Questions

- generally everyone interested!

Hey, thanks for ****?cking. I’m a young writer and I was wondering if any one would be interested in creating a sort of email group to support writing and go day-by-day during ****?h events ***? NaNoWriMo and continue with any other writing throughout the year.

How this would work:

Anyone interested, please either email me at akitylasaraleen123@hotmail.com or lunaakitylasaraleen@yahoo.com or sign up by providing a valid email address below. Whenever a new ***?rson signs up, I’ll add their name to the list and ***?nd out the on-going list of email addresses to everyone who has signed up. When you’ve written something and you’d like it critiqued or you’d like an opinion or anything, ***?nd it out to everyone on the list. (Writing will likely be ***?nt out daily during ****?h events ***? NaNoWriMo by anyone participating.) When you receive an email with the bit of writing, go through it, read it, give your opinion, any mistakes you’ve found, critique it, of(cont.)
offer advice, etcetera. Please check your email often if you’d like to participate!

Hopefully this will provide a nice little community of writers and support! Hopefully we can all keep in touch! The writers can ***?nd out their writing to a nice large group of writers, readers, or critics, and receive feedback from a nice large group of writers, readers, or critics. Other writers, readers, or critics will have a nice supply of new work coming their way through email, and should have plenty of reading material! Everyone, please be honest, or this will be quite pointless, and please try to check your email at least once a week! Also, I am sure everyone would appreciate emails ***?nt out with notices about up-coming events (like NaNoWriMo and other similar events, for example), and I think it would be nice if we could rely on others in the group for advice or answers to questions if anyone needs help. Just ***?nd an email with your question to the group, and if you can help, please answer
please answer any questions you receive. I’m sure you get the idea of how this would work. The idea is, basically, a little email group of writers, readers, and others will be created, and readers will have material to read, the writers will have feedback, the ***?rious can get a nice supply of information, and those that like to help out will have questions to answer!

I’ve never done this before and I am not sure if it will work out, ****? I’d like to try! Please let me know if you are interested or if you have any ideas! All ages, styles, genres, backgrounds, etc welcome and encouraged to join. Thank you for your ***?me.

LunaAkitylasaraleen
Lena – Jess/Jessi – Lasaraleen – Arya – Barbie – Luna Girl
Whatever else you may know me ***?
Yes, I have many nick-names, lol.

(I think I am going to try to start a Yahoo Group with this… Just let me know if you’re interested! Thanks.)
1. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Participants attempt to write a 50,000+ word-count novel in one month. www.nanowrimo.org for more info. I hope to start it ***? soon ***? possible, and considering a few ***?ople have already expressed interest, possibly this week!

2. I realize it has a lot of flaws, it’s just a tentative idea. / I know other groups exist, ****? I’d like to start one myself. Other groups are usually quite large, and you can’t always trust everyone in them. / Like I said, you’d have to trust everyone to be honest. I guess it’s just the idea that if you steal someone’s work, they could steal yours, so if no one does it, then no one has to worry. / “However, that is a risk you have to talk when doing anything on the internet.” Exactly. Thanks for signing up!

3. Thanks!

4. Okay, thank you!

5. Hmm… I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks. / How I think it would work is you would ***?nd writing to everyone, and then they would ***?nd they’re opinions back to you, and -
- opinions back to you, and you’d have a collection of emails with different opinions that could prove useful during the editing process and when writing other things. If someone ****?ted a ***?ll critique they should probably just ***?k one ***?rson. ? / Erm, yeah, I should have said. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ***?NDING ANYTHING YOU ARE CONSIDERING PUBLISHING OUT TO A LARGE GROUP OF ***?OPLE. Also, yes, please do not post other’s work anywhere unless they have specifically stated that you may. Think about it: How would you feel if someone posted your work? This will just have to be another ***?me when ***?ople will have to trust others. / I think it’s a bit safer emailing to a group of ***?ople than posting on the internet – ***?rhaps not considerably, ****? slightly. ?. / Thanks. Yes, you’re right, lol. / Thanks for everything! I could use more advice like yours!

6. Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.

7. Thanks.
- LunaAkitylasaraleen

I have been reading the Scribner Anthology and The Shell Collector, both of which are collections of short stories. I am trying to collect some more ideas for reading material so what is your favorite short story?
- Freddy Finger

Creative writing can be a rewarding pastime. Many people turn to the pen to unwind after a stressful day. Some creative pieces can even be sold, turning a pastime into a source of additional income. However, many pieces that get written never see the publisher’s desk. Why? Because although creative writing is a hobby for many people, they need to produce professional-level work if they want to get published.

If you want to improve your creative writing, whether for your own benefit or to help get a work published, consider these tips.

Be a Well-Read Author

Being a well-read author does not imply that your works are read frequently. Rather, you need to constantly read the works of professional authors you wish to emulate. Choose your reading material carefully for its creative writing merit. The classics are always rewarding to read, and books that have been given this title received it for a reason. These authors know how to take words and craft a story that is easy to understand, causes one to think, captures the attention, and leaves a lasting impression. Pay attention to not only the way the author crafts the story, but also to the way he uses language.

Of course, you want to enjoy these works, not just read them for scholarly reasons. Even if you do not take a single note while you read, perusing great works will help you hone your writing style. The more well-written works you read, the better your own writing will be.

Avoid Imprecise Words

Some words have been used so often in the English language that they no longer have meaning. Words like “nice,” “great,” and “big” are overused and imprecise. Be as specific as you possibly can when you write, and use variations of these overused, vague words. Reading “the girl strolled through the park,” is far more interesting to read than “the girl walked through the park.” Both sentences mean the same thing, but the word “strolled” allows the reader to better picture the scene. The world “walk” can mean too many different types of movement.

To improve in this area, purchase a good thesaurus. When you are tempted to use a common, everyday word that does not have a precise meaning, look it up in the thesaurus. Find a synonym that means what you intend, and use that instead. Of course, avoid using words that are too flowery or hard to understand. Strive for simplicity as you strive for precision. And use a dictionary to double-check the nuances of words you find in the thesaurus.

Keep It Concise

New writers often add extra, unnecessary words to their writing, such as adverbs and passive verbs. You can make your creative writing much stronger by eliminating these unneeded words. Many adverbs (words that end in -ly), for instance, can be weeded out of writing without changing the meaning. If you use a lot of adverbs, then you need stronger verbs.

Another way to make your work more concise is to avoid writing in the passive tense. Passive tense verbs use some for of “is.” For instance, instead of, “The man was fired by his boss,” you could say, “The man’s boss fired him.” This uses fewer words, sounds stronger, and presents a more active image to the reader.

When you are finished with your work, read through it, and eliminate as many unnecessary words as possible. The more concise your writing is, the stronger it will sound to the reader.

Your Creative Writing Success

These tips will help you turn acceptable writing into writing that glows. Remember, when you are writing, less is more, precision is important, and the more you read, the better your finished written product will be!


- Melinda Copp