Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Sites | Writers | Advertise | My Orble | Login
 
Les Writing blog, with tips, advice, and my own writing... And Nanowrimo obsession.

Short Fiction Poetry - Fictional Worlds

Writing Goals 2009 AND Call for volunteers

December 23rd 2008 02:14
So I'm completely and utterly burnt out thanks to Nanowrimo followed by getting back to school followed by the endless week of Christmas. I've got the workshop 95% finished, and since it's almost the new year, here are my writing goals for the year:


~Start posting here again. (This is copy pasted from my livejournal, which is private)
~Participate in ShoStoMo, which happens to be an LJ community.
~Write and Lulu!Publish another anthology
~Write 1, 000, 000 words for WriYe. (Or, for humor value, 1, 000, 001.)
~Write 400, 000 of that in Nano.
~Blog consistently at my other blog.(That would be this one.)

~Participate in my own workshop at Really Long Link
~Participate in the 2YN over at Forward Motion
~Participate in AugNo
~And do my own Nano in April as well.
~Write smut-on-request (one pending request I keep procrastinating/failing at and potentially others)
~Write a few HP fics
~Finish the Jihad series and the Elf's Shadow which were both started during Nano this year.
~Become an active member of CC again.

I'm looking for some volunteers to help with a few things here and there, so here are my requests:

~I want to critique a couple first pages and use them to show what a good beginning looks like. Genres I'm accepting are fantasy and horror. I want a full page of 250 words (manuscript format) which is available online so I can link back to it.

The advantage to this for you is that you get a critique-and I'll go into as much detail as I can-and that people get to see who you are. This blog isn't huge but it's getting there. The advantage for me and my readers is that it provides an example of a good beginning.


Please email me at diannalgunn@gmail.com with a link to the online page where your first book page is. This will not threaten your chances at publication in the least. I will critique the first pages of up to six volunteers. I may also offer to do a private critique of the first three chapters.

~I'm still looking for a couple writers of non-fantasy fiction to help me out with a couple planning exercises that are non-genre specific. I need six of these.

~I am also looking for someone who will help me with my pitch for my Nano '06, as I'm horrible at pitches.

Anyone who volunteers will get linkage to their blog in an appreciation post either at the beginning of January or the end of the month. If you are interested in volunteering, please send me an email at diannalgunn@gmail.com with whatever you are interested in doing.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading. I'm really loving my experience blogging here at Orble, especially the last month or two. I'm looking forward to continuing to blog here throughout the next year.
24
Vote
Shared on
Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


What makes a writer?

December 12th 2008 06:31
I've gone over this before, but I was reading a thread on Forward Motion earlier and it's been a while, so I felt like writing about this topic.

What makes a writer in my mind is someone who loves to write. Someone who can't help themselves; they just need to do it like most people need to breath. Writing is a passion, writing is a love; when the going gets tough we still keep going. Writers love to do what they do, and are willing to work at it.

The first post in the thread that I was reading talked about plateaus, peaks. Milestones. The first plateau is where you want to write, but can't seem to finish a story; the first finished draft is a milestone. Editing, critiquing, taking critiques, all those things are milestones.

A writer is still a writer no matter where they are in this list of milestones, no matter what their current plateau is. 'Writers' are the ones who are willing to work to hone their craft, who are willing to learn new skills-not only willing to, but want to-and to experiment. (Says the girl who's never written outside her genre... um...)

Writers try to be the best that they can be and every major improvement is a milestone. With every finished story a writer improves; they learn more about the art of writing, learn more about themselves, their characters, their worlds. Writers learn more about themselves and their perceptions of the world around them through writing than most people ever really see.

I'm proud to be a writer-and I'm proud to try new things, to experiment. The workshop I'm working on preparing is a huge experiment right now, as I've never done anything of the sort; I'm working hard on the exercises (lies, I'm procrastinating... but it is hard work, when I'm working) and hoping that people will find them useful. Most of these haven't been tested, as I usually don't do extensive planning. The first time anyone will so much as look at these exercises other than me will be when the thing launches.

I'm still looking for writers of other genres to help with some non-genre-specific exercises; and I'm looking for people to do pep talks for the six week writing part. If you want to volunteer, please email me at diannalgunn@gmail.com.

And something else new that I'm trying is the 2YN, two year novel course over at Forward Motion. Check out the site here:

http://fmwriters.com/

I'm Litharukia on there (which is also my alias on WriYe and Nano and other such writing sites.) If you sign up, send me a message!

Thanks for reading.
75
Vote
Shared on
Comments (11)Comments (11) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Duotrope's Digest: A Directory For Writers

December 7th 2008 23:37
Really Long Link

Duotrope's Digest is a directory through which you can search for markets for short stories, poetry, collections, and novels. It's like a writer-friendly search engine with a great database of markets. I have submitted to several magazines that I found via Duotrope. It's a good site which runs purely on donations. (Please donate today if you can; code orange is bad.)

The search function allows you to search for markets accepting short stories, poetry, and novels/collections of any genre. You can specify genre, pay rates, and various other things via the search engine. The more precise your search, the fewer your results.

