http://lucascfarrar.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] lucascfarrar.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] writers_loft2009-11-22 10:59 pm

(no subject)

Hey hey, scrubby twenty-eight year old aspiring novelist here. Looking for a few good communities after being entirely dismayed by the attitudes of the so-called experts over at the Writer's Digest forums. I mean most of them are decent people, but there are a few smug individuals who wont let anyone else participate without butting in with condescending remarks.

Sorry, I have brought my angst with me. Don't worry I wont post too much, just getting that out of my system.

Anyway, I've got a completed novel that's no good. It's a first attempt and I can barely read it myself without cringing. I was considering posting it chapter by chapter for a while just to get some healthy criticism, but I'm not sure if posting something I know is pretty bad is a good idea.

If you got to this far, thanks for bearing with me. /introduction

[identity profile] queenoftheskies.livejournal.com 2009-11-23 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
What about posting a chapter just to get a sense of what you need to work on?

[identity profile] davien.livejournal.com 2009-11-23 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
If you are cringing when you read it, then you have some sense of what needs to be changed, right? Maybe not HOW to change it, but certainly of what needs to be changed. Maybe focus on that.

[identity profile] starlight83.livejournal.com 2009-11-23 03:28 pm (UTC)(link)
The fact that you cringe when reading your own writing is probably a good thing, because it means you know enough to recognize when something is bad. You'd be surprised how many people can't see the bad in their own writing.

I'd say go through what you have, find part of it that you know needs fixing but you don't know HOW to fix, and post it for feedback. Take the feedback, rework it, and post it again...see if your revisions worked/if there's still more you need to work on.