Hello!!!! - Writers Forum

GilliBird · 09-16-2003, 10:21 AM

Hi everyone, well I guess I should tell you a bit about myself, I have always written something, as a young child I wrote a lot of poetry, I also wrote lots of diaries one of which was letters to my late father, as I have gotten older this has progressed to short stories, I am hoping with a little more life experience (I am 23!) I can move to my ultimate goal of having a novel published, I would be so happy if I could see my work in print by the time I am 30! I would like to get a real feel for whether I really can write or not - I have been told that I can but it is easy for those that know you to be under critical I on the other hand am terribly over critical of my own work and don't really feel that confident in my writing at this stage, I would really appreciate some guidance and feedback on some of my work so that I can gauge what direction my writing should be taking. Its always good to look at others work with a critical eye as well, it helps to show where your own work goes wrong in similar ways but also where it is going right!So here goes I hope I learn something and also maybe realise that I am not the only one hidden away in some writers garrison (well a corner in a lovely red kitchen actually but lets live the dream!) trying to convert my jumbled rambling thoughts into some kind of order via the wonders of technology!! Hope to hear from some of you soon and hopefully get a little closer to the elusive BIG idea that will get me that novel!!!

Spudley · 09-16-2003, 11:28 AM

Greetings Gilligirl! (would that be Gillingham, perchance?

) Nice to meet you.

Having the goal of getting there by a certain date is excellent - it sounds like a great way to motivate yourself to actually keep going. Myself, I never thought about a goal like that, and I let things slip for ages... in fact it's really this web site (lit.org and writingforums.com) that has got me back into writing again.

Anyway, you've come to the right place. The folk here are friendly but always ready to point out things in your writing they think could be improved - I've found it very motivating both to post here and also to comment on other work; I've learnt a lot from doing that - it teaches you to read with a critical eye, which (for me at least) really helps when you come to write your own work.

I think you'll fit right in here, and I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself. Now I'm just looking forward to seeing some of your work.

GilliBird · 09-16-2003, 11:37 AM

Hey Spudley, good to meet you too!!! No actually its Gilliland - old Scottich name apparently.

I have several hodeously disjointed projects that I am working on at the moment the latest of which I actually started this morning, in fact - how do I post something?? I have written the opening passage of what I hope is going to be an ok short story.
I'm fairly pleased with it - it's pretty short but the fact that I think that it's ok is a good sign.

Where can I find some of the stuff you have posted??

cdm · 09-16-2003, 02:35 PM

Welcome

You'll find that first one is the blocker. Omce that one's published, you often will tend to do more and more. I didn't start writing (books and stories) until I was in my forties, and have 89 published. (The publisher went broke! I wonder if I ... nah! It was somebody else's fault!

Spudley · 09-16-2003, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GilliBird

Hey Spudley, good to meet you too!!! No actually its Gilliland - old Scottich name apparently.

Ahh... oh well - worth a guess, eh? (I had some family who used to live in Gillingham, which is why it was what I thought of first)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GilliBird

I have several hodeously disjointed projects that I am working on at the moment the latest of which I actually started this morning, in fact - how do I post something?? I have written the opening passage of what I hope is going to be an ok short story.
I'm fairly pleased with it - it's pretty short but the fact that I think that it's ok is a good sign.

Where can I find some of the stuff you have posted??

You can either post here on the forums -- there's plenty of categories, so pick the best for your work, and post freely -- or you take a trip to the forum's sister site at www.Lit.org...

All my work is posted on Lit.org. I tend to use these forums for fun and chat, and Lit.org to post my work. Others like to post their work in both places, but myself I prefer to keep them seperate.

Chris (the owner of both sites) put it best when he said that Lit.org is Boot Camp for writers... and WritingForums.com is the mess hall.

If you want to read my work, just look up my user name at Lit.org (its the same as here) - I've got stories, poetry, and various other bits and pieces. I'd love to see what you think of them.

GilliBird · 09-17-2003, 05:35 AM

Hi well I have taken your advice and posted what is actually an opener for a much longer piece on Lit.org, I would be really interested to see what you think - also what anybody else thinks for that matter, I see it going in a certain way and I would be intrigued to know where anybody else see's it going (as long as its not the bin that is!!).
This is actually pretty scary for me - and a big leap in confidence, until about a year ago I hadn't ever shown any one my work at all!!! This is actually really exciting for me as it is the first time that I have had the opportunity to speak to other writers, I have one friend who I run all my stuff by but other than that and my boyfriend no one see's it, its really nice to talk to people who write too.

mattquarterstein · 09-17-2003, 06:13 AM

Hi Gilli

GilliBird · 09-17-2003, 06:21 AM

Hi gow you doing???

GilliBird · 09-17-2003, 06:22 AM

Impressive writing skills there - I can't even spell, I guess you got the meaning though!!