negesydd
11-04-2005, 12:55 AM
I've been lurking on various writing fora, including this one, for a couple of years, teetering on the edge of writing and not-writing. I've learned a fair bit about the industry, thanks to those who post here and elsewhere, both published and unpublished.
After perhaps fifty manuscript pages spread across several aborted writing projects, I've finally become serious about one. It is an idea for a "children's" novel, though I believe the technical term would be middle-grade. Basically, I would hope to target the same demographic as the original "Harry Potter" books. As for genre, I mean for it to be a contemporary adventure, set in the modern world, though with certain fantastical elements (no superpowers or magic spells are anything so overt).
I find that the Harry Potter books missed a great opportunity to explore the interactions between the "wizarding" world and "muggle" society, so I intend to weave the two strands together and use the disparities as a source of conflict and tension, as well as a cause for both guilt and temptation in the protagonist.
At any rate, I feel I'm at the point where I need help.
Just to put things in perspective, I think I have the perfect temperment to write. I have a very strong command of language, even though I admit I have a fair bit to learn in the novel-writing department. Still, I am a rapid learner. My ego is substantial enough to feel as though I have something to say, and tough enough that I know I can accept criticism readily. To sum up, I'm enough of a narcissist that I don't think confidence will be my problem.
My problem is in the writing PROCESS, which clearly I do not have down yet. My most major weakness is an overly critical "inner editor" -- however, unlike many, this doesn't make me doubt my talent or want to give up. Instead, it causes something much worse: I have a compulsion to re-write EVERYTHING I have written whenever I sit down to write.
For example, I've spent probably one hundred hours (or more) on the first six manuscript pages. Every time I sit down to write from where I left off, I find myself re-reading instead of writing. Inevitably, I think of some changes (minor or major) and spend hours tweaking it, until all the creative energy is sucked out of me. So basically, I never get anywhere.
This may be exacerbated by the fact that I am obsessed by beginnings. Am I right to feel this way? I think that the first paragraph of a manuscript has to reach out and yank the eyes out of the slush-pile reader's sockets. It has to be fluid, inherently interesting, either through voice or through some sort of hook that won't let go. I've gone back and read many successful examples in the genre, and I find that they all start out extremely strong. So I hold myself to high standards, but perhaps I should postpone the beginning until after the novel is actually written (in first draft form)?
So basically, I was hoping someone could point me to some online writer's group. Preferably some type of website where people can have profiles and post up excerpts of their work, or enter into mutual critiquing agreements. Ideally, it would be a free website, with the only cost being one's commitment and time, but I'll consider anything at this point.
I intend to join a real-life writing group, but there is also something to be said for anonymity, and the purity of a medium such as the internet, where one can only be judged by the work alone.
Anyone who has any suggestions or links for me, I'd appreciate it.
After perhaps fifty manuscript pages spread across several aborted writing projects, I've finally become serious about one. It is an idea for a "children's" novel, though I believe the technical term would be middle-grade. Basically, I would hope to target the same demographic as the original "Harry Potter" books. As for genre, I mean for it to be a contemporary adventure, set in the modern world, though with certain fantastical elements (no superpowers or magic spells are anything so overt).
I find that the Harry Potter books missed a great opportunity to explore the interactions between the "wizarding" world and "muggle" society, so I intend to weave the two strands together and use the disparities as a source of conflict and tension, as well as a cause for both guilt and temptation in the protagonist.
At any rate, I feel I'm at the point where I need help.
Just to put things in perspective, I think I have the perfect temperment to write. I have a very strong command of language, even though I admit I have a fair bit to learn in the novel-writing department. Still, I am a rapid learner. My ego is substantial enough to feel as though I have something to say, and tough enough that I know I can accept criticism readily. To sum up, I'm enough of a narcissist that I don't think confidence will be my problem.
My problem is in the writing PROCESS, which clearly I do not have down yet. My most major weakness is an overly critical "inner editor" -- however, unlike many, this doesn't make me doubt my talent or want to give up. Instead, it causes something much worse: I have a compulsion to re-write EVERYTHING I have written whenever I sit down to write.
For example, I've spent probably one hundred hours (or more) on the first six manuscript pages. Every time I sit down to write from where I left off, I find myself re-reading instead of writing. Inevitably, I think of some changes (minor or major) and spend hours tweaking it, until all the creative energy is sucked out of me. So basically, I never get anywhere.
This may be exacerbated by the fact that I am obsessed by beginnings. Am I right to feel this way? I think that the first paragraph of a manuscript has to reach out and yank the eyes out of the slush-pile reader's sockets. It has to be fluid, inherently interesting, either through voice or through some sort of hook that won't let go. I've gone back and read many successful examples in the genre, and I find that they all start out extremely strong. So I hold myself to high standards, but perhaps I should postpone the beginning until after the novel is actually written (in first draft form)?
So basically, I was hoping someone could point me to some online writer's group. Preferably some type of website where people can have profiles and post up excerpts of their work, or enter into mutual critiquing agreements. Ideally, it would be a free website, with the only cost being one's commitment and time, but I'll consider anything at this point.
I intend to join a real-life writing group, but there is also something to be said for anonymity, and the purity of a medium such as the internet, where one can only be judged by the work alone.
Anyone who has any suggestions or links for me, I'd appreciate it.