ShadowsPale

I think I could give up food, faster than I could give up writing. When I was younger, I would make up stories to tell anyone that would listen. Then I told stories to the kids I babysat as a teen. After that it was my son and his friends. I ran out of ears about six years ago so I started to write. You're right, good or bad, the stories have to come out. After re-reading some of what I have written in the past, I don't think I am a bad writer, just one that has room for improvement. Now if I could stop second guessing myself and stop the "What if" that pops into my mind every five seconds, I might actually get something finished. Thanks for the encouraging words.

Thank you.

Hi. Sorry to bother you busy peoples but I have a question I couldn't find an answer too. I have two partially written stories that I have lost all my notes too when my computer died a while back. It took me so long to get a new one, I forgot where I was going with them. I ignored them for a while, hoping I could find a way to finish them but I recently got a new review and realized I can't just leave them hanging in limbo. My question is how should I deal with them. I don't know if I should take them down or some how let readers know they are on hiatus. I know Chapters that are just author's notes are not allowed, so that isn't an option. I hate to lose my reviews but I also hate to leave readers waiting for an update that isn't going to arrive any time soon. Help please.

I know I must sound dense as hell but every time I turn around, I find something new and confusing about writing. I never realized just how little I knew until i started reading what was said in this forum. Never again will I fuss about the price of a book, I now have a better understand of what a person must know in order to write one. Silly me thought it was just a matter of knowing a lot of words and knowing how to string together sentences, There is a ton of little things you must know, like tenses and POV. Then there is working out a plot line that leaves no holes and seeing that all questions are answered by the end. Now I am wondering if I should bother trying to write. There is so much that I remain unsure of how to handle and if I am going to put forth all the effort, I want to end up with a product worth reading. Being one of those writer's that pound out story after story without a care to quality isn't something I want to be, Thank you for all the answers. I am going now to re-read all my half finished stories and try to decide if I should continue to try writing or leave it up to those with more knowledge and skill.

I understand the need for author notes, but I have to agree that coming across them in the middle of the story is jarring. I want to read the story without seeing the author's thoughts, notes, apologies or attempts at humor, scattered through out it. Its like you are running along, when suddenly, a wall comes out of nowhere and knocks you off the path. If the author feels the need to clarify a point or to explain something, do it separately. I have lost track of the number of stories I have stopped reading, because of those notes plastered in the body of the story.

Reading all of this, I understand why its done as it is. However, now I am confused on how to handle things when a story contains more than one nationality. Take a Harry Potter/ Supernatural cross over for example. Would you write it as an American would, keeping Harry's dialogue as British or would you continue writing from a more British point of view; only keeping Sam and Dean's dialogue as American? No wonder I have such a hard time finishing anything. I keep coming up with more questions I need answers too. >.<

Gilfred Godfrey I know there is more, but he makes me cringe the most.

Riddick. Got to love a badass with a hidden heart.

Fandom: Harry Potter/Twilight Pairing: Seth/Harry Rating: nc-17 Word total is unknown at this time I am looking for a beta that is willing to work chapter to chapter and who is well versed in the Twilight series. I will need help with punctuation, speech patterns for the Twilight crew, over wordiness and possible plot holes. Chapter length and too much/ too little detail is also something I struggle with. My grammar and spelling are decent but they would still need tweaking and I would need help catching things like dropped letters or spaces being in the wrong place. The setting is Au and the story takes place in the Present. Harry is sort of like Bill Weasley in that he had been turned into something that lies between a human and a werewolf. He has gained the ability to change into a white wolf (there are already two black wolves in the packs and i wanted something different for him). I Have two chapters written so far but if I had help splitting them or rearranging them, I could easily have four or five. Because of the length of each chapter, I would be willing to wait a week, maybe two for the edited chapter. There will be lemon but not an excessive amount. In other words, not every chapter will contain it. I don't mind suggestions being made, or being told it needs an over haul. As for your style in editing, all i ask is that if you criticize something, you also give a suggestion on how to make it better. I once had a beta that thought my description of something lacked originality; she pointed it out by saying that I must have been thinking with a broken brain when I came up with it. I could have handled that but she gave no suggestion on how to improve it. After that, I ended up abandoning the fic, because I never could think of another description.

I came looking for a beta myself, saw this and peeked in. What fandom is the story in? How many words? What is the rating? I am sorry but your description didn't list any of these things and I believe they are some of the things most beta's like to know before they think about taking on the job. I would offer to do it, as I am always up for m/m, but I don't have enough confidence in my punctuation skills, to beta for someone.

