you kidding, it was the first thing i read. very helpful BTW. clarified a few issues i had with tnbw.
Ha! Take that medieval fantasy/magic peeps! Very helpful!
I like Bill already! 
Welcome and glad you found it helpful!
I've been talking you folks up to Bill Kandiliotis who recently returned to TNBW. Some of you may remember him. Sci-fi writer. And then I read through the previous page of posts.
Run, Bill, run like the wind!
LOL, I guess the FUCCCCKKKKKKK thread ain't helping much either?!
No, it reminds me of the years thst pass.
Hope you still have a fun time!
Thanks for letting me know njc! So far, I don't have any dates if it's still going to happen. But as soon as I know, I'll let you know! We've had a couple of telecons with them, and it might not be needed. Then again, the option is going ahead that the other refineries did, so we might still go to check things out. Will see and will keep you up to date!
I concur - for new concepts/words, context is important.
And let's not forget those cases where someone drops a major F-bomb in the subject line of their post.
Hahaha, nah, that would make a few of the noobs feel home, I reckon! 
I agree K. It's gotten to the point where you can post nothing in the larger group forum or learn anything from that forum because it ends up being a slinging match of insults to see who can come up with the most witty come-back of the day and none of it has anything to do with the topic at hand. So much for trying to learn and look for advice/suggestions.
I sometimes wonder what new members think when they read that. Or if they just run for the exit without even trying to make sense of it. This can't be good for TNBW, yet Sol does nothing about it.
I've been accused of many things, and that is appropriate. I used that in my introduction to new members on the group. Don't blame me. Janet started it.
Wait, wha...?! I did?!
Don't do that then!
It's like a car crash. You don't want to, but you can't help yourself!
Every time I read a new post in Sneaked vs snuck, I lose a few brain cells
That's just getting personal. Charles can say the earth is round and they'll pounce on him just because he is Charles. *sigh*
When I finally get to meet you, Dirk, I expect planetary status.
Leonardo de Caprio (or whatever the famous actor's name is)?! whoo-hoo!!! *tosses flares, wipers, towels, gloves and engine oil into the wind*
Awh, Amy, you're the best! The prediction is a colder one that last year 
I just hope we've sort of acclimatized a little bit at least. I've copied the list to email and have forwarded it to Mr C! Thank you. The car has been serviced recently, so we've already done a few things on the list.
ncj - I don't even know if we can get $3 wipers for our car, but if we do, we will not buy them! Thank you too.
This weekend I have to get all my winter clothes out, proper winter clothes, not what I used to think was winter clothes (I've been wearing my Perth winter clothes this summer! LOL).
I'll try, but I don't think it's the was/were's that's an issue or as a minimum, the only issue. The amount of facts/data/info crammed into one paragraph is really not helping.... Maybe interspacing some action in between might help?
Seven-year-old Apollo Julius Caesar III sat in the game room of the Imperial Palace on Earth with his half-brothers. The twins, Romulus and Remus, were a year younger, Caligula a year older. Despite Apollo being younger than Caligula, as the only legitimate child of the emperor and empress, he was the Heir to the Imperium Romanum.
Maybe this gives you an idea or a bump in the right direction, I can only hope. I've tried. I might have to try again tomorrow, I'm tired, work's crap again.
Welcome home njc!!!!!
Hi! So nice to see other romance writers here!
I have the first chapter of my paranormal romance book "Blush" up atm. I'm freaking out about my second chapter a little because I feel shy, there is a bit of sex in it (so early I know). I'm not even sure I'll be able to post it, I got so much great feedback on my first chapter and I bet I made so many similar errors to the second, so might edit some more...
But over all I worry about showing it to the sharp eyes of great writers and editors. Ugh not sure I'm ready to do this. Yet I should, right? So that I can grow as a writer.
Am I in the wrong place looking for feedback, because of my sex scenes, or am I just being a big coward about it all? Do you guys ever get shy too?
You're in the right place! And yep, if you want to learn and grow, you have to click that button! You can always check out some of my writing - as far as I know, it's the most explicit sex scenes I've seen to date around here. Although I think Bimmy has something big planned - I still need to check it out (almost there Bimmy!!!).
But don't be shy and don't hold yourself back. The nerves never go away (I think that's mostly a good thing as long as you keep writing!), but it does get easier, I promise!!!!
Now I only worry what will happen as I turn up the steam, I'm challenging myself to write more explicit (in a way that I like to read sex scenes) because I'm usually so shy.
I'm not sure I'm ready to show it to the world, I'd feel so much safer showing it more private to a smaller group of romance readers and writers who knows what they are in for... makes sense?
