[ SECRET POST #1989 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1989 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 048 secrets from Secret Submission Post #284.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

15. http://i50.tinypic.com/vigvp5.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

New policies? Hardly. Critics United is just on their collective period lately.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow that's not horrible misogynistic to say or anything.

[(Anonymous)]

well it is kind of true... Literate Union sometimes get this collective bug up their asses every so often- one could even say PERIODICALLY.

YEEEAAAH!

[(Anonymous)]

Aside from being misogynistic, that doesn't even make sense. You do know that the P in PMS stands for right?

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but you can still be super bitchy when you're actually ON your period. I am.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, same here. I'm cranky before, but when I'm actually ON it, it's like I turn into a giant ball of angry and hungry.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh god, no food in the world can stop me when I'm on my period. I'm like freakin' Kirby

[(Anonymous)]

Except, you know, you would have had to finish it first. That's the thing about WIPs: they can be a thousand pages long, but until you actually finish something, being an author is just a pipe dream.

[thewordlovely]

And finishing is even harder than it seems.

[(Anonymous)]

Then there is editing, which can take longer than writing the first complete draft did.

[(Anonymous)]

And heaven help you if you find huge plot-holes or realize that your pacing was off in huge chunks of the story, or that you've contradicted your own themes, or that you botched the characterization to make the plot work at some point, or that you got something wrong for not doing the research, etc.

[lit_wolf.livejournal.com]

Haven't been on FF.net in a while, what are the new policies?

I feel the same way about my fanfics. I may not be in the triple digits yet with my fanfics but I've put a lot more time and effort into then than I have with my own original work. But I look at it as practice. Playing with your writing style now and sorting out what works for you so then you can use it when you're ready to buckle down with original work.

[(Anonymous)]

They aren't new policies; ffn.net is just enforcing its existing rules concerning porn, rules they've had since 2002.

[(Anonymous)]

You could always change names and revise canon specific situations and shop it around as an original novel. *cough*Draco Trilogy*cough*50 Shades of Grey*cough*

[(Anonymous)]

Despite the suckage of those works, someday I will do this. Luckily my project was set over 100 years before the source canon, with many departures in form, tone, and setting. Only two characters who appear in the source are in my story, and although one was the main character in mine at the time I wrote it he had appeared only once or twice in the canon series and said very little.

[kathkin]

*sighs* I know the feeling. For a while the longest thing I'd ever written and finished was fanfiction. My record for most written in one day... also fanfiction. xD Best to just think of it as good practice.

Or, y'know, sit down and have a go at actually writing a novel. :3

[countess_k]

There's much more to writing publish-worthy original fiction than length. Writing fanfiction and writing to publish are two completely different beasts, much like painting graffiti on walls and painting art to put in a gallery are different.

[(Anonymous)]

And much like in your analogy, sometimes an artist lucks out and their graffiti makes it into an art gallery because of a serendipitous combination of talent and hitting what was popular or fascinatingly new amongst the critics or whomever calls the shots in the gallery.

[countess_k]

Of course: Stephanie Meyer, Cassandra Clare, E. L. James.

[aiffe]

You know, I've always compared fanfiction to street art myself. I once heard a radio program interviewing a guy who did a documentary on street art, who had himself interviewed a lot of street artists. Like fanfiction, most street art is anonymous or pseudoanonymous, and shared publicly. It's a gift that's dubiously legal, that the creator does not benefit from in any way, except possibly being appreciated for their effort. It's a way that poor, creative people, who don't have a platform of their own, can borrow someone else's property for a bit to express themselves and be heard. Like fanfiction, street art goes directly from the artist to the audience, without any process of screening, editing, or rejection/approval. Masterpieces can be found next to talentless scribbles. There's no quality control, but that also means that it's truly egalitarian, that anyone can participate, instead of having to apply and hope someone with the power to promote you likes your work.

And the world of published fiction is certainly as full of itself as gallery art.

[velvet_mace]

Volume isn't really the most important thing in story telling. That WIP gave you good practice.

Also, there's nothing to stop you from writing that original novel now.

[(Anonymous)]

Not to rain on your parade, but even if you'd spent all that time writing original stuff, you probably still wouldn't be published. Not knocking on you or your writing, just going by the odds. Publishing is a notoriously difficult business to break into, and even being a really good writer (easier said than done) isn't enough. You need to find the right agent/market for your work (again, easier said than done), and have good timing (ditto), and get a bit of luck, too (ditto again). And you're probably going to get a lot of rejections before that happens. I know I did.

If you want to be published, stop moping over your fanfic, get off the internet, and start writing. Write on a schedule--set yourself a daily word count goal and actually hit it. Finish the stuff you write, because WIPs are meaningless unless you're an established author. When you finish it, edit it. Then send out your work, grow a thick skin, get rejections, and send it out again. Even when you're crying because your writing is crap and your story is crap and you want to chuck it all straight out the window, keep going. That's what it takes to get published professionally.

And if publishing is more of a "what if" than a real, strong desire? That's fine. But don't think that writing 150 pages is all it takes to get published. If you try to get into the business with that kind of mindset, you'll get torn down so fast you won't even know what hit you.

[countess_k]

THIS.

Also I would go one step further (or back) and suggest: if you are serious about writing original fiction, get your hands on as many writing books as you can. Books about story structure, character development, internal journey, dialogue and scene structure and of course writing. Do as much practice as you can and visit these forums. Post your work there, watch it get shredded to pieces, then take their advice about what you're doing wrong and try again. Trust me only after doing all of that your writing would be at a level that agents just might send you a real response (not an automated rejection letter.) Like the above anon I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just recounting some personal experience that might be helpful if you're serious about publishing.

[(Anonymous)]

DA.

Having written three novels (soon to be four!), I could not agree more with this. Books on writing have been absolutely invaluable to me (especially "A Writer's Guide to Fiction" by Elizabeth Lyon - I recommend that book to writers at every level who are serious about completing a novel!).

I also want to third the sentiment that while writing 150 pages is an awesome accomplishment, whether it's fanfic or original, writing the novel is a much smaller part of the process as a whole than most people (even some writers) realize. There's writing a novel, and then there's trying to get a novel published. I spent the majority of two years writing the first draft of my current project. I've spent what is going on THREE years now editing it (and I'm nowhere near done). Getting a novel published isn't just about writing, it's mostly about editing and rewriting, planning and outlining, and research. Reading other books like your project to see what works and what doesn't in your chosen genre is also a must in a time when only a very small percentage of manuscripts are published. And that's not even getting into the challenges of getting an agent (speaking of which, I'd also like to add that authors who are of the opinion that you "don't need" an agent to get published are absolutely 100% KIDDING THEMSELVES), selling to a publisher and promoting your work!

Like those above me have said, just a bit of advice from someone who's been - and is still currently - there. Writing a novel and trying to share it with the world are worthwhile pursuits, but it's NOT easy, and you really do need to be serious about it. Keep in mind that even if you don't get published, having a completed novel or two under your belt - or even a completed work of fanfiction - is still more than most people can say! What I've found is that these days, writing a book seems to be the thing to do (especially among celebrities), and EVERYONE seems to want to write a novel. But remember, only a small percentage of us ACTUALLY DO IT. Because it's a LOT harder than people think it is!