Search options (Page 4 of 38)

Although, I do want to add: I think mere categorization isn't enough. It's a start, but even better would be to provide a live list of all recent threads -- a central helm tying it all together. If we can't have a main forum where we can share together as a group, we could at least have a live feed of everything. I love (love) the idea of universal categorization. But I would also love being able to click on and see what lively things have been said lately, over the vast field of the site, so I can participate without having to search on each category one by one. What if someone offers a great tip I'd have loved to know about, but I never read it because it didn't occur to me to click the "great tip" category? My, I hate the burying away of topics.

Thank you so much for the input, everyone!

The impression I'm getting is that 1) a platform allows you an ability to connect with others in the industry 2) it provides you a platform to give back to the writing community (featuring authors and their books) 3) it's a place to post your own writing so it doesn't become lost in the sea of other books 4) it may or may not, however, translate into actual sales 5) it can potentially be extremely time-consuming.

I guess I'm wondering who the targeted audience is when you begin a social media platform? Readers of the genre you write in? People within the industry (which would make writing about writing as a blogger seem more relevant). Readers in general? If you write about writing, aren't you just writing to a bevy of fellow writers -- sending tips into the echo chamber? Wouldn't you want to speak to the people you intend your book for? (I ask not to criticize, but to understand how you view the platform's purpose.)

It seems like whatever site I write should showcase my natural voice, so people know the style they can find within my books. I like the idea of giving back to the community. I also like the idea of a fairly active site where I focus on quality over quantity. I feel that whatever a writer chooses as her medium in the social media world, it should act as a mirror to her prose voice. That way people can sense what they're getting if they read her books. And I do like Pinterest for a fun place to collect pretty pictures.

An acquaintance of mine has just released a novel retelling of Little Women. Her site focuses on questions surrounding Little Women -- essays, fun posts conjecturing about the characters, etc. She rarely mentions her novel. She just has it posted in her sidebar. However, I find her writing voice intelligent and interesting enough I quietly purchased her book. I met her because I am interested in the topic of Little Women and stumbled upon her site. I never would have heard of her novel. I found it because of her platform, which exudes her joy in the topic.

I'd love to find some sort of idea that couples well with what I want to write. I'm not sure I could focus as specifically as she does, since I wouldn't want to marry myself to a single era in history (example, American Civil War), but I love the way her site naturally reflects the topic of her book. People arrive there and find her novel a bonus naturally coupled with the topic that attracted them to her online writing in the first place.

Lots of questions to think about! Meanwhile, I'm not writing the good stuff! It doesn't sound like there's any real rush on getting this set up, so I think I'll back-burner it for a while. Keep my eyes open to an interesting idea.

Thanks again everyone! Keep sharing if you have tips and experience please.

I know! History is so rich with story!!

Why indeed? Now I can claim William Wallace (not dna-confirmed yet) and Captain Robert Messer as predecessors. It's no wonder I spoil the threads with compounding joy! I come from a long line of disruptive people! xx

Apparently President Jimmy Carter wrote a novel about the origins of the American Revolution in the South, & it features the Regulators of the Carolinas! I just held it at the library!

Thank you for those ideas and suggestions, Bunny. I haven't talked to you in a while. I hope you're well. xx

I was going to respond here, "I'm going to block you so I can whine about other people in the Fight Club on your profile page at my leisure," but I see you have already blocked me! I am a sitting duck! Commence heckling!

Thanks Ann and Alan! Ann, what do you blog about? Alan, do you find that you are at a disadvantage since you're not on social media in each of your genres? (I vaguely recall you mentioning recently that you'd started a blog?)

Dill, your feedback wins today's merit badge.

Totally understandable. You have aged quite well, however.

Well, sir. You are most inconsistent. I clearly recall you comparing me to one of these in the recent past. If I'm a hobbit now, I feel tall! And tidy!

In my copy of this book, "Chancellorsville" is spelled "Chancellorville" on the cover and within the table of contents. I was feeling rather smug for having noticed, & considered writing the editor, but I reached the actual story "The Boy of Chancellorville" within the anthology last night, and the editor introduces it with a note explaining that in the ACW days, people spelled "Chancellorsville" without the s. That's a new ACW fact! xx

It's me, by the way. He can't be rid of me. I have the power now.

I agree with her that your use of the word "whilst" causes "questions of trust" in the reader. I have always eyed you skeptically due to your British lexicon.

The rest of this review makes me scratch my head. In all honesty, I read it through and sat stunned for a moment, because the weird blend of authoritative delivery and bad feedback is so potentially misleading. She corrects you on passive construction without understanding what passive construction is. (It's not what she cites.) Her remarks on how we know the guy is pointing between the eyes don't even makes sense? The line "grotesque scene" is a piping good two-word set-up that creates a sardonic preview of the visual that follows. "Cockney gravel" is fine? It delivers the sound perfectly and compactly. "He balled his left fist and landed a vicious sideways jab" separates the two actions for the reader. Her suggested rewrite destroys the subtle choreography, altering the reader's experience to no logical purpose. The "leap" she cites at the end? You are showing rather than telling by having him exercise intuition? And the guy under torture not indicating self-pity? THAT IS THE CHARACTER? I could go on. (I mean "on" like "further," where I was previously. Before that, I was brighter. By the way, you clearly meant brighter than the watery London dawn.)

All of that might be pardonable if she delivered it with a note of humility. We're all works in progress: no shame in that. Just say so! But I sense a weird patronizing note coupled with the feedback. From what I can see above, 1) she doesn't finish the story 2) she doesn't comment on content or the story as a whole 3) she uses lines like "fussy" and "you can do better" rather than providing helpful analysis and examples. 4) the tone of the whole review is curt. The fact that she doesn't appear to have finished the story in particular irritates me: it's like she's subtly telling you that the many "mistakes" she found in your first few paragraphs make reading the rest a tax on her time. But the story is excellent!

I don't know the woman from anyone, but I can see why this would make you angry. You can see it for what it is, but a newer writer might be thrown. In my opinion, she should change her reviewing style and start sharing, listening, and learning, rather than instructing. She isn't skilled enough yet to instruct, and pretending she is could seriously throw off new writers. There's no shame in being in the early stages as a writer, and saying so within a review.

(Whilst.)