amie

Well said, Chrispian!

DragonReborn

Ahem, a question to all of you regarding this topic. I, being 14, am no english professor. But I was thinking...I can write well, I know I can. People have said I write entertaining stories before. Check out my work at lit.org (The Dust of the Fallen, and by the way, I revised ch. 1, so it's better). I was thinking. Since the publisher doesn't ask for your age (At least I think not) what are the chances of me getting published? Of course, I will re-write my book many times, so it will be a while. But, again, what are the chances? Or should I wait like ten years?

__________________
The lions sing and the hills take flight.
The moon by day, and the sun by night.
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool.
Let the Lord of Chaos rule.

There IS somone watching out for us...

Spudley

If you think your work is good enough, by all means - go for it. You never know - it might even be accepted. The worst that can happen is that it'll get rejected, but even that can be an experience for good.

Some editors will take the time to read your work and comment on it, and that is advice well worth getting. They don't all do that - in fact some won't even read your work at all - but you never know... you might get lucky.

The publisher will need to know your age; if not when he accepts your work, certainly before he actually publishes it. There are contracts to be signed, and stuff like that, and if you're 14, you'd need your parents to sign it for it to be legal. But don't let that put you off - by the time you get to that stage, you would already know they like what they see.

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Anonymous

I am not a writer nor even know much about writing, but I'll infuse my ideas anyway.

A degree is important because it provides you insights and knowledge about writing. Also, even though you write good, you will always learn, especially from experiences in class. IMO, it's not a hindrance at all. To prove your worth in the professional industry, you have to prove yourseld in the world of academia.

Just my 2 cents.

kinetickyle

I agree with certain aspects of that. Certainly, I think a degree is important for certain fields of writing, but fiction is not one of them. I am working on a journalism degree because I want to write for a newspaper or a magazine. I am also working on a non-fiction book and I think my journalism training is going to make all the difference in how that book comes out. I have written some short fiction, but I mainly do that as an exercise, not to be published. Anyway, there is no reason why a degree would help someone get a work of fiction published.

I do kind of agree with what cdm said about getting caught up in rules and grammar. The reason I say I kind of agree is that I think is important to know the rules before you break them. Picasso had mastered impressionism long before he pioneered cubism. But, I could be wrong. After all, cdm has been published many times and all I can boast of is a few bylines in the Hawaii Navy News.

__________________
"It's not the years; it's the mileage."

-Indiana Jones

Washer

Unrelated topic.

In response to DragonReborn's comment:
I remember hearing about a 14-year old girl that wrote and managed to get published a successful werewolf story, and Terry Brooks began writing his wildly successful Shannara series while in High School. It's always possible.

Also, when is new stuff coming? Kharil, Dust of the Fallen, something else. Keep 'em coming!

__________________
Snoochie boochies, Brodie noochie.
-Jay

DragonReborn

Snoochie boochies, Jay.

__________________
The lions sing and the hills take flight.
The moon by day, and the sun by night.
Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool.
Let the Lord of Chaos rule.

There IS somone watching out for us...

HisNibs

No, "a piece of paper" isn't necessary. What is necessary is learning your craft. That includes the fundamentals -- spelling, grammar, syntax, diction, paragraph structure, coherence, cohesion, etc. Do colleges -- even journalism schools -- teach these fundamentals? Some do, many do not.

In schools that do teache these fundamentals, do most student learn them? In my experience, no. Most are interested in "a piece of paper" because they believe it's a ticket to some future dream, such as a BMW. Whether you learn them in college or elsewhere, learn the fundamentals. When I read postings in this forum, I am continually embarrassed for writers who embarrass themselves and don't know it. They are like hillbillies at a formal dinner, committing one faux pas after another, clueless to the perception of themselves they create. They haven't learned the fundamentals. They don't know what they don't know. Learn the fundamentals.