Your Background

[fireflyz]

I'm a mid twenties male from the northeast.  I have a degree in political science with a minor in history.  I've spent six years in the us army infantry with combat tours to afghanistan.  I'm interested in fantasy as well as just good writing ala Stephen King when he's not trying to scare the crap out of you.

I've been writing for about three and a half years now.  I've written three full length novels.  The first was a 140k and the first third was terrible as I was just beginning to learn.  The second was much better, 130k, but still not great.  The latest I'm still revising.  It's the first novel that I've focused solely on one protagonist and delved deep into thier psyche.  It has potential, but is still my baby.  I'm planning on submitting to agents in october/november. 

I've also written a 60k novella, a 40k novella, and a handful of short stories (less than 15k).  The feedback I've been getting from my alpha readers has been positive.  I like my latest work...I know its the best I've done yet, is it worthy of publication?  I don't know. 

That's really why I've joined this group.  I have only read a few other novice authors and they all needed a lot of work.  I'd like to have the opportunity to see what else is out there and where I stack up.  Personally, I write because I love writing.  If it takes another ten years or another twenty to get published...that's fine.  But I'm determined to get there.  Any questions, feel free to ask.  I will probably submit a few samples in the near future.

[Stormblessed]

I'm nineteen from Sydney, Australia. Studying economics at university, and working part-time in a bookstore. I have an addiction to books - especially fantasy. I have so many ideas for different fantasy stories. Here are a few:

1. Fantasy murder mystery. Follows the PoVs of both an assassin and a police officier. Obviously there is a bit of cat and mouse happening here, but things become complicated when both characters get swept into a bigger battle - a battle between a King and a Goddess.

2. A kids fantasy set in Paris. Hero is an amnesic american kid (they can tell by his accent). He gets recruited into a parisian theiving crew, reminiscent Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist, where he finds out that magic is not just slight of hand. Magic system based on clockwork mechanisms and Insular art.

3. Another kids fantasy set around a Temple of Light that randomly appears in a city, that only a couple of kids can see. It is full of puzzles and secrets that must be uncovered if they are to win against the growing forces of darkness.

4. A fantasy trilogy in a land stalked by fae like beings, where politics is a powerful force, and stability is crumbling. The main character is a druid, that must complete a prophecy if they are to survive the oncoming storm.

I have 3 or 4 more ideas, not so much stories, rather than worlds and cultures that I have established, some set in this world, others in made up worlds.

As you can probably guess, I'm really good at world building and character development, but I'm having problems with chapter by chapter plotting. Hopefully I can find some help in this forum. Cheers!! (and i apologise for dumping all this information on whoever reads this  )

[akoebel]

Hi all, I'm Arnaud from Paris (France).

I'm 39, and have a PhD in Physics, though I don't work in that field anymore : now, I do software architecture for an IT company.

I've been reading fantasy for a long time, and come to love mostly political intrigue  found in GRRM, Robert Jordan, Steven Erikson, and Lois Bujold. I also like historical fiction (love Bernard Cornwell) and would love to write in that genre one day (though right now, it's too much research work for me to consider it). I don't usually read SF (except the Ender's series) and don't plan to write in that genre (If I did, it would have to be hard SF, and that too means lots of research).

I started to write pretty late (last year) for reasons yet unknown to me. Well, listening for hours of WritingExcuses probably had something to do with it :-)

In that year, I wrote a fantasy novel (130k words), a short story, and started a new fantasy/mystery novel (currently at 45k, should end up at 125k).

The short story experience taught me that I really need to write in long form; how can-I show a new world in less than 10k?
Writing comes pretty easily to me, being a discovery writer, but I found out that I'm lousy at revising, either I don't want to kill my darlings, or I don't see what's wrong in them, so I need your help!

I plan to workshop my first novel with you when the last draft will be completed, probably in early February (waiting for alpha readers comments to get in).

I'm also looking forward to read your chapters and offer whatever comments I can, so I'll see you all around!

[RiaRaen]

Hello
My name is Ria, I live in London although that isnt where I am from. I am a born and bred shropshire lass I am a lover of fantasy fiction and most rainy days you will spy me with a robert jordan in hand. I am a daydreamer and it is from my daydreams I get inspiration.

I always had an itch to write, so I just sat down one day and started writing the book I always knew was deep down inside. My biggest problem is my love of description, adjectives are my game, I also worry terribly that readers will get lost in my ramblings! So I am hoping you lovely people will help me cut out all the weedy bits and help me refine what is at best a novice attempt at a novel!

Hugs from England
xx

[Renoard]

Hi Ria.

I may have to pick your brain a bit. Nothing too difficult like the average flight spead of swallows, etc. Just a question of what a London Audience might find more believable in terms of geography. (e.g. a European prince arrives and wanders about in Essex incognito. Should he arrive on the quay's near London bridge or down river in Tilbury.) You know simple stuff.

[aqualibrium]

I'm a late twenties male in the southeast. I started writing stories when I was child, although I sidelined that and started to get into music composition.  I was in that strong until about 5 years ago when a friend of mine asked me to write some music for a play she was working on. I enjoyed working on the musical so much that I decided to embark upon my own, which I finished last and produced this year with a local theater group. It went over well and I decided I had the writing bug and I had more stories to tell so I wrote another musical which I just finished. My two musicals were both comedies, and I wanted to move into some more serious matter. Unfortunately, the story that popped in my head just wouldn't work at all on the stage for practical purposes.  The idea of writing a novel was downright terrifying to me so for a while  I was stuck, do I write the story or not?

