lily_everhart | Writing Update

In the next few weeks I'm going to start linking my fanfiction as well my original stuff to Dreamwidth. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to post stories here or not. The point of this is I need feedback. I've gotten back into the swing of writing daily. I'm rusty when it comes to writing I hate to admit. I'm also thinking of putting some world building stuff up as well to get feedback. So tell me what you all think of anything I post that interests you.

For the past couple of years I haven't really posted anything on my journals that isn't life related or a review of media. I normally have a goodreads challenge update up by this time but my reading is a little odd this year. I will post in the coming days an update as I've read quite a bit. I just now realized that I hadn't which is why it's here.

Anyway, once I start publishing things I'm going to make a sticky with a masterlist of all my work so it's easy to find. So if you like stuff be sure to check that. My goal is starting this week to have some bit of writing up every week.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

wickedlittletown

(I know I still need to reply to your other comment D: I am pretty bad at replying I know)

There are a few nice writing communities here where you can post original stories and also get feedback :)
You know when I first began to publish some stories I was on a site where you also had communities and one was devoted to get feedback. It was a wonderful group of writers who gave feedback to each other :) It was also a good way to read stories you wouldn't have choosen on your own.

I am not sure how much accepted this idea would be here but it could be worth trying it out.

From:

lily_everhart

No worries I can be bad about replying too.

I'll have to check out some of those writing communities. I'd love to be in a community to get feedback. I've been going at it alone for some time and I feel like I've hit a wall with my writing. I know I need lots of improvement but I think I just need other writers input. I've tried getting my in real life writer friends to do this with me but that hasn't happened.

From:

wickedlittletown

Indeed writers need feedback and the exchange with fellow writers. It is so wonderful when you have someone with who you can discuss ideas that you have in your head and develope them. Sadly these people are rare to find .__.

When I left that one anime site where this group was (sadly the site itself turned into a kindergarten site where it wasn't fun anymore ... still I miss this damn site)I was like "Okay find another place.There are many sites outthere you can try out".

I tried to be a writer on dA. Worked prety good but only within the very tiny fandom I was back in those days. But I had a small circle of readers who commented and faved my work, gave me feedback and encouraged me to write. Since my native language isn't English they also pointed out mistakes.

Then dA slowly began to die because people migrated to other sites (mostly facebook and tumblr).
Well tumbrl can be nice but I it is hard to find your place there. Well my works get recognized when I post the links to my AO3 but the lack of feedback is sometimes frustraiting.
Also on AO3 ... I mean you write a story that is around 5K words and all you get as comment is just one word -.- Well that was the point when I deceided to delete really all useless comments xD

Dunno when I read a story and comment (I seldom read anything but then I always comment) than I mention what I liked and maybe point out a scene that was amazingly done or maybe something from the writing styl that made an impression on me.
I don't want very long comments (but they can be nice too) but comments where I can see that the person has really read the story and that there was something they really liked about it .__.

Since I am really missing a place a where writers can interact with each other I created such a group on my own.

it is on here under the name artists-with-words

From:

lily_everhart

I used to belong to writing groups on LJ but they've died. I also was not good at making friends until like 2011 but it was too late to become friends with most of the self publishing authors I admired. They all started shutting down their LJ blogs around that time. I was a terrible lurker who never really participated much. I was one of those readers who would read everything but you'd have no idea I was there. Now I try to leave comments on what I read, especially if I enjoy it.

I'm waiting to get back into AO3. They say I'll get an invite tomorrow. I left a while back during a three year dry spell with writing where I wasn't writing much of anything. I hadn't published anything in a year and I decided I was done with fanfic. Now I'm ready to back and have ideas. Plus the things that were preventing me from writing were gone.

I had a dA account for years, but haven't logged in in a long time. I'd have to look up my password.

I will check out your group and join because that sounds like something I'm interested in.

From:

wickedlittletown

I am usually too shy to write messages to other user :/ Dunno sometimes I am like "Hey let's drop nice messages everywhere. Make new friends" and other times I have the feeling that I am just annoying everyone .__.

That is why I was so thankful for the writing buddies groups on GYWO. And I hope that one day there will be some other active writers in the writers group I made. I guess with a bit of advertising it migh work.

I am also someone who usually bookmarks a lot of contests and in the end I write nothing for them or don't make it to the deadline x_X Every year I say to myself that I should work on that but I always fail more or less completly.

I felt bad for my account there 'cause I wanted to have one so badly when I was activly writing since years back in 2012/2013 and didn't got an invitation. Than I had one and I wasn't really fond of publishing anything. All in all I haven't touched it most of the time I have it.

Publishing wise my only problem with the stories I am working on right now is that I write them in my native language and I am too lazy to translate them xD Dunno I know I don't have that much time this month to writing so I said to myself that I should only write English roleplays but write more in my native language. Good aspect: It doesn't feels weird anymore to write in it xD
But I still catch myself forgetting words in my native language xD

Same here. I only use dA for faving sometimes but I have stopped using it for uploading stuff. And most of the newer stuff years ago where photos anyway because I had AO3 and as writer it was always hard to get an audience

I hope you will enjoy your stay in that group :) If you want you can send the link to everyone you think would be interested :)

From:

lily_everhart

Ah, I missed out on get your words out as well. I basically missed every writing groups deadline to join this year. That's okay though. I can do my own thing.

I like the idea of contests but I also either don't do them or miss the deadline. I'm not sure why. I like writing a lot but I always somehow have something that comes up or I get sick and can't get it done. I have a lot excuses I guess.

Ah, English is my native language so I don't struggle with that too much. Lately my problem is simply finishing what I'm doing. I've been jumping all over the place.

I usually use my dA for faving as well, but most of the artists I follow end up on tumblr so I follow them there.

I will send the link to a few other people. :) See if they'll be interested.

From:

wickedlittletown

That's true. It is my first year where I have signed up for any challenge. And on that one anime site where I am I have found two contests I want to join and my biggest fear is that I will miss the deadline or have suddenly no idea what I want to write (that has happened a few times and than I began to say to "Nay, you don't do contests anymore)

I guess it is the pressure you have that sometimes gives you the wrong way of motivation. I have made the expierence when I set goals for myself I am more liekly to archive them as when others set the goals for me.

In February I worked on three stories at the same time and it is no wonder nothing got finished xD I am sure if I had just focused on one I would have finished it but now they are all laying around and collecting dust :/

Same here. And a lot of artist have abandoned their accounts on dA.
I guess I will make a little advertising entry in the next time. Since I am slowly making new friends here where most of them are writers too it can only lead to more members there :)

And maybe we can have a little active group of writers who exchange ideas.

From:

lily_everhart

I think for me my lack of confidence in my writing adds too much pressure for me to be able to do contests. A lot of it is simply my own anxiety and I think being in a creative writing class that was so anti-fantasy/science fiction which is what I write. The worst was when the teacher asked me what I was currently writing and I said a fairytale because it was what I was working for a friend and he spent a good portion of the lesson talking about how fairytales are obsolete and writers today should write such things. It was a bit embarrassing (aka a lot) since it was in front of the whole class. I had such a miserable experience that I struggled for a long time to write. My goal eventually is to finish a contest.

I do usually finish Nanowrimo though this year I didn't get anywhere close. I had a strange November though.

I'm there right now where I'm working on too many stories. I'm basically writing a bit of each until eventually, hopefully, one will jump out at me and I'll focus on one and finish it. That's usually what happens.

Having a group of writers to exchange ideas is always helpful. Also just seeing other writers writing can be a great motivator.