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Are you afraid to SYW?
- Thread starter ccarver30
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It makes me nervous, not that I've done it often. The first time my hands shook.
Fear of suckage is definitely a part of it. And putting anything out there that is as much a part of me as my writing generally is. That just gives me the willies. (and yet here I am trying to get published.....
)
Fear of suckage is definitely a part of it. And putting anything out there that is as much a part of me as my writing generally is. That just gives me the willies. (and yet here I am trying to get published.....
)
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As long as you don't post a first draft, and have done more than run it through spellcheck, DON'T BE!
I hang out in SYW, and I'm not that evil a person. I haven't whacked a ruler a millimeter from a daydreaming kid's knuckles in years.
Sure, SYW can--and has--ripped my stuff to shreds. But 99% of the time, the critters did it nicely, and gave me gobs of reasons why. Thanks in no small part to their help, I finally wrote a kick-butt query and first 3 chapters, which led to requests for full, which led to the reason for those cool purple words at the bottom of my sig.
If you want to improve, then you have to let fellow writers read your work. Better them than half a dozen form rejections from an agent!
[/soapbox]
I hang out in SYW, and I'm not that evil a person. I haven't whacked a ruler a millimeter from a daydreaming kid's knuckles in years.
Sure, SYW can--and has--ripped my stuff to shreds. But 99% of the time, the critters did it nicely, and gave me gobs of reasons why. Thanks in no small part to their help, I finally wrote a kick-butt query and first 3 chapters, which led to requests for full, which led to the reason for those cool purple words at the bottom of my sig.
If you want to improve, then you have to let fellow writers read your work. Better them than half a dozen form rejections from an agent!
[/soapbox]
I used to be terrified of showing people my writing, but not anymore. AW has given me a nice confidence boost.
Don't be afraid! Getting crits is the best way to improve. Trust me.
Don't be afraid! Getting crits is the best way to improve. Trust me.
I used to be afraid, until I started posting and got a LOT of great help from very nice people.
In fact, I got one up right now!
The link's in my sig, if you're interested...
I give rep points...hee hee.
In fact, I got one up right now!
The link's in my sig, if you're interested...
I give rep points...hee hee.
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I just know that if I wish and pray and dream hard enough, my work will show up on SYW without my having to lift a finger. (Read: Yeah, I'm scared @#$!less.)
Well, I was afraid to share at first because I didn't want people thinking I was a wh@re. (I'm writing a memoir...).
However I was excited to share my first chapter because I was so excited about it that I figured all of you should be too.
Then I got critiqued. Ouch.
I might smw once I've finished my first draft. Only to a few people that were swell enought to seriously critique my first chapter. Jongfan be ready! Sure it wont be for a while, but be ready anyways. lol.
However I was excited to share my first chapter because I was so excited about it that I figured all of you should be too.
Then I got critiqued. Ouch.
I might smw once I've finished my first draft. Only to a few people that were swell enought to seriously critique my first chapter. Jongfan be ready! Sure it wont be for a while, but be ready anyways. lol.
I posted a first draft of my first chapter - typos and all I'm sure. I wanted the truth. No better way of learning what you are doing wrong, than by doing it wrong.
One person asked me to send my first two chapters to them via email as a word attachment.....I quivered at the thought.
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when I crit, I spend a significant amount of time on it. That's why I prefer not to see a first draft. Often they need enough work that the writer can do themselves, leaving me free to crit style, plot, pacing, etc.
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Not really scared. I'd rather suck here than suck to an agent or editor. My motto for the Viable Paradise workshop (brilliant, wonderful, everyone should attend) was 'My writing sucks! In ways that can be fixed!'
-Barbara
-Barbara
I'm afraid of submitting to editors and agents.
As for my peers? No. I want people to like it, but I'm rather fine when they don't. My writing isn't biographical. None of the characters are my alter-ego and this story, while important to me, is not my child or my world.
My basic opinion is this:
If you ultimate goal in the world is to make it so that every asshole in the world could read your book, why should you be surprised that a few are going to do so along the way?
As for my peers? No. I want people to like it, but I'm rather fine when they don't. My writing isn't biographical. None of the characters are my alter-ego and this story, while important to me, is not my child or my world.
My basic opinion is this:
If you ultimate goal in the world is to make it so that every asshole in the world could read your book, why should you be surprised that a few are going to do so along the way?
