And so I'm here

[Bluma Bezbroda]

Hello Litopians

I would like to introduce myself, as I see is the custom in this community. My first post here might be lengthy, but I would really like to give you an idea of who I am and why I’m here.

My original plan for life was to be a writer and as a child and young adult I have tried my strength in various literary forms. I was told that I suck at it bluntly and repeatedly, and finally just tossed the pen in a corner and started doing completely different things. Now, fifteen years and few hundred read books later I find myself at the start of a very promising scientific career, with a steady life and a beautiful feline “daughter”- and I feel something is missing. Like all that I achieved as far was not giving me full satisfaction. And then I sat down and I wrote, wrote, wrote.

The next step was obviously to share what I did with someone else than my cat. I showed my writing to my partner- he was not impressed, but couldn’t provide any help with improving it. I sent it to two of my best friends and they did like it, but, first of all, they love me and wouldn’t want to hurt me with critique- secondly I love them a lot, but they are no literary connoisseurs… So I was left with three quite useless opinions. Other people who I tried to get interested in reading were too busy or otherwise didn’t care. My attempts to join local writing groups ended in big disappointment. I started to think that perhaps it all doesn’t make sense after all, with me not having any literary background or experience anyway, but got a grip on myself and searched for online communities for literary critique- and I found Litopia.

What I wrote- my novel, if one can call it this way- is certainly not very good. I don’t think its without value, but more testing my voice than a piece of mature work. And before I’ll attempt to write My Masterpiece (TM) I would really love to know if it makes sense at all. Therefore I am very interested in sharing what I wrote so far with people that would care to read through it and tell their honest opinion.

I read some of the past threads and I saw you are a great community. I would love to become a part of it. I understand that I have to be active for some time here before I can get access to the critique sections. I’ll do my best to prove I am worth your trust.

Thanks and Cheers

BB

PS. For some reason my photo got flipped upside down while uploading, but it looks kinda cool, so I'll just leave it like this

 

[Nicole Wilson]

Welcome Bluma! You've certainly come to the right place. We are a fun (if not a little crazy) group, and we really do enjoy helping each other grow. Few things:

(1) What about the writers groups ended in disappointment? As someone who owes my writers group for a lot of my growth, I'm just curious
(2) I'm really glad you didn't give up, especially not for thinking you need a writing background. I've heard a lot of people say that, and it's just not true. Most of my favorite authors did not go to school for writing.
(3) Can you tell us a little about your book? Genre, target age group, etc.
Also, I, too, think your pic looks cool upside down

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Hi Bluma and welcome. The fact you came back to writing, and kept on going suggests it's an essential part of your life, rather like breathing. You should find this site useful and interesting, though a little crazy at times. I too would love to know what genre you write in, so a little info on that would be interesting.

 

[Emurelda]

Welcome! Glad you didn't give up too. Which genre do you write for?

 

[KG Christopher]

Hi Bluma, welcome.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Welcome Bluma, to the show that never ends. Writing is a joy for life.

 

[Carol Rose]

Welcome!

 

[Sea-shore]

Hi and welcome in! Take a seat and have some tea and/or cake.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hello

You came back to writing -probably says it all. Maybe it's just a case of finding the right form for you.

 

[Boopadoo]

Hi Bluma,

I started writing as a child, too, but in high school I was actually told I had talent. Expectations (assigned weekly journal pages) turned writing into a chore and I moved on for a long time, like you. I dabbled in it off and on for twenty years while I pursued other careers, until I finally fell in love with it again about ten or 11 years ago. By then, it was like starting over, but I wrote and wrote and wrote and submitted and got rejected over and over and over.

Almost ready to give up again, I found Litopia my first go round in 2009. The people I met here, the information I gained, the friendships I formed, without them I would have given up again. Instead, I'm nearly done with My Masterpiece and after an absence of a few years, I've come back to see if what I've learned might be helpful to writers in the same headspace I was in back in 2009.

Welcome to a truly wonderful place, the best group for writers out there...