You can start a group and make it as open or private as you want. When you post your writing, only post it to that group. That way, only people you want to look at your writing, will know it exists and will be able to leave reviews. You can always ask around here for people from the Romance community to let you know if they are interested. I haven't created a private group yet, but it should be fairly easy to do. If you have any questions, you can ask SolN or in the Premium forum for help.
How did you go about it?
How explicit do you write?
I write fairly explicit/accurate/to the point, but don't use explicit body part descriptions. I know of at least writer that had been skipping the sex scenes, but not anymore as part of growing and doing something that he otherwise never would've. That said, we're really lucky in that we have a good male representation - they're absolutely great to get the male perspective right.
If it wasn't for those scenes I'd feel less concerns regarding posting my second chapter (but I'd still worry people would think I didn't learn anything from my first reviews haha, this is very scary no matter how you look at it). I'm afraid I'll offend someone, or that they will find my writing cheap because I'm a beginner and still finding my voice, especially in scenes like that.
I give a warning as part of the chapter note/review guidance if there's any sex scenes in the chapter. Those that want to avoid it, can.
As for offending anyone, don't let that ever stop you from writing anything. And no one knows who you are in real life - you're just pixels to us! You can let people also know that you're jus starting out and still finding your voice - 99.9% of everyone will be supportive but honest to help you through the worse. We've ALL been there! Trust me, my first chapter I've ever posted was ripped apart. I'm still learning after a couple of years on TNBW. I don't think I'll ever stop learning. So that's also no excuse! So stop worrying and start writing!
Two pieces of the best advice I have for now:
-- Sex scenes are just a special kind of action scene, so if you can write/review a fist fight, you can write/review a sex scene
-- Don't let the naysayers into your head - write what you want to write and forget about the church ladies, your mother, or whoever you never want to see your writing
Hope some of this helps!!!!
ps - I'm also pretty shy in real life - I force myself to be assertive at work and when situations ask for it - and then I need quiet and being by myself to recharge again, so you're not alone!
Wow, njc! Sounds like they poked you full of holes. As long as you get better, I guess it's good?!
It reminds me of the times my kids were in hospital. They don't do it often, but for my eldest when he had a massive fever and couldn't find a vein, they asked ER to send someone to the kids ward. He already had 10+ holes in him from bodged attempts, ER nurse got the needle in first try. Lucky they weren't having a busy night in ER that day. My respect for ER nurses went up exponentially after that day. Youngest one dodged a needle in the head after the pediatrician said we can swap to oral antibiotics. He was 5 weeks old.
So yeah, we should never take our health for granted. You go kill dead any e coli bugs in your place asap and hoping you're back to your old self in no time! The big purple blotches will eventually disappear.
Look after yourself and take care!!! *sends njc a virtual "get better soon" card*
Hi, I'm a new member from Stockholm, Sweden. I've been an artist for a decade working with ink, but at the same time my pile of manuscripts were mysteriously growing under my drawing table. This year I finally acknowledged that I don't want to paint for a living anymore, I want to write. I'm also a mother of two, so these two jobs I'm juggling is bringing me very little food on the table, which is why I'm using these few months I've got now (before I possibly need to get a second, I mean third job) to write like the wind.
I write romance, and because I love to read quite explicit romance (you know the kind that doesn't do the fade out and dot.dot.dot thing but actually sweep the reader deeper into the scene until it's over) I've decided to push myself to write pretty explicit myself. I don't know why my writing is so brave when I'm such a shy person at heart, also I know that because I struggle balancing this newly found challenge/passion in writing I'm pretty sure I need to write a lot before I find my "voice", especially in scenes like that.
So that's why I'm here.... to practice my writing in English, and find a safe place to bounce my ideas and my writing.
My latest finished manuscript is about 33 000 words. That's considered a novel isn't it? Most "proper" books start at minimum of 50 K words? I've seen 70K too. Seem to vary? Anyway, it's a sci-fi romance set in a pretty dystopian future, but I try to keep it in a world we can still relate to, funny and not too scary. I'd love to share it with you guys as it's the shaky beginning of a series. This is actually based on blurbs I wrote many years ago while I was working two illustration jobs (it's nice to go back and see if I have any gems I can polish in my drawer as I learn to write, at least I don't have to re-invent the wheel every time).
I've started on book two, (blurbs, scribbles) and I think what could happen is that I merge the books eventually but that would mean I have to re-write the entire first book since mixing heroine voices using "I laughed" is so much harder than when you write from a third person perspective (she laughed). How to separate the characters if they all are inside their heads sort of? haha
I'll upload my first novel (ugh so scary) and I call it Blush. I might call the series Angel Falls. If you have time to lend me your eyes and your thoughts I'd be forever greatful. Thank you for reading <3
Welcome to TNBW Ava! We've been quiet around here lately, but don't let that stop you from starting a thread if you have any questions. Someone will step forward from lurking and leave a reply/suggestion/answer! We have a really good bunch of people all over the site - everyone has their own strengths and all put together will give you great feedback to improve your writing. It can be daunting when you see those first reviews, but keep it mind it's coming from a good place and everyone here just wants to help and be helped! Hardest bit sometimes is to know which suggestions to embrace, which ones to adopt and which ones to let go, but you'll get the hang of it, just give it time!
