|
|
Joined: 7/1/2015
Posts: 3
|
I am completely ignorant. I have been trying to navigate 'Book Country' for the past 20 minutes but my attempts have been ridiculously clumsy, I seem to lack basic understanding of how discussion forums work. Rather than descend any further into confusion, I thought it would be best to introduce myself.
I have just begun writing again. I used to write completely from imagination as a child but eventually that skill trailed off as I strided into adulthood. I interned at magazines and contributed to websites but was never able to regain my previous aptitude for fiction.
Recently I became a little ill and had some personal issues, which seemed to act as a catalyst for a writing frenzy. A blog has become the compromise: www.thatgirlmunster.tumblr.com (please check it out if you can). It has acted as a brilliant motivational tool as the commitment I have felt to regularly updating has meant that I post about once or twice a week.
On thatgirlmunster I write about a whole host of things (with emphasis on travel), and though it is fact I have tried to tell tales in a "storybook" fashion. Hopefully it can read as fiction.
Which brings me to my next challenge, writing "real" fiction! I have joined so I can share ideas, gain advice and absorb information! What would be the best way to fully utilise the website? I understand that I am at a bit of a disadvantage as I only have a blog to share, as opposed to a manuscript, but I would still like to take part in the community. I really like talking to strangers (my mother obviously did a hack job when warning me against the dangers) and I am an enthusiastic learner.
Would be great to connect with as many people as I can!
Hello!--edited by thatgirlmunster on 7/1/2015, 5:06 PM--
|
|
Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
|
@thatgirlmunster: Welcome! So glad you found our site!
The best way to start getting involved in the Book Country community is by reviewing another member's work. Why not head over to the Featured Manuscripts to start browsing?
More tips for getting started are here.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
|
|
Joined: 7/1/2015
Posts: 3
|
Thank you so much for the reply! I am going to dedicate my lunch hour to finding something to review, looking forward to it!
|
|
|
|
Hi, thatgirlmunster! Welcome to Book Country 
You sound like my kind of person. I'll be sending you a Connection Request, so we can be friends
Hope you have a swell time on your journey of Craft.
Amber
|
|
Joined: 7/1/2015
Posts: 3
|
Hi Amber,
Thank you for the warm welcome, apologies as I have only just seen your message!
I have sent you a private message
|
|
Joined: 8/27/2015
Posts: 2
|
Hello, c
I am Earl R. Haith, from North Carolina. I too, am new to the community. And I have little idea of what I am doing. However, I am currently reading the manuscript, "Riding for the Brand."
I have also just submitted my own manuscript "The Advent of Capitaligion." I love history and I love to write. And this manuscript deals in a large part, from my own personal experiences. And my manuscript concerning itself with how a few religious charlatans, developed the format for totally fleecing the religious public. Today, TV has allowed many charlatans to have developing fleecing the religious public, into a fine art form. Allowing one TV minister to ask his flock, along with the religious public, to provide him with sixty five million dollars, in order that he might purchase a new jet.
If anyone would or could provide me with additional information as how to proceed with my manuscript, - I would be most thankful.
Earl R Haith
|
|
Joined: 9/24/2015
Posts: 7
|
I started reading someone's novel. Now what?
|
|
Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
|
Hey @DeNeve. Looks like you haven't posted your review for the book yet. Once you do that, you'll be able to post your own!
|
|
Joined: 1/8/2016
Posts: 4
|
Hi I'm Elsie and like the others I'm also a novice to all this but am I right in understanding that if you read another members story and write a review of it you can then post your own? Please could someone tell me if that's right as it would be helpful for me to get further into the forum and hopefully connect with other writers, novice or otherwise. Thanks
|
|
|
|
Elsie:
Being a junior member of this league, I'm a little bold in stepping out. But I also have accounts with something like 7 of these sites, so I might be able to offer some insights.
For any writing workshop site, one of the big problems is getting noticed. The other day I went through the list of manuscripts here from the last six months and 30% of them have never been read by anyone — for all kinds of reasons, I'm sure.
If your project is in a defined genre, then I would start looking around at the material on the site and sample several books in your genre: just to see whose work might resonate with you. That person — or persons — would then be your possible connections. The best connection would then probably be the book you'd want to review to fulfill your review obligation.
Then, after your material is posted, I would suggest reaching out to your connections and asking for a review. Almost nothing happens, here, if you just wait around. The worst that can happen is that they'll say "no". If they say "yes" then you have the possibility of a mutual mentoring relationship: which is a good thing to have.
Some months back, Lucy did this kind of thing in a formal way: matching authors of the same genre so they could work together on their projects. I'm not sure if that's still going on, but you could ask her.
Hope this proves helpful.
— Nate Briggs (SLC)
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
Do you shy away from reading outside your area of interest? I think that unwise. We read to evaluate story, but also craft. And there are lessons on craft to be learned in any genre.
.
Here's my best offer: my Yo Ho! is comic verse, telling a screwball story in around sixteen hundred words. Another thousand or so words are footnotes. I'm annotating my thing on the spot. Alice-in-Wonderland had to wait a hundred years for the annotated edition, you have this bonus material immediately.
.
The first person to give it a tumble, I will review every work you post for the rest of the year. If that means you post so much that I have no time to review anyone else, so be it. What an offer, eh?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Offer expired. I have my review. And it tells me everything I need to know, an excellent job.
--edited by Mimi Speike on 1/17/2016, 11:01 AM--
|
|
|
|