Last December I discovered Writing Excuses (I don't recall how
) and I listened to the podcasts. I enjoyed them so much
and saw how helpful they could be that I went back to the beginning and listened to them all. And it has been worth it for both entertainment and advice.
Since the genres of the three talented authors who bring us the podcast are not my preferred genres for entertainment, I knew little of the titles they referred to. I did make it a point to read Dan's
I Am Not a Serial Killer, and the first three books of Brandon's
Alcatraz series (I'll get to the fourth). Also, I am following Howard's
Schlock Mercenary web comic. This has helped some.
It was from the postings at the WE that I found this site. I don't need a guide for wasting time, I'm among the best already.
I don't do it with RP or video games. But I do need honest critiques for my stories. And that is why I'm here.
About me. Although I've never owned one or raced in one, I am called Derby.
I dropped out of college
before most of you were born. Meant to go back the next fall but still haven't made it
. I had written a few stories back then but nothing became of them. I recently took one of the concepts of a story from that period of my life and rewrote it. It came out much better and will be posted here soon. A long time ago I wrote a few dozen poems. Don't really do poetry now except a very rare short poem which I would like to say falls in the style of Ogden Nash.
Not really sure what genre my stories fall under but I'll be submitting them and the critics can decide for me. They won't all be the same, I suspect.
Somewhere down the line I hope to write a full length novel. Not an epic nor a trilogy, just a story. Time will tell.
I will be happy to critique any short stories of any genre and may do some chapters. I don't know that I have the knowledge to critique on a number of aspects that I've heard about on the WE podcasts. Still, I hopefully can be of some use to other writers here.
Many times I have heard and read that it takes a good ten years to become a published/successful author. Time is not on my side so, since I'm out of excuses, I'm going back to write.