The single best piece of advice I have for you is to start reviewing (you also learn from doing them and need it to get points to post your own writing). And the site works on a reciprocating basis - it's expected to return review for review unless you agree with someone else that it's not expected (that also happens, but not that much in my experience).
I also think it would be good to let people know if English is your second language and if you're after specific help. It's not a requirement, but it's good to know this when you're doing reviews.
I'll leave you to find your feet and yeah, if you have any questions, just let us know - here, messaging or whatever works for you!
Glad to have another Romance writer around!!!
Beef.
For those who read the battle chapters and the new chapter one, did it strike you as confusing that I used Roman ranks (praetor, consul, tribune, centurion) as ship classes?
Thanks.
No, I could keep up with who's shooting who and what not. That said, I won't be able to say which is which, so a subtle reminder when you use them again will probably be worth your while.
Not sure I'm helping, but I am trying to help!!!
PHEWWWWW!!!! It was just a bug. Sol fixed it so I'm a member of the site again. Shit, I almost had a heart attack.
He confirmed that basic members aren't able to post, which makes sense, but I've asked to confirm whether this will also lock all our work when that happens, which I don't agree with, clearly.
*pulls brandy closer and takes a big gulp*
I'm ready whenever you are with Star Wars Dirk!
All back to normal again.
Amy, we don't have any 5 year olds in this group, do we? Otherwise they just learned a new word today. The spelling is shit, but I think people will understand it well enough.
Okay, I've found something. Founding members have monthly and quarterly options. So now I'm just waiting for Sol to let me know how to do it.
I'm up to it and have nothing better to do except the reviews lined up ahead of you. Problem is, I don't have a keyboard. I'm working on the phone's touch screen. I'd hoped to get that fixed today, but there's a good chance it can happen tomorrow.
You can relax... My premium expired today. I can't post. I can't access anything I have posted previously including all my reviews. And I can't upgrade because the buttons are missing...
I hope there's a monthly option, otherwise I'm really not going to get value back. I've messaged Sol, I think it's bullshit not being able to access reviews I have received while I was a paying member of this site. I refuse to fucking pay to get something I've already paid for. It's bullshit, fuck that.
I can't even upgrade at the moment. I see now button where to go "Click here to upgrade to Premium". I've also asked him if there's a monthly option because that I'm willing to do to post my last chapters. And I'll be fucking downloading all my reviews first weekend of the first premium month if all else fails.
Okay, so I have a bit of a problem. Somewhere between renewing for another year until now, Sol has made changes to basic and premium memberships. Before you could post work, but you could only receive regular reviews, no in-line reviews. Now it's changed to you can't post anything, but you can still receive regular reviews but no in-line reviews. Fucking impossible to receive regular reviews if you can't post your work.
This is the message I get when I want to post my latest chapter:
As a Basic Member, your content is no longer visible on the site or eligible for feedback or contest entries. Please upgrade to Premium Membership to reactivate it.
Please Note
- The portfolio of Basic Members, including their public portfolio page, is ordered by creation date. Only Writing Members can control the order and sorting of their portfolio.
- The first two postings on top will be featured on your profile page.
- The public page of your portfolio will not contain the postings with availability set to 'Invite Only' or 'Only to Groups'.
Reading this, it looks like you can post, but you have to remove the "only to groups" bit which I'm not so sure about, but if you can't post to groups, how can you fucking post which is the same as no you can't post.
I have 4 more chapters to go, one which is ready to go right now. But I won't be using my TNBW account fully for the next year while I revise my draft, so I wasn't planning to upgrade until I started posting the second novel.
The fucking best thing is I can't access any of my reviews without Premium either, I can't access ANYTHING, so I'm fucked from all over.
Were any of you aware of these changes?!
Do we have a monthly option?!
FUCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!! This is bullshit and absolute crap. None of this has been communicated. But before I go to the main forum with this and to Sol, just wanted to check if it's not maybe me that missed the announcement.
FUCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!
I've decided to change names for both Drech and Orson. Drech has to go because people will say "Dreck" which is gross, and "Orson has to go because it is really way too modern for the time period
For Drech, I was thinking:
Draig
or
DraichFor Orson, I was thinking:
Orsus
or
OrsiusThoughts?
Draich.
Orsius.
That's my favourites!
