How many writers are here?

**TheShadowConspiracy** · March 29th, 2011

A few years ago I started playing an online game that included writing comments. One day I said "eff it" and wrote without a filter. People responded immediately. It was rather awkward and a bit embarrassing to be honest. I tend to write comedy, and am still puzzled why people like the crap I've written. Shortly afterwords I found out that a lot of the players I knew were dealing with some heavy real life shxt like Cancer, heart disease, and various other crippling conditions that kept them trapped. They were prisoners to their condition and one of their few releases came from things like the game.
I started writing frequently, and they'd copy/paste the stuff and save it. When they were having a really down day they'd read my crap and somehow it'd make them feel better. It felt good to put a smile on someone's face, or momentarily lift someone's spirits by merely doing what I enjoyed doing.
A few months ago I started taking an English class at the local university in the hopes of finally finishing my music degree (I'm a tenor, and have a love of classical music and... well..metal.. lol.. because both contain passion). (http://rhzenvironmental.com/WatedYears.mp3 is something I've recently recorded).
It was a class on arguments. Oh god it is soooo dull, but I started adding little narratives to the beginnings of my paper in the hopes that it would make the papers more palatable to me. The teacher was pleased. She recommended that I read this book by Stephen King about writing. She believes that I could get published if I could find an agent, and mentioned someone named David Sederis(sic) having a similar style to what I like writing. I think she's just being nice, and doesn't have the heart to tell me that I'm one of those 'bad writers.' lmao.. I'm finishing my 2nd reading of "On Writing," and have picked up Strunk's book "The Elements of Style," as well as a book on fiction by Card.
I'm currently working on my Dick and Jane story (currently at just over 3,000 words, with at least another 2,000-4,000 to go). The running title is, Dick and Jane: The Evil Years. Lovecraft has entered the fray and the dead have become a big part of the story. Damn you porcelain throne of thinking!
Yay evil soul eaters!

Yes, that means it's also total crap.

My goal is to write stories that I like and share them with my friends. If something gets published that'd be cool. If nothing gets published that's ok too. I'm writing because it's what I enjoy, and it puts a smile on the faces of some very special people.

**jellydonut25** · May 11th, 2011

I write.

I've written a few short stories (and have just started submitting them, got my first rejection the other day) and one novel. The novel is essentially "complete" right now, I've got a selection of "ideal readers" checking it out and giving me notes (and my wife caught a MAJOR plothole the one day. I killed a guy and brought him back to life!!!).

The plan is to go about this the "right" way...submitting shorts and excerpts to build up a line of credits, then find an agent and work with that agent on getting the novel published.
Meanwhile, I continue writing shorts, and I just started on my second novel the other day. I really hope that within a calendar year, I have a few short story publishing credits and can start thinking about looking at agents...

**Timmy** · May 12th, 2011

I've published several posts at SKMB...

**SonofSmallFace** · January 11th, 2012

I'm writing my first novel at the moment. Stephen King has always been embedded in my life. My mother ALWAYS had one of his books close to hand. I read The Dark Half when I was 11 for a school book project.
I do have writing experience - but it's script writing. I've done a bunch of scripts for short films (2 of which got made and one of them picked up an award at the Cannes Film Festival). But the thing with scripts is, the format is just... uninspiring. The thing with film making is you need to involve dozens, hundreds or thousands of people depending on the scale of your film - plus you need to convince a lot of people to hand over a lot money in the hopes that what you make will be good and they'll get a return on their (substantial) investment. We're talking writing the script, an editor, hiring (and kissing the asses of) actors, lighting, cameras, lunch for the crew, music composition, editing, colour correcting, post VFX and so much more and you can't really tell if it's working until it's nearly finished.
I'm not saying writing novels is 'easy' by any means. But it involves a lot less people and you don't have to convince people to give you stacks of cash before you can complete the project.
Plus, when I read... well listened to the audiobook On Writing, I was blown away by the way that Stephen talks of the development, the freedom that writing (novels) can bring.
Writing scripts is SO structured that your characters can't do anything 'unexpected'. You start off with the idea, shape it into a rough 3 acts, do an outline and literally know exactly what every scene will be before you even start writing it. So you end up 'colouring within the lines' when you start writing.
Character 'wants' to do something else? Well he can't, because he has to do this and this and convey this emotion at the end of the scene or the house of cards will need re-stacking.

Anyway, this post is getting way too long. If you've read it all... then... well I guess you're either bored or interested in screen-writing.

**Stan_Richards_of_Windsor** · January 11th, 2012

You can't consider yourself a writer until something has actually been published. That's just my opinion.
Anyone can write, but it takes a true master of the craft to actually write something worth while.

So as for the topic of this thread. "How many writers are here?" I'm guessing maybe under 10. Now how many "Wanna-be writers are here?" Probably over 500, myself included!

**Srbo** · January 11th, 2012

SK says this:

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot…reading is the creative center of a writer’s life

And I do that.
BUT - I find that the more I read, I find myself wondering A LOT if what I have written are actually my original thoughts, or do I plagiarize somebody subconsciously? Sometimes I think I write a lot better when I don`t read anything for a few days...

Anybody else feels this way?