A new writer appears!

EmperorCoconut

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Hey guys! My name is Mitch, and I'm a writer. And by that I mean I'd been writing a comic book for a long time before a friend convinced me that my writing was good but my art was subpar, so I guess I'm a writer now?

Anyways, I've been bombarding my friend with information about this book, and poor guy runs a music store and doesn't need my constant nonsense about this new character and what their favorite type of bagel is or whatever nonsense I've decided to fixate on today, so I figured I'd try to find a forum of people who fixate on this stuff as a hobby anyways.

I really like superheroes. And detectives. And other such modern stuff that promotes a lot of exploration and experiences within one very fleshed out city. I think that allows for a very fun consistent cast that you might run into in any given scene, which is fun for me. I also pretty much just write comedy so get ready for that mess of humor that makes some people crack up and other people wonder why they keep talking with me.

The guide suggested I talk about things I have expertise in, so here we go!

I'm a University teacher. I've taught history, communication, and English. I did not major in history so I have no idea why they signed me up for that but it was shockingly fun. I hope I get volunteered for basic science next!

I'm a traveler. I've been all over North America, Europe, and Asia. I'm in China right now and I plan to go to South America next. What this means, which is useless in my writing, is that I can speak a little bit of a lot of languages and I've eaten things that most cultures consider a bit scary. Literally every part of a pig too, and you can hold me to that. (a male pig... unfortunately).

In high school I used to be the drummer in a band, before the guitarist got tired of singing and we got a better drummer, at which point I became the lead singer and tertiary songwriter. I played with some people in college, but now all I do is free ukulele lessons because I just want to play music with people, even if I have to build them up to a competent level first.

I've been a popcorn salesman, a baker, a tour guide, a call center representative, a bus driver, and by some miracle, a university teacher. And my favorite color is red, but like a bright red. Faded reds are kind of awful.

So... yeah. Nice to meet all of you!
 

EmperorCoconut

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Thanks man! So like... what do we do here? Do we just post our bizarre ideas and stories or is there tact about this? I feel like I'm just thrusting the time I drank milk and got sick and now I hate milk on everyone on the first date. Metaphorically, of course.
 

Richard White

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Mitch,

Nothing wrong with having a wide variety of life experiences. You'll be surprised how much stuff you draw on (intentionally or otherwise) based on different jobs, different countries, even the different classes you teach. Don't be afraid to use those experiences to make your stories richer. You don't have to give a blow-by-blow retelling of an anecdote, (unless that's the point of your story), but just adding in little things in passing, things your character might notice, that'll help make the world that much more real for your audience.

As a fellow historian (and an old coffeehouse performer back in college), welcome to the forums!

Oh, and Regdog will be along soon to post a link to all the cool FAQs for the forums, but in general, it's a great place to just visit with other authors. We have sub-forums dedicated to specific topics, and we do have a Share-Your-Work area, but you have to have 50 (substantive) posts to gain new thread privileges there. However, I'd head down there and take a look at how it works, maybe critique a few other documents, and let people get to know you. Once you've critiqued a few chapters, you might spot some things you'd like to tighten up in your own before you let the squirrels (our name for our critters) have a go at your work.

And if you want, definitely read the FAQs and the stickies for any forums you want to check out. It'll probably save you some time learning the ins and outs of this place.
 
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regdog

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:welcome:


Take some time and read the Newbie Guide and the Stickies found
at the top of Forum pages. They are your best guide to learning about
Absolute Write.


Stop by the Weekend Progress Report each week to brag about your weekly writing accomplishments.
Awesome smilies and awards are given out.


Please read the FAQ about posting photos.




In fact we have lots of brilliant FAQs check them out.




Members who want to start a thread in Share Your Work to have work critiqued need
50 posts. Don’t make a mad dash to reach your 50 posts. That is frowned upon and can lead to your posts being deleted.
Take some time to greet fellow newbies, critique other members’ works, or join a discussion.




Announcements, Events and Self Promotion is for active members only. All obvious spam will be deleted on sight!
Here’s how to Promote With Aplomb.


Try stopping by Writing Exercises, Prompts & Whimsical Pursuits and give the Flash Fiction Challenge a try.
 

phoenixshredds

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Welcome fellow newbie. That sounds like an interesting history to say the least. I'm particularly curious about your being a university teacher - i.e. what drove you down that path; is it as difficult as it sounds?; how much education did that take? etc etc lol

Your title reminded me of Pokemon. "A wild EmperorCoconut appears!"

Thanks man! So like... what do we do here? Do we just post our bizarre ideas and stories or is there tact about this? I feel like I'm just thrusting the time I drank milk and got sick and now I hate milk on everyone on the first date. Metaphorically, of course.

As Ron Burgundy once said, "Milk was a bad choice!"
 

