Melrick

Not guilty. G/NG: Ever vomited on yourself?

I believe it's because the website is 5 years old, although it's probably getting towards 6 now.

7081

I am glad I finally got through all my Easter chocolate yesterday. I am not going to be eating chocolate again for a while!

7079

7074

7072

If the story is already on the internet then you're going to have an even bigger time getting it published. Most - if not all - publishing companies require exclusive publishing rights, which means that it's never been published anywhere before, and if it's on the internet then you've already published it, and most - probably all - publishing companies would turn it down immediately based on that alone. Simply 'forgetting' to tell them about this is not a good idea either, because that would be slightly illegal.

I TOTALLY agree with you regarding the Mary Sue stuff. There are so many so-called writers that go absolutely rabid at the mere mention of Mary Sue. It's clearly because these people just don't understand the real art of writing. To avoid writing a character simply because they may sound a little like ourselves is utterly ludicrous! Why hamstring ourselves like that? If we're writers of original fiction then we should be able to create ANY character, whether they're like us or totally opposite. Nor does it mean you have to agree with, or even like, the character. If you talk to just about any professional, published author then they'll tell you that most of them include at least a little of themselves in their characters. I'm reading "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard, and the author freely and happily admitted that the Allan Quartermain character was exactly him. Does that mean it's a lousy book because of that? Of course not. And as far as coming up with names, I started a topic in the "Resources" forum that has links to various sites. Hopefully others will add their own bookmarked sites to it over time.

7069 69... *snickers*

7066

7064

One critical part of writing an original story is the characters' names. Good, appropriate names are very important, perhaps more so than many people think. The direction more and more writers are going in is to choose increasingly strange and unusual names, feeling that makes their character/story stand out more. What it can do, though, is to put off the reader. It's been shown that if the lead character has a difficult to pronounce name then that usually immediately puts off the reader. Names don't have to be unusual. The main character in Stephen King's book "The Dead Zone" is named John Smith, for example. The most important thing is that the names are appropriate to your story, such as the genre and even the region your story is set in. It might take a bit of research on your part, so here are some name generators to provide some help: Fantasy Name Generator. You can create serious, fun and specialised. Random Name Generator. Names generated using the US Census. It allows you to vary the complexity to very common to totally obscure, and by sex. Seventh Sanctum. You can NOT go past this site for generators, of all kinds! The king of generators, as far as I'm concerned. Totro. This fantasy name generator is a bit hit and miss, but you can specify how many syllables you want in the names. Yafnag. Another hit-and-miss fantasy name generator which could be useful. Prairie Den. A contemporary name generator. You can choose the sex, and it gives you one first name and one surname at a time. Serendipity. A very good name generator site, providing contemporary and fantasy names, as well as a good selection of other generators. Squid.org. Provides quite a good range of name generators, such as specific regions (Aztec, Japanese, Greek, etc) as well as fantasy names. Suburban Name Generator. A name generator with a difference. Need a name for your newly created suburb? This could help. Joburg Suburb Name Generator. Similar to the above generator. Namator. A good contemporary name generator that allows you to specify not just the sex but the regions for the first and second names. For example, you could have Spanish first name and a Japanese second name. Universal Name Generator. Quite a good generator that can certain regional specific names, in either male or female. Only displays one name at a time, though. Baby Name Network. A baby naming site, enabling you to search by just the sex or by various regions. It also provides a short meaning of the name. Please keep in mind that these links could change at any time, or the sites even to disappear. Hopefully you'll be able to find something to help you out, and maybe others could provide their own favourite name generator sites.

7061

7059

Sounds good to me. I'm always up for a bit of perversion! I watch the show, but rather casually, so I don't feel I know the characters well enough to be writing fan fiction for it. Besides, fan fiction readers are the most horrifically anal people on the face of the planet; put one foot ever so slightly out of place and they jump down your throat with their jackboots on. So I find it safer to keep any fan fiction to myself.

I've never asked for a beta reader. I used to beta for a German friend, but frankly, her comprehension of English was absolutely superb! Better than most English speakers, that's for sure. But I don't think she really appreciated how good she was, so there was usually little for me to do with her stories. lol She didn't even speak English with an accent, which is remarkable. Anyway, I think someone DEMANDING that a character be changed to suit the would-be beta reader is ludicrous, and they clearly don't understand the point of being a beta reader. If the beta reader feels major changes need to be made then they can suggest it, but ultimately it's 100% up to author, since it is their story, after all. I know I've had reviews suggesting things that would have utterly changed - and ruined - the story if I'd followed their advice, which showed they clearly didn't get what I was saying. At least your friend had the sense to tell this person to hit the road.

7057

7055

7053

7050

7048

7045

7042

7040