Kevis’s Comments (group member since Jul 22, 2009)

Kevis’s comments from the I'm Trying to Get a Book Published! group.

Mizla wrote: "Kevis wrote: "Rita wrote: "chews lips and mutters to self
and then goes off to put that in a story somewhere..."

ROTFLOL!!!

"

what's ROTFLOL?"


It's Internet speak for "Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud". Rita's comment made me laugh. Just letting you know that there wasn't anything sinister about my response.

Magen,

Glad I could help. :)

Strangely, I never was fascinated by pen names. I do understand why some authors like Anne Rice and Stephen King have published some of their works under pen names. It was a way to get around their publishing contracts. But there is a part of me that thinks pen names are silly. I feel like the author is trying to hide something and is not being genuine with their readers.

In my case, I don't feel I have anything to hide, so I prefer to use my real name on my books. But in the end, everyone is entitled to do what they think is best for them. But when an author tells me "Oh, I am going to publish all of my books under different pseudonyms", it seems like it is a shameful attempt to deceive readers.

Rita wrote: "chews lips and mutters to self
and then goes off to put that in a story somewhere..."

ROTFLOL!!!

Sagey wrote: "Kevis,
... it isn't that i don't care about my work or the readers or that i don't take the time to space out the paragraphs. i do, and i do copy and paste because there is no way i'm re writing th..."


Sagey,

I am fully sympathetic to how difficult it is to find the time to engage in writing-related activities including social networking. Since few writers make enough to survive on it as their sole income, and have to work a 9-5, as well as take care of their other responsibilities, it is very demanding to say the least. I cannot tell other people what to do. Nor would I try. However, I hold myself to the highest possible standard when it comes to my writing. I am not perfect. But I do take pride in my work.

Every writer on this thread is here because we want help of some kind or another. If we were Stephen King, none of us would be here. I don't expect perfection from the other writers in this group. I do understand that the majority of the writing posted here on GoodReads is unpublished material. However, this does not excuse a writer from doing what's necessary to make his writing readable.

I can easily overlook misspellings, typos, and all the other grammatical errors that usually plague unpolished work. With that said, I have to be honest with you. I have tried to read your writing more than once and each time, I quit after the first few sentences because I cannot get over the fact that you copied and pasted your work without making even the slightest attempt to space out your writing (Sadly, I have more spacing in this post than you do in any of your posted material).

You use the excuse of not having the time to fix it. Every other person, including myself, has had to go through the tedious and annoying effort of spacing out our work to make it presentable. No one enjoys going through this process. But IT IS part of the process.

I would not dare to post any of my writing on GoodReads if I am unwilling to do what it takes to make my work readable (It's either all or nothing). As I said before, I can't make anyone do something they don't want to do. If you have decided that you won't spend 5 minutes out of your life to space out your paragraphs, why should I spend fifteen minutes of my life punishing myself to read your work?

To be clear, I am not upset with you or trying to be harsh. You have done nothing to upset me and for all I know, you are a wonderful person. But you really should take some pride in what you do. It's the only request that I have from any writer whose work I read.

You need not take my advice or spend the 5 minutes you need to fix your work on my account. However, I am unable to comprehend how you have spent far more than 10 minutes writing multiple posts to explain to us why you won't space out your paragraphs, when you could have solved the problem in 1/3 of the time by simply going to your writing and hitting "enter/return" for a handful of minutes.

I'll say it again, you need not do anything on my account. But if you are willing to show a little pride in your work and fix the spacing, I will be happy to read it. It will then be my burden (and choice) to chug through the rest of the misspellings, typos, grammatical errors, and the rest of the problems that still exist in your work. At least at that point, I will know that you are trying to help your readers help you. Until then, the lack of spacing in your work after having been advised to do otherwise by more than one person in this group is the first indication to me that you won't be willing to listen to any other criticism we have about your work. Am I wrong?

Hi Lisa and welcome! Feel free to go ahead and create a thread with your name on it. That way it will be easier to address the specific questions you have about publishing. I'll be sure to keep an eye out so that I can comment on your thread. Looking forward to talking with you some more.