Now that I think about it, its not only Harry Potter fics as I thought. I just realized it but Inuyahsa is the same, only Japnese instead of Briish. I guess I never noticed until now because Harry Potter is the only non-American fandom I feel comfortable attempting to write. I have used the words "bloody" and "bleeding" all my life and I was always being scolded in school because I would spell gray as grey. I have no idea where I picked this up but I astonished to learn they weren't considered to be American. Oddly, I think I knew the answer to my question but didn't realize it until it was answered here.

Okay, that makes sense. I don't write like that, I was just wondering why people didn't. Thank you for responding so quickly.

I was sitting googling for the terms used by the British for things like refridgerators, couches and what not, when suddenly I wondered why I was doing it. I am working on a Harry Potter fic which was why I was searching for the terms. It struck me as being very odd that as an American, I was trying to write a story as if I were British. I can understand writing that way for dialogue or thoughts but why for everything else? Every fic I have read is like this. Well, t not every fic; there have been a few that were clearly written by an American, but not many and none that were well written. It made me wonder why people do this. I once had an American beta that changed spellings to match the way the British spellings. What is wrong with wording something like this: "Where did these denims come from?" Harry asked, staring at the jeans lying on his bed with a frown. He had never seen a pair so oddly colored. "I don't know," Ron said, wiping away cookie crumbs from his chin. "They were there when I got back from the library." "Ron, did you take the biscuits, Grams sent me?" Neville asked, his voice muffled as his head was under his bed where he was searching for his lost treat. "I can't find them now." Ron quickly hid the cookies in his hand behind his back. "Say, Harry, what colour would you call that? It looks a bit like strained carrots mixed with mashed peas," Ron said in an attempt to change the subject. Searching for the terms can be difficult but I don't mind doing so. I was just wondering why it is done. Its the same with the word "gotten". I have yet to met an American that doesn't use the word, but I never see it used in anything written for Harry Potter. I know the British do not use the word but I don't understand why Americans avoid using it. Does anyone care to explain this to me?

I have to agree to that. I found the term so revolting I didn't finish reading. Furry clam is just bad. I keep seeing a clam that needs to be shaved which put me off clam chowder for months.

You have answered my question far more thoroughly than I had expected to have it answered . I thank you for taking the time to understand what it was I was asking and to not only answer the question, but correct me on the importantance of breaking it up. It made me place myself in the listener's shoes, at which point it was clear that they wouldn't have just sat there like statues. It also made me see that even the speaker would be doing more than just talking. I can't thank you enough.

As a reader, I shudder at stumbling across these words: Love muffin Man rod Tuna taco (Yes, I have read about a lover slurping a tuna taco) Furry clam Oddly, the stories were otherwise decently written. However, as a reader/writer I prefer cock instead of penis. The use of the word penis sends me back to sex ed in school. I can still hear the teacher saying paynis and va geyena. I now snicker everytime I hear or read those words. The use of dick, prick or pussy makes me think of the teen males in the area I grew up. They were always telling each other to suck their dick, how big their pricks were or how the bitch they had banged the night before had a tight pussy. The word pussy makes me snicker as well as my neighbor would stand in her yard calling all seven of hers.

I keep starting than stalling, starting over and stalling again. I will read over what I have written and think it discloses too much back history and at other times, I feel it doesn't give enough. I have somewhere around six stories that have stalled because I am not happy with the first few chapters despite rewritting it numerous times. I am never going to get anywhere as I am. If I am not doing one of the above, I am hit with a what if. What if this was different or what if I made so and so like this? Thankfully I have a lot of hair or I would be bald by now. I have a strong urge to write but I am not getting anywhere and it all comes back to first few chapters. Maybe I am going about it the wrong way. Maybe an explanation onwhy John hates cats so only dates other cat haters or Jane came to be nanny to a prince born a hundred years before she was, isn't needed. Do readers really want to read about what modivated a person to decide to up an leave everything they know? I just can't figure out how to deal with back histories. If I just give the basics at the beginning of the story, I feel I haven't explained enough but if I give a detailed one, I often find the story doesn't truly begin until the second or third chapter. Help please! I would really like to finish at least one story.