There are many reputable magazines registered in their database, and the whole thing is just great in general. Check it out, use it, donate if you can. I hope this site will be as good for you as it has been for me.

Thanks for reading,

~Dianna
41
Vote
Shared on
Comments (5)Comments (5) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
Posted By: Dianna G - Category: Short Fiction, Poetry
   


Only Writers Can Understand Writers...

October 25th 2008 16:57
I have many, many different circles in which I travel. About seven different groups in which I hang out on a regular basis, and even more who I talk to online. And I have to say, my favourites are my writer friends.

Why? Because if I tell them I can't make it to something because I'm too busy writing, they understand. When I talk about my binder full of notes on different stories and worlds, they understand. When I talk about my love for words, they get it


[ Click here to read more ]
61
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (8)Comments (8) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


When Everything Is Just Too Much

October 4th 2008 23:28
So let me tell you something. School is stressing me out; I'm trying to force myself to go but it isn't working very well. Things at home aren't pleasant either. I'm stressed; so stressed that I've been sick on and off for two weeks now. Nanowrimo is on the horizon.

It's times like these when anybody-writer or otherwise-starts to wonder about all their obligations and if they're worth it. It's times like these when normally I would abandon the blog for weeks at a time; I'm trying not to. It's sort of working. It's times like these when we just want to throw in the towel


[ Click here to read more ]
43
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (3)Comments (3) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


The Magical Moments

September 10th 2008 08:46
Why do we live life?

For those moments of magic, those moments of beauty and joy and love.
[ Click here to read more ]
50
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (2)Comments (2) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Conventional English Classes

September 6th 2008 11:22
As I'm waiting for a response from my editor, I'm going to be here today and possibly tomorrow as well. And in the spirit of the start of school, my first post is going to be about the evils of grade nine English.

As some of you may remember, I disappeared for quite a while last year from Orble, as I was stressed out to an extreme level; well, I disappeared from school, too, and as a result I'm retaking all of my grade nine classes (with minor changes) this year. Which means I'm taking English


[ Click here to read more ]
32
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (2)Comments (2) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Why Do I Write?

September 1st 2008 05:57
I've written about this topic before. But I've been thinking about it a lot lately, so I decided to talk about why I write-not only this blog, but everything else that I write.

I write because without writing, I would be locked away with no outlet to express myself


[ Click here to read more ]
69
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (8)Comments (8) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

July 24th 2008 07:34
I have no idea who said that first. Nor do I really care. It makes the point I'm trying to get across, and that is the important thing.

Last year I wrote a story, had it critiqued, and edited it a fair bit-almost rewriting it completely. I sent it to seven markets and was rejected by all of them. For a while, I didn't submit it anywhere, because I didn't have any good markets to submit it to


[ Click here to read more ]
45
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (4)Comments (4) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Publishing your books, short stories, and poems...

July 20th 2008 10:19
Publishing is the dream of many, many writers. Including myself. Publication can be difficult; to be a successful writer borders the 'pipe dream' line. It isn't quite a pipe dream-it's doable with enough work, persistence, and talent-but it isn't easy or for the weak of heart.

Take, for example, JK Rowlings. She's an incredible success story, worth billions upon billions of dollars. She was a single mother who submitted to over thirty different publishers. And now she's a rich woman known the world over for her books. I'm not going to comment on their quality; this post isn't ABOUT quality of writing. It's about determination


[ Click here to read more ]
53
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (4)Comments (4) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Write What You Love...

July 18th 2008 05:35
Some people say 'write what you know'. But if I recall correctly, Stephen King and I have the same belief-that it is best to write what you love.

Because we can all write about what we learned in school, but most of us wouldn't want to. We know it-but we do not love it. And if we are forced to write something we do not love, it is by far a lesser product than what it would be if we loved it


[ Click here to read more ]
68
Vote
Read MoreRead More Comments (2)Comments (2) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Words On A Page

June 16th 2008 03:56
Writing: the art of putting COHERENT words on a page... and so much more.

Just because you can perform the act of writing words coherently doesn't make you a true writer. A true writer takes talent and hard work. To be a true writer you have to be determined to write, to want to write, to love writing


[ Click here to read more ]
59
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


A Writer's Work

June 13th 2008 23:14
What good is writing?

Let me tell you what writing is good for


[ Click here to read more ]
56
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (2)Comments (2) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Trying To Start Again

June 13th 2008 21:09
It's so hard... so hard. I've been through hell the last few months and I've lost all drive to live. All drive to write.

But I'm back. I'm going to try again. I HAVE to try again. If I am to survive the hardest trials of my life, if I am to survive these things, I must write. I have always written. It is my release. It has been with me since grade three, one of my hard years. It was there when I had to move, Daddy got sick, my parents split up. It was there all throughout the worst school ever


[ Click here to read more ]
46
Vote
Shared on
Read MoreRead More Comments (2)Comments (2) Add CommentsAdd Comments
[ Link ]
   


Next Page (15-28)



[ Fictional Worlds Home ] [ Create A New Post ]
Moderated by Dianna G
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]