Hi Everyone

[ghuffman]

Hello! I'm happy to have found this corner of the writing world!

My name's Geoff, and I'm new here. I've been writing my first novel for years, breaking in between for some pretty monstrous, unrelated projects. I'm on the second draft of Apostasy and Rose, a low fantasy thriller, and I'm proud of the improvements I've made.

Of course, I want to eventually publish it =)

I was on Authonomy for a while with my novel's first draft, and got some really good, negative feedback. I say good because, for me, it was the truth, and made my writing stronger. Positive feedback was always nice, but it rarely made my writing better. I rewrote the whole damn book based on some of that feedback, and it's improved.

It was strange, during my last rewrite I set out to cut at least 20k words, and cut them, only to add back 20k, and then another 20k on top. Has anyone ever had that happen to them? I did the final count after finishing the draft last week: 160,000 words. So my thoughts are: Hire a freelance editor? Find an agent? Get more feedback? Start building a platform? Find beta readers?

Looking around for another community to participate in, I found this one, and I really like the vibe. I'm hoping to spend time contributing once I've figured out what form that might take. I feel like this is the right place to get some honest feedback, and if I can, give it. Also, there's another Geoff spelled with a G. So yeah, this feels right.

 

[Lex Black]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Marc Joan]

Welcome!

 

[Barbara]

Welcome to the colony, Geoff.

 

[Nikky Lee]

Oo, low fantasy thriller. Right up my alley.

It was strange, during my last rewrite I set out to cut at least 20k words, and cut them, only to add back 20k, and then another 20k on top. Has anyone ever had that happen to them?

Ugh, yes. I've been trying to tighten mine down. I've deleted about 1000, then added 5,000. I've found beta readers hugely helpful in highlighting areas that need work.

And welcome!

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Leonora]

Welcome Geoff. I have the opposite problem - always too short. Learning to be longer without being baggy is one of my new year's resolutions.
Feedback here has transformed my WIP.

 

[Carol Rose]

Welcome!

 

[Eva Ulian]

Hello!

 

[ghuffman]

Oo, low fantasy thriller. Right up my alley.


Ugh, yes. I've been trying to tighten mine down. I've deleted about 1000, then added 5,000. I've found beta readers hugely helpful in highlighting areas that need work.

And welcome!

Thank you, great advice. I found two readers before, one my wife, and another, a childhood friend. They were really awesome, and kind, which was helpful because this was the first draft of my first book. My wife was so nervous about giving me negative feedback at first- it took her over a year, but now, she's so funny. Now she's This character would never! and Why didn't this happen? I put a lot of her suggestions into the work.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hello I've torn down 120 k before and written 85 k back in.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Robert M Derry]

Hey, Geoff! Welcome.

My advice on cutting is to ask every sentence: Why are you here? As tedious as it is, it forces you to evaluate the purpose of sentences & words within your text, ensuring that you have everything the reader needs but no more than they want.

 

[popparazzi]

Welcome Geoff - I've only been here a month or so and already I'm bowled over by the support and advice the Colony offers. I agree with what you said about negative feedback, that's the stuff that makes a difference, makes you think and make changes. It's too easy to think your readers will know what you were thinking when you wrote a scene, it's only when someone comes back to you and says 'Where did that come from?' or similar that you wake up to the fact that readers can only see the words on the page and not the inner workings of your vivid imagination.
If you're looking for readers, please count me in.

 

[Emily]

Welcome to the Colony, Geoff with a G (my auto-correct isn't happy with that spelling at all )

 

[ghuffman]

Welcome Geoff - I've only been here a month or so and already I'm bowled over by the support and advice the Colony offers. I agree with what you said about negative feedback, that's the stuff that makes a difference, makes you think and make changes. It's too easy to think your readers will know what you were thinking when you wrote a scene, it's only when someone comes back to you and says 'Where did that come from?' or similar that you wake up to the fact that readers can only see the words on the page and not the inner workings of your vivid imagination.
If you're looking for readers, please count me in.

Sage. And I think finding beta readers outside of my close group is the right thing to do. I just feel so awkward about asking other people to help me with my work. I went to a local writing group a few times a few years ago, and after about 5-6 visits, i got the courage to tell the group leader that I had finished my novel and that at some point would be looking for beta readers. The look on his face... was like, you plebe. It really caught me off guard, I mean this was a group of writers, right? So now, I guess I think too much about time given, and time taken.

Your offer is awesome, thank you. Let me hit those first 1k words again fresh after rewrite, and then let's connect next week, or when it makes sense for you. Is there a right way to do this? Email, post on the threads for sharing work?

And of course, I'm happy to read and provide feedback on anything you send me.

 

[popparazzi]

Being new to all this, I'm not sure if there is a 'right' way to exchange documents - maybe someone could advise? There is a place on the forums (writing groups) to upload material for others to read/comment and I'm thinking of doing that in the next few days, maybe that's the easiest solution if you're prepared to open it up to a wider audience.

 

[Emily]

I have used private messages and emails to give and receive documents. Depends on the size: if it is large, (full MS) you may have to divide it into parts and send by PM that way. Otherwise PM the email address and you can receive the full MS that way easily.

The writing groups are fantastic, you really get very wide and interesting point of views

 

[yanapuma]

a belated welcome Geoff ...

 

[HayleyGF]

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to say hello! I'm a newbie and I can already tell I dig this place.

 

[ghuffman]

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to say hello! I'm a newbie and I can already tell I dig this place.

Never too late! And I so agree, I was immediately struck by the conversations here, and positive energy. I've learned a great deal already from the wiki, and the couple of pop up submissions that have happened since I joined. And I think it's due to Pete's approach - be the reader's voice for your fellow writer, and don't edit, you aren't an editor - that the feedback is so useful. And of course the contributions of the community.

Blown away comes to mind. This place is the real deal.