 

[Bluma Bezbroda]

Hi

Thank you for such a nice welcome

First maybe to answer Nicole's question about the writing communities. The ones I found around here (I’m currently stationed in the Netherlands) are mostly student initiatives. I was very enthusiastic about that, being an eccentric person (hence, I really appreciate you guys saying it can get crazy over here) I was hoping for an open-minded group. I was, however, very wrong. The groups consisted mostly of people around twenty who were already identifying themselves as writers and upon me saying that I’m a biophysicist they gave me looks like “So, what are you doing here, anyway?”. And then they would lose interest in me really fast. The sessions that they organized were also not very useful- frankly, they consisted mostly of them telling each other “OMG, you’re such a great writer, I will totally read your book once you’ll write it”. I shouldn’t grumble, though- they were young people, and young people tend to think too highly of themselves. I know I sure did.

As for my book, the friends that did gave me an opinion on it both said it could be good for young adults and I think they may be right. This, as well as the stories I have in my head that still await being put on paper will probably be most appealing to younger audiences. The work in question is basically a love story. More specifically, one could put it in the yaoi (Boy Love) genre, as it tells about a homoerotic relationship. I don’t like to classify it as such though, not because I think there’s anything wrong with BL, but it is by definition written for female audience. I don’t want to confine myself like this and would like to write a piece attractive to all genders. And, finally, I like to see something more than romance in my story, but that can be wishful thinking on my part.

In my literary interests I have two big loves: one is grotesque and the surreal, magical realism I guess? The list of my masters includes Jose Donoso, Cortazar and Vieniedikt Jerofieyev. The second one is, well, porn. I am fascinated with erotica, with how much it reflects our insecurities, needs, fears, our social and individual condition. It shows the best and the worst of us. I understand it may be shocking for some after I defined my target readers as young. But young people love sex and they love reading about it. And reading creates and changes attitudes, so maybe it is precisely young people who should read about good, safe, consensual sex?

I went on a whole tirade here, sorry for that

Again, thanks for nice words everyone

BB

 

[Lex Black]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Chase Gamwell]

Hi there! Glad you could join us!

 

[Carol Rose]

Hi

Thank you for such a nice welcome

First maybe to answer Nicole's question about the writing communities. The ones I found around here (I’m currently stationed in the Netherlands) are mostly student initiatives. I was very enthusiastic about that, being an eccentric person (hence, I really appreciate you guys saying it can get crazy over here) I was hoping for an open-minded group. I was, however, very wrong. The groups consisted mostly of people around twenty who were already identifying themselves as writers and upon me saying that I’m a biophysicist they gave me looks like “So, what are you doing here, anyway?”. And then they would lose interest in me really fast. The sessions that they organized were also not very useful- frankly, they consisted mostly of them telling each other “OMG, you’re such a great writer, I will totally read your book once you’ll write it”. I shouldn’t grumble, though- they were young people, and young people tend to think too highly of themselves. I know I sure did.

As for my book, the friends that did gave me an opinion on it both said it could be good for young adults and I think they may be right. This, as well as the stories I have in my head that still await being put on paper will probably be most appealing to younger audiences. The work in question is basically a love story. More specifically, one could put it in the yaoi (Boy Love) genre, as it tells about a homoerotic relationship. I don’t like to classify it as such though, not because I think there’s anything wrong with BL, but it is by definition written for female audience. I don’t want to confine myself like this and would like to write a piece attractive to all genders. And, finally, I like to see something more than romance in my story, but that can be wishful thinking on my part.

In my literary interests I have two big loves: one is grotesque and the surreal, magical realism I guess? The list of my masters includes Jose Donoso, Cortazar and Vieniedikt Jerofieyev. The second one is, well, porn. I am fascinated with erotica, with how much it reflects our insecurities, needs, fears, our social and individual condition. It shows the best and the worst of us. I understand it may be shocking for some after I defined my target readers as young. But young people love sex and they love reading about it. And reading creates and changes attitudes, so maybe it is precisely young people who should read about good, safe, consensual sex?

I went on a whole tirade here, sorry for that

Again, thanks for nice words everyone

BB

People of all ages like to read about sex. I'm published in romance - specifically erotic romance. And just so you know, the majority of romance readers are still female, over 40, and they love M/M romance as much as M/F, and all imaginable combinations of menage.

