BMW Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I have a couple of questions. Have any of you read/used Randy Ingermanson's How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method? I've really been enjoying his site and am using the 10 steps to prepare for nanowrimo. I am also wondering about online writer groups and posting writing for critique. Couldn't someone take another person's writing/ideas and use it for themselves? I am more likely to use an online group due to my very busy schedule. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at the beach Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I am also wondering about online writer groups and posting writing for critique. Couldn't someone take another person's writing/ideas and use it for themselves? I am more likely to use an online group due to my very busy schedule. Thanks! Well, I wouldn't like posting my stuff in a public forum, but if it's on something like a yahoo group that had a limited number of writers, I'd be fine with that. I belong to one now where there are under a dozen of us and we keep the membership limited to just that number, and it's a great list for brainstorming, talking industry, getting feedback, etc. I, too, find online groups better with my schedule. With people taking ideas, I wouldn't worry about that. The thing is, as you write, you'll see books come out that are exactly like your very own project as far as the premise, and yep, it can feel maddening, but ideas are just that. It's all in the execution and everyone has their own unique voice. It's really a rarity in the writing biz that there is any sort of plagiarizing that I've been aware of. One thought in addition to social groups here is that we could form a yahoo group and the forum would be more private. Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Well, I wouldn't like posting my stuff in a public forum, but if it's on something like a yahoo group that had a limited number of writers, I'd be fine with that. I belong to one now where there are under a dozen of us and we keep the membership limited to just that number, and it's a great list for brainstorming, talking industry, getting feedback, etc. I, too, find online groups better with my schedule. With people taking ideas, I wouldn't worry about that. The thing is, as you write, you'll see books come out that are exactly like your very own project as far as the premise, and yep, it can feel maddening, but ideas are just that. It's all in the execution and everyone has their own unique voice. It's really a rarity in the writing biz that there is any sort of plagiarizing that I've been aware of. One thought in addition to social groups here is that we could form a yahoo group and the forum would be more private. Just a thought... :iagree: about the writing. The yahoo group sounds like a good idea too. But as with "Belling the Cat" (we're going through CW Homer :D) who is to bell the cat? I don't have the knowledge or time to moderate or start a group, but if someone is willing to step up, I'd love to join. Robin (Mytwoblessings) may have been the one that came up with the name of WLYIOF, am I remembering correctly? We could use that with her permission or being something like "Well-trained Writers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Q Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I have a couple of questions. Have any of you read/used Randy Ingermanson's How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method? I've really been enjoying his site and am using the 10 steps to prepare for nanowrimo. I am also wondering about online writer groups and posting writing for critique. Couldn't someone take another person's writing/ideas and use it for themselves? I am more likely to use an online group due to my very busy schedule. Thanks! I used the Snowflake method to plot out most of my second book, but I'm far too organic of a writer for it work well for me. I found some of the exercises in expanding the plot outlines and character motivation to be tedious. I skipped the later steps once I had the basic structure of the story in my head. :) As for online critique groups--all the ones I've seen require membership, so they aren't open to just anyone browsing through (which is good, because if you post up your work for everyone to see, you can't sell first publication rights to that piece anymore). I was part of the OWW for SF&F for two or three years and it was a great experience. There are a lot of published writers on there, and learning to give and take crits was a valuable experience. I found my current writer friends through there. Now we just exchange crits through email. Plagiarism might be a concern, but at the time I joined, I wasn't good enough to be plagiarized. :D ~Rabia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 I finally started a query letter to send out on one of my novels. The problem is, what do I put for the credentials/bio paragraph when I don't HAVE any writing credentials? I'm at a loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melmc Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 If you belong to any professional writer groups/associations such as RWA or MWA or whatever else is out there. If you have entered any writing contests and placed. If you don't have any of those things, then just thank them for their time and consideration. Seriously, if the idea sparks their interest, they aren't going to care about any of those other things. Forgot! If the manuscript is already completed, make sure you mention that. That's huge especially if you're unpubbed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Q Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Nothing. If you don't have any pertinent writing credits, don't bother with a bio paragraph. I'll got a step further than Melmc and say that you absolutely have to have a completed (and polished) novel before you query as an unpubbed writer. ~Rabia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 I gave it some thought, and given the length of the story I want to put out there first (under 29K words), I decided to put it in the Baen's Universe Slush Conference and see what happens. It might be too long for them, but we'll see. The writers' group I'd be most interested in joining is the SFWA, but they require publication of a novel or three short stories for membership, or of one short story for associate membership. They do have a very useful list of pubs they accept as professional publications, which is how I found Baen's Universe. Now, I'm off to go wrestle with revising another too-short wants-to-be-a-novel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Q Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Yes, a 29K story is hard to place. Too long for most magazines and too short for a novel. I don't have much interest in joining SFWA right now, but I'd love to go to the World Fantasy Convention. I'm hoping next year, in Columbus, Ohio. My father-in-law lives close to there and my plan is for the rest of my family to visit him while I go to the con. :D What sub-genre of scifi/fantasy do you write in? Good luck with the story! Yay for submitting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Subgenre? Hard to say. The story I just put out is a sort of aliens-as-vampires that used religion as a cover for their presence. I tend to draw on ideas from anthropology or inspiration from what I read in biology for my science fiction, as well as for fantasy world-building. Some of my stuff is post-collapse type stuff, some is pure fantasy with an alternate world setting, and a fair bit of it is alien-invaders/space opera. A lot of it deals with sexuality and sex and gender identity issues, as well as the meaning of family...my main plotlines tend to include romances of one sort or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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