I've run into a problem and can't finish an editing job for Wren Phoenix. Her story is compelling, quite romantic, and is running in excess of nine chapters.
I'm more of a stand-alone story writer, but someone who has experience with serials would enjoy editing for Wren.
I have so many things to be grateful for this year. This has been one of the most stressful years of my life, but much of what caused that stress has been resolved and now all that angst seems so . . . meaningless.
There were many days when RL pressures became so intense I had to escape . . . and I came here.
Sure — there are those on BC who I think are laughable for a variety of reasons. And -- sometimes the rules are overbearing and the administration of those rules is heavy-handed.
All that being said — BC has given my life more purpose again and again for over a decade.
It’s hard to believe that it has been over thirty years since some of my darkest hours. I was in a horrible work situation and also trying to lose too much weight too quickly through a diet of mainly caffeine laden diet cola.
Out of the blow I started having full-blown anxiety attacks. They were of such force that I thought I was being hit by an electrical charge when the adrenalin rush started. It got so bad I couldn’t leave the apartment where we lived with our two-year old child.
Irony can be described as an incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs.
On the left side of the screen this morning is a message discussing the apparent demise of Storysite. On the right side is the display of contributions to Hatbox.
First of all -- Storysite has been "gone" before and seems to come back every time.
Just a general observation. It seems to me that blogs lately have mostly been leaning toward negative. It also seems like many comments are chippy and launched rather than offered. Someone commented on a story I wrote over a decade ago, telling me it's "sick". That's not "friendly". That's not constructive. In retrospect the story (Dick on Jane) was sick. I write it in anger after some idiot told me my stories were too hard to understand. So I write one even a moron could appreciate. It was sick in that it didn't give suicide proper care and handling.
Sometimes you just don’t feel like making all that much effort. You know the feeling — when you know you should look good, but all you can manage is a brush or two through your hair and a little lip gloss. It’s the same thing with writing. You get a good idea for a story, sit down, and finger regurgitate onto the screen.
I’m more likely to heavily research a story before I start writing, but once in a while I’ll just wing it. The first two stories I entered in the Halloween contest were light-hearted affairs that took very little time or effort to construct.
Today another fine writer paused at the threshold to BC, spun on her high heels, and chucked in the towel.
Even though this ink-stained wretch. . .er. . . carpal-tunnel pained, sometimes kvetch. . .never employed clichés in her writing, her reason for ending her story mid-stream was shop worn — “general indifference”.
For the last eon, or longer, I’ve posted the following message in a variety of forms:
Noah Lukeman has written a number of excellent books on writing. He is a successful literary agent and has decided to give back to the community with free advice on his website and with his ezine.
I get the ezine and enjoy his comments go to the following site and click on "contact".
AOL this morning has a story about Jack Norworth, the man who penned “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. The refrain to that song is almost as familiar as the Big Closet melody, There Are No Rules, which is chirped every time someone suggests a methodology for writing.
Rules are made to be broken, but it’s easier to successfully engage the reader if you put the ball close to the strike zone.
The other day I was "trapped" in a rural part of our state with extremely limited radio reception. In other words I was forced to listen to a big fat idiot or drive endless miles with no radio to ease the boredom. This highly successful ranter stated, "The oil spill in the Gulf is equal to a drop of oil in a bathtub."
Soccer can be a cruel game. Many times the score isn't indicative of which team played the best.
For a game that probably lacks in significance you'd think the USA won the most vital contest of the year 1-1. I coached youth soccer long enough to have four of my children play for me. I've experienced my share of ties and know they're bittersweet for both sides, even in under the best circumstances.
It's nice to see contributions running slightly ahead of projections. Obviously, people appreciate this site and understand that Erin needs financial help to sustain it.
Should any of those who subscribe to Hatbox find the stories I've written to support this site "less than compelling", they should let me know. I will immediately send them triple the money I receive as author.
A few years ago a writing magazine suggested over 25 million people are attempting to write fiction for commercial publication. That same article stated that less than 2,500 people in the world make a living as a commercial writer.
Another blog has discussed the ethics of authors’ rights regarding posting online for free and later publishing for sale.
To me the bigger question is — how do those authors expect to make enough money from publishing to make it worthwhile?
A few months back I noted that I had just received (that day) a single vote on more than half of my stories. This has happened again. I assume it is a software glitch. Has anyone else received votes on most of their stories today? I'd like to believe that somehow thirty-one of my old stories received votes today, but that's about twenty-nine more than what I normally would receive on any given day.
When I set out to tell the story of Bob Isle and Mattie Grant in I’ll Grant You My Wish I decided to draw heavily from my youth. In my original outline, Bob’s a twelve-year old boy who is dragged into femininity by a domineering Mrs. Grant who is seriously disturbed by the loss of her own daughter. In the end, Bob decides he has to stand up to Mrs. Grant and rebels. Since he is basically a nice boy, when he puts his foot down it is done quite gently.
I absolutely love the ability to edit my stories as easily as we can on BC.
I wonder if all writers are aware they can edit their stories once they're posted.
Most of my stories have been edited dozens of times after I've posted them. I learn something new about writing almost every day and try to keep my stories updated to reflect what I now know.
The last few days I've been editing "Danny's Perdition" and just finished. It's a story set in the 23rd century, but is based on a poem written in the 14th century. Some have told me it's a Divine Comedy.
I've said it before, but I just have to say it again -- the new Random Solo feature is an absolute smash hit.
One of the features of BC that I absolutely love is the ability to quickly and easily edit your old stories. When I have an odd moment I often bring up one of my old stories and go through it looking for ways to improve the quality of the writing. Some I haven't read for years. It's like reading someone else's writing. I almost never change the plot, but I always find something to fix. Sometimes it's humbling to see how much needs attention.
Erin shut off the comments on Samantha Jay's blog and I don't want to discuss Forced Fem -- so I'll take the discussion on a different path.
When a person decides to write and post a story they create an implied contract with the reader. That much I think we can agree upon. It is at that point that we, the authors of BC, hold vastly different opinions.
All of us have our calling. For a while, I thought my calling was to be a monk. That passed.
Currently I feel my calling is to express a qualified opinion regarding hits, votes, and comments at least once a month.
There appears to be a number of people who think the number of votes a story or part of a story receives has a correlation with the quality of the writing. In my experience this just isn't remotely so.
In order for the law of large numbers to come into play -- which makes statistics creditable - there obviously has to be LARGE numbers.
A huge part of marketing food is obtaining shelf space. Big corporations have been known to actually pay to have their products displayed by grocers at the right height and in a large enough amount to suggest huge consumer demand. Coke and Pepsi have gone to the mattresses several times over shelf space wars.
What I'm going to suggest is only logical since we are talking about a limited resource. (I have an economic degree and will use it to justify my premise if needed. You are warned.)
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