After listening to a lot of writing excuses podcasts I've decided to plunge in and see what happens. If I end up drowning, at least I had fun along the way right? My biggest fear is that I am used to writing in a very limited space. I had 16,000 words to tell my last story (welcome to the world of scripts), and so I have to keep reminding myself that I can slow down and fully flesh out what is going on. I know many suggest short stories before a novel but I feel like I have a strong sense of what makes a good story, I'm more concerned about my prose quality. I'll guess we'll just have to see.

[Silk]

Sweet, someone else who writes musicals! (Okay, that makes it sound as if I've actually written musicals. I haven't--I've written songs and I've written stage plays, but the one musical I actually set out to write petered out when I realized I didn't have a story. Still working on it. )

Anyway, welcome to the group!

[sceneTK421]

Hello, I'm Sean. Or Scene or TK421... whatever, doesn't really matter to me. I posted this on the introduce yourself page and thought that I should post it here too since I would like to be a part of the Reading Excuses club 

I have been writing for a long time (with no formal training really). Shorts, screenplays, and unfinished novels most recently. I am also a filmmaker and photographer, currently living in Southern California, and I look forward to connecting with other writers here.

A few of my favorite authors are Robert Jordan, Mark Twain, Ray Bradbury, Shel Silverstein, William Goldman, Charlie Kaufman, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Jean Shepard, Steve Martin... wow this could go on for while, just know I left out some huge influences.

Some of my favorite films include, The Big Lebowski, The Princess Bride, Monster Squad, Toy Story, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, Star Trek (JJ to the A), Black Swan (saw it last night and it is still with me), Inception, Magnolia, The Red Violin, The Bicycle Thief, City of God, Rope, Inglorious Basterds, Made, Ed Wood, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Jerk... and this list is even longer than the writer's one, and again just know, a lot of great influences are left right out.

I am a big Disney nerd. Especially Disneyland, old live-action feature films, feature length animations and the old cartoons. I am a film buff (out of the game for the last few years though due to something that would take a long time to explain). I draw and paint and make maps, and just create whenever, however, and wherever I can.

All in all my taste is very eclectic.

I am currently reading George R R Martin's A Clash of Kings and love it.

[aqualibrium]

Sweet, someone else who writes musicals! (Okay, that makes it sound as if I've actually written musicals. I haven't--I've written songs and I've written stage plays, but the one musical I actually set out to write petered out when I realized I didn't have a story. Still working on it. )

Anyway, welcome to the group!

I wasn't planning on submitting any of my plays or musicals to the group, but if you ever want to read my work feel free to PM me. I'm always looking for feedback.

[Silk]

Cool--I might take you up on that. But probably not until this semester is over.

[madelste]

Hi all, I am a former Cleveland farm boy, who went to school and law school on the east coast and ended up staying there and becoming a corporate attorney.  From a writing perspective, I am a poet first, a song writer second and a story writer third.  As I am too old for American Idol and I was born in the wrong era to make a living as a poet, I have recently been spending more time with short stories and world building exercises (no novels yet, but lots of ideas).  I have no formal training (law school doesn't count), but I am always reading something (mostly science fiction, fantasy and classics).  I am one of the group of readers that will reread entire series of books over and over again (kind of like putting on a comfortable sweater or meeting up with an old friend).   I am looking forward to reading other writer's works and participating.

-Mike  a.k.a. "madelste"

[halo6819]

Hello my name is Robert Moreau. as a new years resolution, i resolved to finish the book i have been working on for the last year or so (currently sitting at 20k). I met with a nice guy in line for the Way of Kings signing in San Diego and he mentioned that there was a great writing group here at time wasters.

I live in Los Angeles, with my wife and dog. I work in a hotel (used to do graveyard, god i wish i had wanted to write back then...). My bookshelf is filled mostly with fantasy and sci-fi, i tend to find an author i like and try and read everything that person has published (Asimov, Card, Feist, Jordan, Rice, Rowling, Sanderson) though recently i have been trying to branch out and read some others.

The novel im working on right now is a sci-fi near future earth. Alot of it is cliche, but im not too worried about that at this point as im not entirely convinced i can write a novel length manuscript!

Can't wait to see what everyone else is up to!

[becoop]

Hi all,

I'm from Nashville, TN. and work as a computer programmer. I've been writing on and off since I was in high school, but only became a bit more serious last year. I found the group through the writing excuses podcast and I was really excited to join. I'm hoping to really learn more from being able to be involved with others that write by reading their works and participating in the group. I'm currently working on a novel that I began with NanoWrimo 2010 and right now I'm going back through and doing rewrites of the rushed work during November. Thanks for letting me join.

[Silk]

Welcome, guys!

[Juan Dolor]

Hello, everyone.  I'm a 35 year old single man from the midwest, although I have spent most of the last decade in the Boston area.  I am trying to finish a social science PhD this year, and writing fiction in my spare time helps keep me sane.

I write mostly sword and sorcery (as opposed to high or epic fantasy), but I've also done space opera, horror, comedy, and plain old contemporary fiction.   Mostly I stick to short stories and novelas (and short plays), but I've started a couple of novels, including one I have been trying to finish off and on for the past few years. 

As an undergrad, I published one of my short stories in a literary magazine, and lately I've been thinking about trying to get back into that game.  I'm hoping that this group can help me both polish my work and figure out the nuts and bolts of getting published.