New kid, ahoy!

[k-stevens.livejournal.com]

Hai!

The name is Kristen and I'm a new kid... obviously. I'm brand new to the community and an LJ virgin to boot... but in an effort to provoke myself into taking my writing more seriously I decided to find a writing group to join.

I've scowered LJ and I must say... this has been one of the nicer communities I've seen. You have a lot of active members, an easy to follow set of rules, and some decently written tales!

I love sharing my work with others, but I'm also all about the critiquing. I've been called 'harsh' before with some of my critiques, but it's honesty, not mean-ness. I don't like lying to people, or giving them half-hearted compliments in order to spare them. It's a tough, cruel world out there and agents, publishers, and editors won't hold their tongues. If you think you're the greatest writer (because your family and friends all gave you raving compliments), they will eat you alive. It's better to be humbled by your peers than to have every hope and dream dashed against the wall by a mean-spirited editor.

I only ask that I get what I give. Critiquing is something that should be hard work and I feel discouraged when I get a 'Great job!' instead of someone telling me what they really feel. If you like my story, that's great... but I'm not perfect. I love getting real critiques because it makes me feel like people are actually reading my work.

So, there you have it. I should be posting some of my chapters up soon... but until then... it's very nice to meet you all!

Lots of <3,
Kristen