[MikeWrite]

howdy everyone

i've been reading these forums for a while now - especially this one seen as i am a very keen writer.

i have finished one novel, a fantasy that is 107,000 words. I sent it to a few publishers, all with nice little rejection letters. i decided to scrap the novel after deciding it was poo.

I've started a new book now, which i am deep into. its not a fantasy, so sorry for all of you who dont like non-fantasy writers clogging up your boards! :) I hope to send my latest off to a literary agent fairly soon, i think i have a better chance with this one than i did with my fantasy novel.

Can some of you please take a look at the short story i wrote for the contest and let me know what you think of it. Its called clearing thought, by Michael Jeavons.

Thanks!

[Alucard]

Hey there, Mike. I haven't read your short yet (I will, though), but I thought I should mention, the Writer's Association, a site dedicated to writing of all types, is accepting members. A lot of members here have joined up over there as well, and I reccomend you check it out.

Here's the link, if you're interested:

http://groups.msn.com/TheWritersAssociation/_homepage.msnw?pgmarket=en-us

(I should be getting paid for this, Nathan)

[milamber_reborn]

Welcome, Mike. I say you should retrieve that first novel and improve it. If anything, it would be good editing experience.

Check out www.stories.com, where you can have a free portfolio to show off your work and get feedback.

[Pirate Jenn]

I'm with that guy!

I think you have to be a tremendously good writer to finish your first draft and love it to shreds. No short story I've written has romanced me the first time. There are always loose threads and ideas that need cutting and ideas that need revisiting. You stuck through to The End...don't give up now! :)

[Sonja Ravenscroft]

Speaking as a NEWBIE....:)

I find I'll write a story once in a first draft to get the idea out, then I'll read it and add/subtract as I go along. It actually takes me a good four readings or so before I think it polished(and even then sometimes longer)

I'm a newbie, so don't kill me*L* I'm all for critiquing stories, and I've seen a couple of links, but the thing that would worry me is the whole copyright idea...are places like stories.com good in regards to people not taking ideas? I've never done it online, and as a result am a bit hesitant...any info would be appreciated!

[Gary Wassner]

Mikewrite - I read your short story when it was first posted. In fact I read it twice. I thought actually that it had a lot of potential, to be honest, but that you did not finish it well. It needed to be edited better, and I know from experience that editing is the most boring and annoying part of writing. Nevertheless, you needed to proof it and correct the errors, as well as to make sure that the story itself evolved the way you wanted it to.
Sometimes it helps to read short works outloud to yourself. If you stumble on some of the phrases or if it becomes difficult to follow clearly, then it needs work.
Frankly, a Clearing Thought was confusing and really could have been quite good if you took more time with it and filled in the gaps in the storyline.

[milamber_reborn]

Tinalera

The key to trusting your work online is finding professional sites witha good community. I was a bit wary at first, but www.stories.com is great. I have a portfolio with four chapters of my fantasy novel and I recently added a short story. I have already had 160 views of my chapters in a few months, 17 ratings and some useful feedback.

All items are copyrighted to you, just like if you posted a story on this site. Of course, someone could just copy and paste my work, but it would not do them too much good, especially the chapters.

[milamber_reborn]

Also, the folks at the Writer's Association, some from these forums, are trustworthy and very helpful.

[Sonja Ravenscroft]

Thanks Milamber_Reborn(cool name BTW)

Well, it so happens I have short story I'm in the middle of, when I finish it I'll gives stories.com a try.

I appreciate the advice, and if it ever came to copyright, I've got it dated on my system as to WHEN I wrote it, so I could protect myself. But I'll check it out. Not to mention getting feedback from this forum would help to.

And thank you all for accepting me as part of this community:) I'm quite pleasant, and always interested in what people have to say(just watch out for the rats;))

[milamber_reborn]

Thanks Tinalera

This is what is displayed at the bottom of my items on stories.com

© Copyright 2002 milamber_reborn. All rights reserved. milamber_reborn has granted Stories.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.


Have that at the bottom of the title page and end page of your stories if you're really worried:

© Copyright 2002, [insert name]
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission from the author.

(and it's supposed to have center justification, but this site won't let me do it)