondered..."why bother..." ya' know.

I have the exact opposite problem.

I have a GREAT idea ( to me anyway ), but when I first started writing it, everything I wrote wound up sounding like something I have read before..lol

Fortunately, a very wise man told me that it was perfectly ok for it to be that way.

Now I am at the point where I have a LOT of ideas floating around for the book ( which I am 40+ chapters into now ) but I can't seem to figure out which order to put them in.

Im gonna write a book one day.

I have trouble enough finding time to even finish READING one at the moment.

Just don't write about your life experiences.

Reading about some dude sitting in a pub would be pretty boring....lmao

How about if he was shitting in the pub?

Only if it was on the bar. LOL

Actually its going to be in your pint. You might not laugh but everyone else will!

Good Luck to you, keep us posted, would love to read it...

Thanks..

There have been a lot of writers and a lot of books written throughout human history....it's pretty much inevitable that something you write is going to have some kind of similarity to something someone else has written....

And let's not forget the knowledge and learning we can attain from noticing how other writers handle their stories -- I'm not saying plagiarize anybody, but influences are going to be there. I'll see a particular sentence structure I like, and I'll remember that. Maybe I can incorporate something along those lines into a sentence of my own at some point in the future.

People have often compared my style to that of Douglas Adams, at least for my first book. I take that as a compliment. I love Douglas Adams. I don't want to write Douglas Adams stories or be Douglas Adams, but just to be compared with him is really quite amazing.

And a lot of times, someone will say "Your writing reminds me of ________," and they'll mention an author I've never heard of. So there's no influence there, just, I suppose, coincidence. And that's OK, too.

J.A.G., I've read your stuff and it's excellent. Don't worry about it sounding like something you've read before -- everything is eventually going to sound like something someone has read before!

Just write the best stuff you've got in you.

I should have used the word " had " rather than have as far as that particular problem goes. After talking to you about it, I realized that you were absolutely correct.

I have taken a look at what I have done, and there are a few things that I noticed sounded like something I have read, but when I thought about it, as long as I am not using their words, I am perfectly fine with that.

As of right now, my biggest issue is having ideas, but not being sure where they go, so to speak.

I am pretty much just learning how to write through trial and error. I never studied the " rules " of writing. I have seen a couple of other authors ( on another site ) saying that making sure you follow the rules is very important, but again, after having talked to you about it, I understand that I am much better off not sitting there trying to write with a thought like " well I can't do THAT because it's against the rules " floating through my head.

I would much rather just write what shows up and let someone else figure out whether what I have done is a serious breach of writing etiquette.

After all....isn't that what editors are for? lol

Where can I get a sample to read of your "STUFF" JustAGuy?

Hmmm...lemme see if I can dig up the link. I have about half ( maybe a little more ) of the story I have been working on posted in the Creative Writing forum.

* edit * Ah here it is.

Keep in mind that I have done exactly ZERO re-writing on this so it's pretty rough.

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/238738

Yeesh.

I post the link to my story, and no one posts for two days.

Was the writing so bad that it KILLED everyone??? LOL

WOW!..I loved what I just read!

Need more!

ANY MORE?

Who, me??

* Good to know that everyone didn't die after all LMAO *

I think it GREAT!

But I need MORE, MORE, MORE

LOL!!!

I seem to get that reaction a lot....lmao

Thank you.

I do have more chapters, but I am trying not to post too closely to my actual progress.

I have started seriously considering trying to get it published ( mainly because of the reactions I have seen and also due to a wise man telling me that it would be a " crime " if I didn't ) and I don't want to wind up posting the whole thing before I do.

Why would people buy it if they could find it free online?

So I post somewhere around ten chapters behind where I actually am as far as progress.

I am going to be doing a computer wipe in a week or two and won't have a lot of time to write for that time because I need to get everything backed up.

Once the wipe is done, I should be able to get another chapter or two posted.