It sounds like you've done a lot of thinking about what you've written, but you've been given conflicting assessments and/or classifications of the genre.

*Steps on genre soapbox*

It's so important to know what you've written and to understand that genre, especially for a first time author trying to get published. I would strongly suggest reading a lot. A lot of books in the genre (or genres) you feel best represents what you've written. And make them mostly books published in the last five years. This is to get a feel for the genre(s) and see what's selling.

Agents make their money by selling books to publishers. If they don't understand what you've written in terms of genre, they don't know who to approach to buy it. If the publishers don't understand what it is, they don't know how to market it or who might read it. These are still important things to them because if they don't sell books, they don't make money.

*Steps off genre soapbox*

But Carol, take the example of Big Time Author A and Big Time Author B. They broke all the rules and are now gazillionaires. Yes, and they also wrote for a long time before they broke those rules. They had a following. Or Big Time Author C had such an amazing one-of-a-kind kickass first book that he/she got away with it. There are exceptions to every rule.

Don't give an agent a reason to reject the manuscript. Write something and keep it within the rules. Get it past an agent. Get it published. Then let your muse run wild and have fun AFTER you have a readership and you know they'll come along with you.

I beat my head against a brick wall for 20 years on a fantasy romance set in an alternate universe, even though those weren't selling. They're still not selling. I did get the story published after many, MANY revisions, but it still didn't sell well. And I had a following already.

You have to give the readers what they want. Then sometimes, you get lucky and they like something really out there or unusual. But it's a crap shoot for me every time I try to break the rules. I've taken to running new/unusual ideas past my publisher first. She's always honest about my chances, and I appreciate that.

This is a fickle, subjective business. As a first time author, you want to give yourself every possible advantage.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Hi

Thank you for such a nice welcome

First maybe to answer Nicole's question about the writing communities. The ones I found around here (I’m currently stationed in the Netherlands) are mostly student initiatives. I was very enthusiastic about that, being an eccentric person (hence, I really appreciate you guys saying it can get crazy over here) I was hoping for an open-minded group. I was, however, very wrong. The groups consisted mostly of people around twenty who were already identifying themselves as writers and upon me saying that I’m a biophysicist they gave me looks like “So, what are you doing here, anyway?”. And then they would lose interest in me really fast. The sessions that they organized were also not very useful- frankly, they consisted mostly of them telling each other “OMG, you’re such a great writer, I will totally read your book once you’ll write it”. I shouldn’t grumble, though- they were young people, and young people tend to think too highly of themselves. I know I sure did.

As for my book, the friends that did gave me an opinion on it both said it could be good for young adults and I think they may be right. This, as well as the stories I have in my head that still await being put on paper will probably be most appealing to younger audiences. The work in question is basically a love story. More specifically, one could put it in the yaoi (Boy Love) genre, as it tells about a homoerotic relationship. I don’t like to classify it as such though, not because I think there’s anything wrong with BL, but it is by definition written for female audience. I don’t want to confine myself like this and would like to write a piece attractive to all genders. And, finally, I like to see something more than romance in my story, but that can be wishful thinking on my part.

In my literary interests I have two big loves: one is grotesque and the surreal, magical realism I guess? The list of my masters includes Jose Donoso, Cortazar and Vieniedikt Jerofieyev. The second one is, well, porn. I am fascinated with erotica, with how much it reflects our insecurities, needs, fears, our social and individual condition. It shows the best and the worst of us. I understand it may be shocking for some after I defined my target readers as young. But young people love sex and they love reading about it. And reading creates and changes attitudes, so maybe it is precisely young people who should read about good, safe, consensual sex?

I went on a whole tirade here, sorry for that

Again, thanks for nice words everyone

BB

So, I was going to say that any arts program in college is only good for its circle jerk, and then moving down I came to find the metaphor more apropos.

 

[KG Christopher]

I was thinking of joining a book circle...but then again, no

http://newsthump.com/2016/01/25/men-joining-book-clubs-just-for-the-fanny/

 

[Bluma Bezbroda]

@Carol Rose I admit, I indeed don't know much about the recent romance market (except the one of yaoi, which I know quite well I think). Thank you for all the tips, they are noted and appreciated. Also, hat from my humble head for writing serious erotica- I know how difficult it is. However, you are talking publishers and agents and I'm talking of something I scribbled down in the late night hours, knowing perfectly that I should be concentrating on writing my thesis instead I did not attempt to write a romance novel when I started, the story was just flowing, I guess. I don't know if that's really my voice. I don't know if I have a voice at all!

