Thread: WritingForums.com

This is like a testimony in progress, especially aimed at the newbies here who may become frustrated or
disinterested for whatever reasons......
I came here with only 2 short stories written......zero published. since being here and following the great criticisms
i received on my works in "the workshop" from members like chris miller, jonm, tiamat10, kyle colorado and others
...plus the confidence building and gracious praise on submitted works from sunny, josh.townley and others...plus learning
about sites like P&E and duotrope and other means to getting work published...not only have i written 2 more short stories,
but am now over a 1/3 the way done with a novel.
of the 4 short stories i've written, the 2 i wrote after learning what i have from this forum were accepted for publication
fairly quickly. i wouldn't have changed my writing style a bit on those, if not for chris, jonm, and kyle. and today, the 1st
story i ever wrote just got accepted, thanks to this site teaching me about duotrope and how to place it perfectly. i'm 3
out of 4 now. ha.
i just wanted to say that this site is great. this old dog may still have a few tricks left. one of the best decisions i ever
made was finding this place and registering here.

And we do love positive feedback from members just like you! Huge congratulations, by the way, on getting published with three of your four stories. That's pretty awesome, so kudos to you. I'm pretty sure my statistics as somewhat poorer than yours.

Just to add my own experiences with this forum, I showed up here after having been unanimously rejected with the one novel I had written, as well as whatever stories I'd submitted up till that point. Again, to echo what dale said, if it wasn't for the wonderful help I received in the workshop from the members he mentioned (as well as many others, including, unfortunately, many of those no longer around), I'd still be where I was back then: unpublished and, frankly, a rather poor writer.

This website really is a beautiful thing.

I came here with the intention of sharing my work to see where I could improve. Along with that, I learned a million and one things about the world of writing, all of which have contributed to me now being a published author.

That's the beauty of this site. If you can accept the constructive criticism and apply it, where necessary, to your work, you will become a better writer because of it. Just remember to not agree 100% with the person or 100% against them. Find a happy medium. Learn to take their advice when needed, and to stick to your guns when you believe in what you've written. That will come with time.

Three out of four, huh? That is awesome, dale. Congrats on the publishing success.

Awesome, Dale!

It's a testament to your own abilities, as well. You've taken the feedback you were given and assimilated it quickly into your writing. That's a skill not everyone is capable of doing in such a short amount of time.

What's your novel about? Just curious!

I've also been helped tremendously by everyone mentioned in the OP, as well as many others. Lots of great minds here. Mmm. Delicious, squishy brains...

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

Awesome, Dale!

It's a testament to your own abilities, as well. You've taken the feedback you were given and assimilated it quickly into your writing. That's a skill not everyone is capable of doing in such a short amount of time.

What's your novel about? Just curious!

I've also been helped tremendously by everyone mentioned in the OP, as well as many others. Lots of great minds here. Mmm. Delicious, squishy brains...

thanks, kyle..and everyone else on the thread. i don't even like to go into the novel here anymore. i put a couple chapters
up and it has evolved from that substantially..but i think the content made people uncomfortable. my wife tells me no publisher is
going to touch it because of the subject matter...but...as sam w said...sometimes you just got to ignore the critics and write it.

but back on topic...yeah...this site has some great minds here.

i guess i'll bump this to gloat a bit. i now have no unpublished stories written. The "Midwest Literary Magazine" just accepted
that final one this morning. so i'm 4 out of 4 now. 100%. woot-woot. time for a snoopy dance............

Woo!

Very inspirational. Great job!

I would have to agree. This site is an amazing asset and resource for any writers that are serious about progressing their skill-set and learning something new, while having fun and interacting with others that have similar interests.

...great guns Dale, wishing you ever more success.

a lesson learned........well, i had the 4 stories accepted....but this last week, 2 of those publications shut down before mine was scheduled for print.
but it might have worked for the best on one of those, because someone else was wanting it, after i had already signed a contract with the place
that shut down....so i emailed them back on it and the editor said she remembered the story and still wanted it. and where it's goin now will actually
put it in a printed anthology i can stick on my shelf. but......the lesson learned is: don't celebrate too soon. next time i'll wait until the story is actually
released before i started prancing around about it.

This thread makes me wanna run a marathon.

just finished my 1st longer work last night. a novella of 21,000 words. that was a long, grueling process but well worth it
now that it's finished. i'm actually quite proud of it. it's pretty twisted. i'd put it in the workshop, but i think a story of that length
is a bit too much for people to want to read on a glaring computer screen. now, on to finishing the full length novel i've had on the
back burner for months. woot-woot.

dale, accepted for publication is still a win; enjoy it for that*.
Seeing your work in print, that's gold! Worth every second of sweat and concern.

Congratulations, dale, and may you power on to more milestones.

*I've had a similar experience: accepted but never made print (as far as I know).


As for the novella:
Rather than posting entire long works, I'd encourage people to post excerpts. Focus on a section or two that doesn't quite ring the bell but where a solution is elusive.

WTG, Dale! Love hearing of your successes (even though a couple publications folded, that's out of your control) and the path you've been on.

I wanted to mention that even if you don't find acceptance with one publisher or another for your novel that doesn't mean that it'll never find acceptance somewhere. You probably already know that, though.

It's true that the Writer's Workshop has always been helpful for me and we have some really fantastic writers who hang out there and critique.

Thanks for the positive report! I agree with the person who said this makes them feel like running a marathon. Maybe success is contagious.