Having what is about to happen next announced has always annoyed me; especially when its in big bold letters. I wouldn't do that; it would make me a hypocrite and that is something I try to avoid. Thank you so much for the links. They were a huge help as now I can see where my friend was coming from. I knew what was happening so I wasn't confused but thanks to the now deeper understanding I can see why she was. It is in the third person as I can't seem to write any other way and looking it over now; its clear that it does seem to jump about. Thank you also for the words of encouragement. I love to write but I don't want to be one of these writers that have a good plot going but their writing makes you cringe. Thank you all for responding; it all helped me pin point the problem.

okay. Maybe I need to explain what I did The scene started out with Harry Potter who meet up with Fenrir Greyback. When he tried running, he was tackled. At that point the point of view changed to Fenrir's until he had transported Harry from the area. It then changed back to Harry's view. I am once again confused as the friend that complained said I needed to separate them or use another means of making it clear the POV's have changed. She suggested something like this ****** which seems too much as I am already using @!@!@!@!@ to show changes in scenes. To be truthful; I am getting discouraged. It is beginning to feel like everything I thought I knew about writing is incorrect.

Thanks. I now know there is a problem as the friend that had issues is constantly reading; I don't think I have ever seen her without a book. The second ones reads a lot but not nearly as much as the first. Now I have to figure out what to do to fix it.

I had a couple of my friends look over a fic I am writing just to get their opinion on it. One had a problem with the way I did the point of view; she said it was difficult to follow and jumped around too much. The other said she saw nothing wrong with the way I had written them. Since neither of them write themselves, I thought I had better come to people that know what they are doing as I wasn't sure which of my friends knew what she was talking about. What is the correct way to write two or more points of view in the same scene? I never seem to get anything put up for running into snags; this is one I hopefully can find a solution too.

I only have one but that one has a split personality. Bell is a tiny white winged feline that sits on my shoulder and whispers in my ear. She is rather impish as she likes giving me plot bunnies just before I fall asleep because she finds the sometimes very bizarre dreams I have as a result, rather amusing. She urges me to write and can at times be a real slave dirver. She is also at times very annoying because she will often wait until I have several chapters written before whispering "What if..." She is also a bit delusional as she thinks my writing skills are much better than they truly are so will not stop feeding me these wonderful (or so she thinks) plot ideas. She is impatient and isn't happy unless I am posting something, regardless if i have a beta or not. She has gotten better about waiting however. She just gets very discouraged when her idea of a great story isn't well received and will disappear on me. Bastian is a tiny black feline with red horns. He likes to take over and point out all the errors I make while typing. He gets bored easily so chews on my ear until he is satisfied he has me thoroughly distracted and then relishes pointing out that I have lost my train of thought. He also likes pointing out stories so well written I end up having doubts as to whether I should bother writing as I can't hope to compare. He likes whispering ideas in my ear that sometimes have me wondering where he got them and than gets pissy and won't let me write when i tell him it won't work or try toning it down to plausible levels. He can't sit still so has a habit of suggesting I do something else that is more entertaining to him than typing. He is sneaky about doing, he starts telling me all the things I am probably doing wrong until I have no choice but take a break.

Thank you for your answer but I obviously wasn't clear in explaining. What I meant was one person talking while the other(s) listened. Think of Dumbledore giving a speech for which he has asked that everyone refrain from asking questions until he was finished. Yes there are going to be times something said would invoke an reaction but breaking after each paragraph of speech too say so and so shifted in their chair because they had no marked reaction just seems a waste of time. Maybe I am wrong and its how it should be but I can't think of a single time I have read a lengthy speech broken up by something like that but on the same hand I can't remember how it was handled. I confess that punctuation isn't my strong point. I know to use Quotation marks for dialogue but not exactly how to use it if there is more than a paragraph of speech taking place at a time. I will use what i have written so far to hopefully make myself clear. Think of the above two paragraphs as dialogue being spoke by the same person with no break taking place to detail the listener's reaction of alarm or whatever. Would I place the quotations at the beginning and end of each or use one set to encompass both? I just realized I used the term parentheses in my initial question when I meant quotation marks. I am sorry; I don't know why I used the wrong term when I know the difference.

Hi, I am back again. >.< This time I have a question about writing dialogue or rather lengthy portions of it. How do I go about writing dialogue that is more than a paragraph long when the listening character(s) are doing nothing more then just that? I have seen it written in long blocks bracketed by parentheses and I have seen it broken up into paragraphs. I am not sure at all how to handle this issue. It seems silly to break it up by constantly saying what the listener(s) are doing when for the most part they wouldn't be doing anything other than maybe sifting around. Help Please!

Thank you both. I was worried about some of my chapters being too long but mostly about the child's speech.