Rita/Mizla,

I think noisy silence is a great word. The only problem is that the way the passage reads, there isn't anything silent about what is happening in the woods. Or least, that's what I think. Still, I do understand the point Mizla is trying to make in her story. But like her, I'm wondering if there is a better way to word it. Then again, maybe all of this is overkill.

BTW, Magen. I left you some comments on The Billion Dollar Piece. But my comments were so long that it wasn't saved. I'll try to say here what I wrote there for you.

A great way to start your story would be to use 'media res'. This is just a fancy way of saying starting your story in the middle of the action. If you introduce your readers to Amanda at the point where she is trying to cope with the fact that her parents are no longer rich, you will hook them. (You don't need a long drawn out build up for a short story. If you are writing a novel, then you might want to go that route.)

My suggestion would be for you to show that Amanda is so desperate to maintain her popularity that she continues to pretend that she is rich, even though this is clearly not the case. She would in effect be living a lie. But what will make this story interesting is to take your readers on a journey with Amanda so that we can watch her go to extreme lengths to hide her secret from everyone including her friends (I imagine there might be a bit of humor in the process).

This story should allow us readers to watch Amanda's attempts and ultimate failure to be something and someone she is not. In the end, the truth comes out that she is not rich and her world comes crumbling down around her.

At the end of the story, it would be great to see Amanda reconcile with the fact that although she isn't popular anymore and that she isn't rich, she comes to learn that true wealth and happiness doesn't come from money or the rabid attention of groupies, but rather from her self-worth and pride in who she is. Just my 2 cents. But I hope it helps to give you some ideas.

Mizla,

I've been thinking. How about we try something else altogether? Rather than describe the sound of the woods, how about describing the effect the woods is having on your characters. Read this and see if you think it helps:

"Jared interrupted the surreal ambiance. ‘So did you do it?’"

Mizla,

The problem is that silence and noise are oxymorons. They clash and aren't really compatible. Maybe you have to decide whether you want the woods to be noisy or silent. Until you choose one or the other, you'll have some trouble finding the right word for your story.

Hi Magen,

I've enjoyed reading your work. You have some wonderful ideas for your stories. They just need to be developed a little bit further. But it's safe to say that you are on the right track. Keep up the good work.

Mizla,

I would probably make a couple of suggestions. They are only suggestions so please take my advice with a grain of salt. But I am thinking instead of saying "they treaded over the fallen autumn leaves", it might read better if the sentence read "tread upon the fallen autumn leaves." You can't really tread over something. The word tread means "stepped upon" or "to step on".

As for the word you are looking for, "calm" would fit nicely. Just my 2 cents. Either way it's a nice start to your story. ;)

Welcome, Nicole! This is a wonderful group. I certainly have been spending most of my time here getting to meet everyone. Hope you enjoy yourself here as much fun as I do. :)

Mizla,

You are definitely talented. Thanks for sharing your work with us. ;)

I agree with some of what Ayn Rand has to say. But just like every other form of human philosophy I've ever encountered, there are things I don't agree with. The main problem that I have with Objectivism is that it is a philosophy that promotes one to be entirely self-consumed. Rand's philosophy encourages one to adopt a live and let die attitude. Humans are social creatures, meaning that we are, by our very nature, communal.

For all of its finer points, objectivism is ultimately anti-human and anti-social. It is however pro-individual. This makes it very similar to Satanism which promotes the exact same doctrine. With that said, there are some admirable aspects of Rand's philosophy. But like all forms of philosophy, a person would do best to adapt the parts of it that works for them and dispense with the rest. I know I will.

Lyssa,

Did you have some writing you want to share with us?

Lyssa wrote: "If you want to write-Brenda Ueland
Creating Characters-Dwight V. Swain
(I am currently reading these)"

Lyssa,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to check this book out.

Thanks, Rita. It's just the tip of the iceberg. I've got a team of artists who are going to start designing new illustrations specifically to be used with my products. Can't wait to get them done. ;)

Dreams can be a very interesting source of information about your characters. It's a fact that sometimes when writer's block is starting to set in, I'll have a dream that will reveal the next scene for me thus sparing me the ills of writer's block. But I can't imagine how dreadful it must be to dream of school over summer break. Must be a pain.

Go for it, Mizla. You're going to be on an emotional cloud 9 when you see your work being accepted by professionals. There's no other feeling like it, trust me! ;)