@Jason Byrne I was quite angry and thought the same thing at the moment. But again, they were kids. We can forgive them

@KG Christopher I was a part of a (mini) book circle some one-and-a-half years ago. It consisted of me and three guys. So, either they were after each others fannies, or they were there really for the books or OH MY GOD I DONT EVEN

 

[Carol Rose]

I was only sharing experiences. Of course you need to write what your muse tells you to.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

First maybe to answer Nicole's question about the writing communities. The ones I found around here (I’m currently stationed in the Netherlands) are mostly student initiatives. I was very enthusiastic about that, being an eccentric person (hence, I really appreciate you guys saying it can get crazy over here) I was hoping for an open-minded group. I was, however, very wrong. The groups consisted mostly of people around twenty who were already identifying themselves as writers and upon me saying that I’m a biophysicist they gave me looks like “So, what are you doing here, anyway?”. And then they would lose interest in me really fast. The sessions that they organized were also not very useful- frankly, they consisted mostly of them telling each other “OMG, you’re such a great writer, I will totally read your book once you’ll write it”. I shouldn’t grumble, though- they were young people, and young people tend to think too highly of themselves. I know I sure did.

Ah - yes. I took some creative writing courses in college, but my major was in the Business school for information systems, so I got the same reaction. Plus, I write genre fiction (thriller), which is a big no-no in the literary world. It took me a few years after I graduated to figure out why they all hated my stories. Part of it was because the stories genuinely needed work, but a lot of it was my stories weren't allegories for something else. They didn't have a social commentary. There wasn't any symbolism. They were stories just for the sake of stories. And that upset a lot of them. They didn't get it.

I was lucky enough to find a writers guild where I live and join in a few of the writers groups there. I've found more genre fiction, and more people who are not writers by profession. Most are retired teachers--or retired something else--but the rest of us have day jobs that are not writing. And we give constructive criticism. We don't coddle each other (for the most part). I hope you find something--including Litopia--that suits your needs.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Ah - yes. I took some creative writing courses in college, but my major was in the Business school for information systems, so I got the same reaction. Plus, I write genre fiction (thriller), which is a big no-no in the literary world. It took me a few years after I graduated to figure out why they all hated my stories. Part of it was because the stories genuinely needed work, but a lot of it was my stories weren't allegories for something else. They didn't have a social commentary. There wasn't any symbolism. They were stories just for the sake of stories. And that upset a lot of them. They didn't get it.

I was lucky enough to find a writers guild where I live and join in a few of the writers groups there. I've found more genre fiction, and more people who are not writers by profession. Most are retired teachers--or retired something else--but the rest of us have day jobs that are not writing. And we give constructive criticism. We don't coddle each other (for the most part). I hope you find something--including Litopia--that suits your needs.

And just because you like stuff to explode.

My 3D Animation and Video Game Art degree programs were quite light on English classes — it only needed ENG 100 and ENG 101. Like, Fundamentals of English and Tech Writing, or something, so I could learn how to write a proper memo. How stupid is that? So I tested out of them and took Short Stories one summer, thinking it would help me cut down on my ridiculously long books. Turns out it should have been called "Let's Read Short Stories and Write an Essay About What They Meant to Us and Then Share."

Because I was in the Honors Program, I also had to take Annotation and Bibliography, which was extremely useful. I managed to get the college to count that toward my English Credits, and in addition to reading the agonizingly painful "Art of Personal Essay" by Phillip Lopate, we also wrote an annotated research paper on our field, learned how to write bibliographies, and also how to find material in a library, and how to research in general. That helped me more than most of college save for the drinking and weird [redacted] that happened at Jeff's art studio.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

And just because you like stuff to explode.

All the time.

