Tag Archives: feedback

Help!

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I feel guilty that I’ve been neglecting my blog. It makes me feel like quite a bad writer. But thing have not been coming together for me to have much chance to write lately…

I’ve been working five or six days a week, and when you consider the commute time of an hour or more, and sleep, that does not leave a whole lot of free time. Of course, I could always give up sleep, but I can sadly no longer function on the few hours of sleep I used to use quite well. Six hours a night used to be ok. Now I usually need much closer to 8 in order to feel functional, and not droopy-eyed. I would give… something… to be able to function on less sleep.

Then, of course, there’s my computer, which has been extremely temperamental lately, hindering my ability to have a reliable working tool. I could get it fixed, but I want to avoid spending that money until I absolutely have to. In the meantime, I suppose I could return to handwritten work, but that does not excite me. Particularly since I will then have to type up the writing I do, an extra step that should have been avoidable.

But beyond that, I honestly just don’t know what you’d all like to read. I don’t get a lot of feedback when I post creative work here, so I don’t know for sure if anyone’s even reading it. I don’t know if you like it. If I remember correctly, the pieces I like most get the least feedback. Thoughts? Suggestions? Requests?

Next post: organizing my thoughts and projects. Or, Another Life…

Help a Blogger Out, Will Ya?

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Hi, Friends! Want to do me a favor? Well, are you willing to? It won’t take long, I promise…

 

If you’ve been keeping up with my world of words for a long time, you may have noticed that a little rating feature has appeared on each post, in the form of a row of stars (blue for posts, green for pages). I added this last week, and have since gotten one rating on one post. It was exciting at first, but now it just points glaringly to the lack of overall ratings.

Here is where the favor comes in: If you remember any posts that you liked, could you take a moment to locate and rate them? I’d particularly appreciate ratings on my fiction, but if you feel like rating more blog-type blog posts, I’d gladly accept them too.

If you’re newer to the blog, or don’t remember many posts you’ve read, I’d be so grateful if you would go read a few and rate them. Pick from Top Posts or the category cloud on the right side of the blog.

I believe all ratings are anonymous, but if you feel inclined to let me know you rated something, comment on this post or the one/s you rated.

I won’t go into any updates or excerpts right now, in an effort to keep it simple. So, thank you in advance for helping me out with this. And if you choose not to, that’s all right to, I still appreciate you reading.

My Writing Won’t Shatter, It’s Not Made Of Glass

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I had an idea that I think is a good one. Self-publishing in video! And what I mean by that is: I would record myself reading my writing and post it, most likely on youtube, for people to view. Specifically, I’m thinking of The Krishnaverse Through Their Mouths (which once again I feel needs a title change), my cross-cultural mythology work recounting important moments in Krishna’s life as he encounters characters from different mythologies, from Greek to Irish to Japanese. I want to publish this work so, so much, but I worry that its format will keep some publishers from wanting to publish it, even though it’s very well written and original, according to the feedback from professional writers Holly Robinson (The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter) and Gregory Maguire (Wicked). You see, The Krishnaverse is a book of five stories, all written in the first person, each from the point of view of a different character. While all of the stories are interconnected, they can also stand alone – some more than others, in my opinion, but all can be read as individual stories. Although many publishers and agents say they want new, original, interesting, cross-genre work, I doubt most would be willing to take such a chance on an unknown writer. In order to get the work out there, I thought video publishing might be a way to do so. However, I wrote The Krishnaverse with the intention that it would be read. That is not to say that it shouldn’t be recorded – it’d be just like an audiobook. My biggest worry, of course, is that publishers might then refuse it on the grounds that it has been previously published, even though it would not be in written form. Any thoughts?

Incidentally, if anyone wants to help me write a synopsis for Krishnaverse, based on the information I provided here (or perhaps just give me suggestions?), I’d be grateful. I’m just having trouble getting started, but I know it’s the most logical next step for submitting for publication.

Now That Helen Has Your Attention

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I should tell you that I don’t mean to post the entire novel. It’s possible that I will, but doubtful. I like getting feedback, but a first draft can be fairly temperamental. It can be shy. I don’t want to force it out in the open if it seems to want some time to develop before it’s shown to the world. Particularly because I have no intention of editing until the whole first draft is done, and therefore it will not be the version that would appear in a published book, I’m not sure it makes sense to post the whole thing.

My current thoughts lean toward posting passages only, up to a few pages long, that especially speak to me – or that especially might speak to anyone else – and passages that didn’t quite turn out right, but I can’t figure out how to fix. Of course, the general lack of comments on my posts doesn’t indicate that this is the best forum to ask for that kind of help. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t ask at all – right?

Regarding other works, it’s come to my worried attention that posting pieces in a blog might make them ineligable for publication in certain literary journals to which I might submit them. The problem is that they all refuse to publish previously published works. Although it is not often specified, at least some of them consider blogged writing to be published. This is where the problem lies – does posting in a blog count as publishing? Should it? I happen to feel that only publishing by the discretion of someone else (I was going to say “professional,” but I guess it’s often true that the writer is not paid in those cases…) or self-publishing in order to sell should be the only types that count. Having put a short piece in my writing blog should not exclude it from being put into a literary journal. I think, because of this odd gray area, I will try to avoid posting works that I intend to submit to contests or journals. It’s a shame, though… it feels so limiting.