Zan75

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Welcome to AW, Mitch. Best of luck
 

EmperorCoconut

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So I'm a weirdo and teach in China. What that means is there's a language component to a lot of the stuff, and many of the more culture related things are both really interesting to the students and totally foreign to them. Aside from that, it's just a lot of prep and talking slowly, sometimes just reverting to Chinese, and spending extra time teaching outside of class. Writing is my self-indulgent nonsense activity. Also, for some of them I'm the first white person they've ever seen. Babies stare at me with wide open mouths, and random strangers hold out their arms to compare skin color, so that's cool. Going to tourist attractions makes me an additional attraction.

But it's cool. I've been to China, Japan, and Thailand in Asia now and I plan to visit Korea next. I "traced my ancestry" back in Europe and it was pretty cool but expensive and it's not like that stuff really matters anyways, so I'm here to do stuff as me, not follow some dead guy.
 

LesFewer

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Wow! You certainly have a lot of real world experience at a lot of different things, that has to come in handy.

Welcome to the forums.
 

NandNs27

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Welcome to AW, your life seems like quite the adventure! Maybe you can use your unique experiences in your writing? Just an idea, but I also enjoy superhero stories, so I hope I get to read some of yours!
 

BradCarsten

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Welcome Mitch. It sounds like you've lived an interesting life. So after South America you need to visit Africa, and that'll be the big 5 done and dusted!

Also, for some of them I'm the first white person they've ever seen. Babies stare at me with wide open mouths, and random strangers hold out their arms to compare skin color, so that's cool. Going to tourist attractions makes me an additional attraction.

China seems like a fascinating and beautiful place. I would love to visit it one day. I follow a western vlogger on youtube that takes you around China and shows you all kinds of interesting things and place, and the same thing happens to him. People come up to him all the time wanting to take photos, or they just stare at him as he walks by.
 

EmperorCoconut

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My plan was to exclusively go to "Ch" countries because I thought that would be hilarious, but it turns out that China isn't even the name of the country, it's more like Zhong Guo (middle country). It's a hot mess. Chad is to sketch to go to, Christmas Island is like a less good Australia, and all my well laid plans are unravelling before me.

Travel is still fun though. I really highly recommend Thailand over a lot of the more expensive places in North America and Europe if you want a tropical vacation. Head to Phuket for the beaches, or Chiang Mai for the culture.

I will probably not be putting in the "unusual features that everybody gawks at" into my work. While I have firsthand experience, it's a kind of dumb trope to make an otherwise boring character exciting.
 
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Helix

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My plan was to exclusively go to "Ch" countries because I thought that would be hilarious, but it turns out that China isn't even the name of the country, it's more like Zhong Guo (middle country). It's a hot mess. Chad is to sketch to go to, Christmas Island is like a less good Australia, and all my well laid plans are unravelling before me.

Travel is still fun though. I really highly recommend Thailand over a lot of the more expensive places in North America and Europe if you want a tropical vacation. Head to Phuket for the beaches, or Chiang Mai for the culture.

I will probably not be putting in the "unusual features that everybody gawks at" into my work. While I have firsthand experience, it's a kind of dumb trope to make an otherwise boring character exciting.


Christmas Island is part of Australia (it's a territory, not a country), so that'll have to be off the list as well.

Still, there's always Chile.
 

EmperorCoconut

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I was wrong. Duly noted. This website lied to me: http://clock.zone/c

And now you know how well I fact check. I choose to believe it makes my fiction more unique and vibrant.
 

Helix

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NathanLyle

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since you mentioned comic books and superheroes what are some of your favorites? growing up I always loved Spawn and Spiderman. basically anything Todd McFarlane did.
 

BradCarsten

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My plan was to exclusively go to "Ch" countries because I thought that would be hilarious, but it turns out that China isn't even the name of the country, it's more like Zhong Guo (middle country). It's a hot mess. Chad is to sketch to go to, Christmas Island is like a less good Australia, and all my well laid plans are unravelling before me.

Grrrr, I've spent the last 24 hours trying to come up with different "CH" countries. :ROFL:
 

EmperorCoconut

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My favorite when I was a kid was a weird one. My local library had these "what if" comics, and my favorite was called "what if no one was watching the Watcher?", depicting this all knowing force in a tutu and a Marilyn Monroe pose. Around this time I watched literally all the Christopher Reeves Superman movies, and since I was a little kid I even like the bad ones, and discovered the Adam West Batman series later in life.

I think for me, the goofy and unrealistic aspects of superhero comics are what give them personality. I love when Aquaman finds some bizarre way to be useful, or when Green Lantern is too uncreative to actually solve a problem with his limitless power, and decides to make yet another giant fist to punch his foes, but not as well as Superman can punch his foes.
 

Fullon_v4.0

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Very cool experiences! I love your passion. I've done a little bit of comic work, but I know my strength is storytelling and not drawing, so here I am! Looking forward to getting to know you better ^^