I took an Intro to Fiction class my sophomore year and it was the best CW class I had by far. And -surprise- it wasn't run by the English department. It was a humanities class. We read books and talked about them, but my prof (one of the coolest grad students I've ever met) also gave us assignments to write stories. My first one was supposed to be 5 pgs double spaced. It ended up 5 but single spaced. Whoops. My prof and the one friend I had in that class (Nicole was just coming out of her shell, though it was a tiny class of 15) really liked it and encouraged me on. It ended up being (after several revisions) the first short story I released on Smashwords to the public ("Shattered").

 

[Jason Byrne]

All the time.

I took an Intro to Fiction class my sophomore year and it was the best CW class I had by far. And -surprise- it wasn't run by the English department. It was a humanities class. We read books and talked about them, but my prof (one of the coolest grad students I've ever met) also gave us assignments to write stories. My first one was supposed to be 5 pgs double spaced. It ended up 5 but single spaced. Whoops. My prof and the one friend I had in that class (Nicole was just coming out of her shell, though it was a tiny class of 15) really liked it and encouraged me on. It ended up being (after several revisions) the first short story I released on Smashwords to the public ("Shattered").

Nice! Come to think of it, I had a Humanities class in high school that was fantastic for writing lessons. Two of my favorite teachers split the art/English and social studies aspects — Lee Nelson and A. J. Hartman.

Miss Nelson's final exam was to write a travel brochure; I developed a fictitious island of elves and orcs west of Ireland, and gave 8,000 years of cultural history and class inequality in addition to local attractions and culinary reviews. That ended up turning into the series of books I wrote in college, of 470-560k words each which I ultimately abandoned midway through book 4.

Hartman gave us a project to pick a gravestone in the cemetery and write their autobiography in five weeks, telling us the longest story he was ever given was 65 pages. I picked the Halstead family, and wrote 265 pages about how they were kidnapped by fallen angels on the run, and turned into vampire retainers to help shelter them from the angels hunting them for abandoning their duties. Former Hashmallim angels responsible for creating living things, after the Fall and their subsequent release from the Abyss they were forced to serve as angels of death, taking the lives they created and shepherding their souls Onward. Unable to stand their punishment, they ran and have been fugitives ever since, hunted by Heaven. I turned that into a six-book series detailing the war between Heaven and Hell in the streets of the eastern half of the US through the 1940s until the early 2000s, and then prequels showing how Lucifer was the patsy for the other Seraphim Archangels, pushed into rebellion because he loved humanity too much to continue to hide the fact that God was a lie, a conspiracy created by the Seraphim to keep both lower angels and humans in line.

The series turned out pretty well, but I didn't have the skill in high school / college to do justice to such heavy themes. It ended up being more about sex and angels having brutal fights through the air, across city restaurants, and down freeways with vampires in sports cars shooting machine guns.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Let me be the first to offer you cake! (pumpkin cake with ginger cream cheese frosting)

Welcome! Sounds like you'll fit right in! I, too, am a scientist by training (entomology), but have always written (my first publications were poems in Cricket and Highlights magazines when I was, like, nine).

 

[Jason Byrne]

Let me be the first to offer you cake! (pumpkin cake with ginger cream cheese frosting)
View attachment 956
Welcome! Sounds like you'll fit right in! I, too, am a scientist by training (entomology), but have always written (my first publications were poems in Cricket and Highlights magazines when I was, like, nine).

It's been a long time since we had any cake, around here. Also since I MEMEd something.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

It's been a long time since we had any cake, around here. Also since I MEMEd something.

I was thinking the same thing. But it's birthday season at my house (4 between now and mid-April), so I'll have plenty of new cakes to share.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

I was thinking the same thing. But it's birthday season at my house (4 between now and mid-April), so I'll have plenty of new cakes to share.

Yep, it's approaching birthday season around my house, too. We have 5 between end of Feb and mid March.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Odd, there's at least 4 in my extended family between now and end of April, then mine the next month!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Sounds like we'll have lots of cake, then!

 

[Jason Byrne]

Yep, it's approaching birthday season around my house, too. We have 5 between end of Feb and mid March.

Odd, there's at least 4 in my extended family between now and end of April, then mine the next month!

Lot of babies being made May through July. I thought you saw those kind of spikes nine months after a blizzard comes through.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

My babies were born in Minnesota...could have been a blizzard...