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EmptyEnvy

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Hello there fellow AbsoluteWriters!

It’s lovely to see that places like this still exist on the internet, as I sometimes find myself pining for the forums of the early 2000’s ( “social media” was so much simpler back then).

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m EmptyEnvy/MTNV (yes I did come up with that name in high school, why do you ask?) and while I am not new to writing, I am new to thinking of myself as a “Writer” with a capital W. I have dipped my toes in many different pools of creative expression over the years, including music, coding, digital art, and film, but writing was my first love, and it’s one I have come back to continuously throughout the years. I’ve recently started taking the craft more seriously, perhaps because there’s a pandemic on and I’m stuck inside with my thoughts, but also because (for the first time) I had an idea for a novel that was so compelling to me that I simply HAD to get it down on paper. I’m sure some of you have experienced a similar phenomenon!

A little about my style and interests:

  • I am most drawn to the “Weird Fiction”, Horror, Psychological Thriller, and Near-future Sci-Fi genres, though I have enjoyed lots of fantasy, non-fiction, comedy, and dramas in my time.
  • To give you a better idea of my taste, here's what I've been reading lately: Jeff Vandermeer's Borne, Paul Tremblay's Growing Things, Stephen King's If It Bleeds, George Saunders' Tenth of December, Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves (which I'm revisiting) and Frank Herbert's Dune (yes, for the first time, I tried in high school and couldn't get into the politics) I'm criminally under-read and always looking for recommendations, especially of short fiction.
  • I went to school for recording/music composition and I’m currently working on my master’s in psychology, which I think heavily influences my writing. My works often include themes/discussions of mental illness, existential dread, the lasting impact of trauma, psychoactive substances, and the impact of technology on the psyche. I’m interested in what makes people tick, and I often write about the everyday horror that keeps me up at night.
  • I try to air on the side of subtlety and ambiguity (i.e. “fridge horror”), while still going for the jugular and exploring heavy/disturbing themes. I’m also inclined to post content warnings when necessary, because I think people should get to choose what they put into their brains.
  • I write a good amount of short fiction and poetry, and I’m about 65,000 words into my first ever novel. I recently started posting my work to a blog, which is a somewhat big step for me, because I haven’t shared much of my writing with the world yet (if you’re interested, my blog address is: Storiesfromnowhere.com)
  • I’m very interested in technology and I have started utilizing a trained Neural Network (GPT-2) as a collaborative writing partner. It’s a fantastic way to generate prompts, impose limitations, and explore the similarities between emerging technology and humanity. I would highly encourage you all to give it a try, if you haven’t (you can google “Write with Transformer” to find a demo of the GPT-2 model “AI” that I use)
  • I value diversity in literature, and strive to write complex characters of all different walks of life, not just those who look and act like me. Always looking for feedback from people of different backgrounds to help craft more realistic characters and help me to identify my blind spots.
  • Even though I write a lot of depressing/dark/scary stuff, I’m generally a pretty optimistic and compassionate person. We all have our demons, but part of the reason I write is to put them in their proper place, in a larger narrative that includes the whole spectrum of human emotion. I promise I’m not as cynical or edgy as you might think (Insert friendly emoji here)

Wow, this was a lot longer than I intended, thank you to anyone still reading and I’m very much looking forward to trading stories, discussing the craft, and helping one another become better writers!
 

DanielSTJ

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Hey EmptyEnvy!

Nice to meet you. I think it's good that you put so much detail in the introduction. Now people can get to know you better! That's always a good thing, right?

Dune is great. One of my favourites.

Good genre, but I like everything.

Interesting on the technology bit.

Good to know more about you. Glad to have you. Please browse and enjoy.
 

Maryn

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This is my umpteenth reminder that I need to reread Dune before I see the new movie with Timothee Chalomet as Paul.

But that's beside the point, which is to add my welcome to you. Nice to meet you!

Maryn, nudging you in the general direction of the snack table
 

Chase

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:welcome:, EE. I miss 2000 also. I could hear then--though barely and with both hearing aides turned up as high as they'd go.

Nice intro. I hope you find lots of friends in sci-fi/horror here. :greenie
 

regdog

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Welcome to AW




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

TylerJK

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Hello! It sounds like you are a well rounded individual, I think this is hugely advantageous in writing. You know the old adage, “write what you know”, obviously, that’s somewhat cliche, but I have found that my writing improves with the more I experience in life... it sounds like you have much to draw on! Welcome and happy writing.
 

Melissa.O'Connor

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Hello! I'm new too. What a great post for people to get to know you. I especially liked the part about writing depressing things even though you're optimistic. My favorite thing about writing is that it can be whatever you need it to be... whether that's testing out new ideas or creating characters who can say things you'd never say and do things you'd never do.

Don't shoot me, but I've never heard of Dune!
 

bleep

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Welcome from a fellow newbie! I just read your response to Harold over in Literary SYW and I thought it was quite interesting; I'm sure it was a huge help to the author. I can see your psych degree coming through here, and I'm looking forward to reading more of your responses and eventually your writing.

Also, that's totally wild that you're using GPT-2 as a "writing partner." I did google it up and I tried messing around with it a bit but it felt kinda random and then "gave up," meaning it gave me blank or question mark responses after a while. How do you use it? What's a good exercise to try, to get a flavor of it?
 

SallyO

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Hi EmptyEnvy! I'm a newbie as well. Great get to know you post. I miss the simplicity of the early 2000's too! Amazing to be 65,000 words into a novel. Kudos! Looking forward to checking out your blog :)