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I haven't posted in there because my work is already perfect. Ouch. Who threw that?
Okay, I'm kidding. I admit the thought's a little intimidating. Maybe I'll work up my nerve one of these days.
Okay, I'm kidding. I admit the thought's a little intimidating. Maybe I'll work up my nerve one of these days.
This is true. I've seen callalily there and she's shown no signs of evil.
I have to agree with her too that I prefer not to critique first drafts. I understand that people get excited and want to share and want that immediate feedback, but first drafts generally only capture the broad arcs, and I won't critique to fill in the depths or ask the questions that will help the author develop it when a little more time working on the idea could help her or him do the same thing. I don't expect a work to be totally perfect either though. See? Easy to please!
But no, I haven't really posted anything aside from some queries. I haven't been prolific enough to warrant it yet (see above paragraph).
Yes I am. I'm afraid to even write at the moment. I don't want to tap the pain. But I need in some way to make a commitment that will get me going.
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I've never been afraid to post something in SYW, but not until after I've worked it over a hundred times and need someone else to look it over and see if it works.
That is, when someone responds to the thread. Most of the time my post sits there, ignored.
allen
That is, when someone responds to the thread. Most of the time my post sits there, ignored.
allen
Hell yes, I'm skeered! I've had the SYW education before, lol....and I'm sure I'll find the guts to do it again.....someday.
Yes, I am afraid, most of the time, although sometimes I'm certain that my writing is just fine. I won't be posting anything until I'm done with my current WIP, anyway, unless I decide to dust off a short story for some feedback.
i've critiqued once or twice, and because i've done that i tend to be more leery than scared. the last thing i did i figured would be full of holes, and it was, but as i'm rather starting to get a bit more serious about actually writing again, i needed the reality check.
i do post fairly regularly in the 'hook me in twenty words or less' thread in the sci-fi/fantasy forum, and sometimes i'll get a good response while ridding myself of otherwise (mostly) useless ideas.
i do post fairly regularly in the 'hook me in twenty words or less' thread in the sci-fi/fantasy forum, and sometimes i'll get a good response while ridding myself of otherwise (mostly) useless ideas.
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It's a cold, dark, scary place with vultures and spiders and small flesh-eating insects.
I know the trepidation, and the fear that one sucks so bad there'd be a public flogging and humiliation. We try very hard to make that place a friendly, informative, educational exchange. Sometimes people do abuse it, but by and large I think it's a good place for people to get ideas on how to improve. We should all realize that critiques are opinions -- they don't necessarily mean your writing sucks if someone doesn't like it.
I think there are many ways a writer can improve, and putting your work out there for critique is one. Just think about it -- eventually, someone will have to read your work, whether it is an agent, an editor, a reviewer, or a reader. So somewhere someone will criticize your work some time. If you show it here, you may get the good suggestions on how to improve a piece, and get the motivation to polish it so that it doesn't stink in the hands of a prospective agent or editor.
That's how I look at critiques. It's not easy to detach yourself from your work, but if I want to get published, I have to. I want to look at the work and see how I can improve and polish it to shine. Sometimes just a little nudge is enough to push me. Sometimes it's also good to just throw something out there and see if it works -- if someone says, "Not really, full of holes and inconsistency, etc." then I know I need to keep working on it.
Give SYW a try.
I know the trepidation, and the fear that one sucks so bad there'd be a public flogging and humiliation. We try very hard to make that place a friendly, informative, educational exchange. Sometimes people do abuse it, but by and large I think it's a good place for people to get ideas on how to improve. We should all realize that critiques are opinions -- they don't necessarily mean your writing sucks if someone doesn't like it.
I think there are many ways a writer can improve, and putting your work out there for critique is one. Just think about it -- eventually, someone will have to read your work, whether it is an agent, an editor, a reviewer, or a reader. So somewhere someone will criticize your work some time. If you show it here, you may get the good suggestions on how to improve a piece, and get the motivation to polish it so that it doesn't stink in the hands of a prospective agent or editor.
That's how I look at critiques. It's not easy to detach yourself from your work, but if I want to get published, I have to. I want to look at the work and see how I can improve and polish it to shine. Sometimes just a little nudge is enough to push me. Sometimes it's also good to just throw something out there and see if it works -- if someone says, "Not really, full of holes and inconsistency, etc." then I know I need to keep working on it.
Give SYW a try.
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