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I did a major flop. I picked out my top agent picks for my query and sent my first draft, which was terrrible. So, basically, I wasted my biggest hopes with my worst work lolol. Huge flop. But, my suggestion is to just go for it and not settle for anything less than fair. I am going to do one more attempt before getting a retail job and saving up to self pubilish. Good luck !

Dude everything you say is borderline retarded. I dont direct my argument towards your points because you arent making logical arguments. If someone were to tell you that Christmas trees have feelings and then ask you to argue against it, you couldnt, because they arent presenting an argument, but an opinion based on nothing, which is the case we have here. You spout gibberish with absolutely no understanding of the concepte, principles, or psychology that we (the rest of us) are discussing.

On top of that, you have not presented me with logical argumentation against a single one of my arguments. It is the equivelency of telling me that I am wrong because potato, with a few big words that you dont understand thrown in. We are not in the midst of a real argument (hows that for realism ?), but a lopsided conveyance of concept and thought versus an inability to understand that concept and thought. It is not possible to argue away sheer ignorance.

I have read plenty of novels, and have written one myself (a novel, not a novella), and, even if I hadnt, what I am saying is still factual. Complain about how normal is boring all you want (even though the word normal hasnt been said by me a SINGLE time throughout our discussion, which shows how little your comprehension levels are (which, btw is a large part of why this discussion has proceeded thus far. You think I am arguing that normal and boring should be every character's M.O., yet I am saying nothing of the sort. I am speaking about how you connect the abnormal to the normal, and you simply have no grasp whatsoever of what I am saying. I assure you, it is literally as if I am arguing with a potato.)), and enjoy writing about a superhero meteorite in the asteroid belt, which has no feelings or thoughts or characteristics or anthropomorphization whatsoever (which is about the only thing that you could write that doesnt adhere whatsoever to the principles I am conveying. As I said, there has never been a main character without some level of anthropomorphization).

The fact of the matter is that people must identify with something on some level if they are to care about it. Arguing against this is futile, as it is a fact. Period. Period period period. Argue all you want in the most ignorant and unhelpful of fashions, but it will still remain a fact. Argue that red and green are the same color and that dirt is tasier than doughnuts. The facts will remain facts.

Man, youre missing it entirely. What is the difference between the new Spiderman movie "The Amazing Spiderman 2," and the first Spiderman movie with Toby Macguire ? They were both had plenty of CGI, special effects, plenty of Spiderman, Villains, and dialogue, yet one was beloved, while the other scrutinized, hated, and generally trash-talked, even to the point of Sony firing the actor. What is the difference here ? It lies only in the script and the actor. We like Toby and the writing because we BELIEVE that he cares for Aunt May, we BELIEVE that he loves Mary, we BELIEVE that what he says throughout the movie is what he would really say if in that position. We BELIEVE that he is feeling and thinking and acting.

Any trait can be identified with if done properly. Even if you dont have the trait yourself, such as a hatred for Batman (Two-face, for instance), we have met people who have hated, we have met or seen people who have killed on tv. The main reason that people watch videos of people in dire circumstances is often to connect with them or identify with them better. We want to FEEL closer to other people, even if we dont know it. We want to know what they are going through, and to understand them. So, even if we arent the villain, we can, to some extent identify with the villain, as we have all seen or known or heard about them.  The question is, how does a villain act ? What would a villain say ? How would the villain feel ?

This is what you are missing. The SITUATION may not be real, but the FEELINGS are. That is why it is important to "Get into character," to understand the character, to know the character, every character, no matter how small their part. Two Face isnt real, but we know hate, we know anger. We have all experienced it at some point in our lived to varying degrees. Therefore, the hatred, the anger, that Two face operates with in relation to Batman must be real, even if the situation and the people are not. This is the truth in the lie. It must be a truth, or it cannot hold weight. Without this identification to the very real aspects of life, we simply do not care. Have you ever found yourself routing for the Alien in the Alien or AVP movies ? Has a random Xeno ever caught your attention and had you sobbing when it was killed by fire ? No. In fact, there has never been a main character of anything without some amount of anthropomorphization. This is because we MUST identify with it on some level in order to care, and we can only identify with something that has an element of realism, AKA, the truth within a lie.

It isnt so much truth as it is A truth. I have always thought of it this way. Your characters ARE NOT you. YOU are not your characters. BUT, you MUST UNDERSTAND your characters. You must have a deep and intimate understanding of each and every character that you write, their experiences, their frame of mind, their thoughts, their reasoning, their logic, all of the psychology that goes into who and what they are. If you dont, your character wont be convincing. This is similar to how actors "Get into character." They become the character, in a sense. Of course, they dont actually become the character, and their original self must be preserved, but they integrate enough into the perspective to be able to convey a realistic version. That IS the truth that they create. This is why it is easier to model our characters based on ourselves or people that we know, or use real life events, changed or modified to fit. It is because that is what we know. That is what we already understand. The characters that are nothing like us, those are harder, because we must come to understand a truth that we do not already know. So, basically, each character and each situation must be a truth, even though it is, technically, a lie. For no character goes loved or hated if it is not within a realm of realism.

lol Tim, the movie had heart... Quirky, quirky heart. Plus the satire was exquisite. Few movies pull that off well, much less while being a decently original movie in its own right. lol.

I liked Mars Attacks :-/ lolol

I would contest that words ending in -ing can indeed be set off by a comma at the end. "I left the house, wondering what the sound was," or "He was in the library, reading a book." Even if it is barred by a technicality somewhere, it is so commonly accepted and expected that it wouldn't matter anyways. This is similar to how conjunctions are now commonly accepted at the beginning of sentences. "And, sometimes, it isn't so bad."

And lol yeah a few of those words are good, but they can still be overused. Everything is always glinting off of everything in my mind lol.

Congrats guys ! Knew you would be in there Lesley, good job man :-)  Good luck to everyone who made it.

^^^ I actually only read the original post and very, very loosely skimmed the rest. My apologies for any confusion, and I appreciate the replies and the technical info.

This actually has nothing to do with having more than one uncle or with being essential or nonessential. It is a breakaway, a sidestep. It needs the commas because it deviates from the original sentence. I like to put commas, at times, after a conjunction, if it isn't a continuation of the previous topic. Do you see how "At times" is separated by commas ? It's because it breaks away from the original sentence structure. It isn't essential or nonessential. I simply wanted to break away and add ADDITIONAL information, and that is the correct way to do so. The above example that you gave needs commas regardless, in m opinion, as it is a breakaway that is adding additional information about the uncle.

Congrats dude ! Gave your entry a read. Very nice, and interesting to boot ! You had better not just leave it as a short story. Get on it man !