Resources

Miss Snark (and agent with a blog) has a really good list that she just posted.

Take a look at 13 Ways To Be a Slush Pile Reject-just today!.

Great read.

Travis.
--
http://cottreau.blogspot.com
http://cottreaureviews.blogspot.com/

Miss Snark rocks, and I agree with what she's saying. You do need to get the agent's attention, but you also need to get your facts straight. ^^

�First notebooks, now scythes, what else do humans think Death Gods use, toilet brushes? You haven’t even transformed! OK. Repeat after me, ‘Death God Power, Make Up!’” - Oliver.

Had a good read of that post, the replies that went on and on were funnier than the post itself I think.

While I appreciate what she's saying and some of the stuff that people wrote was pretty stupid, I think here at Kiwiwriters we shouldn't get to hung up on that kind of thing.

We're here for the joy of writing, and just getting pen on paper (typing on screen?), and I'd hate for people to read something like that and get discouraged.

Not making a dig at you Travis, it was a fun read and it was definitely worth posting. I guess it just raises an interesting line of thought in my mind...

Maybe down the line if people here are starting to get really serious about getting published we could have a section on the site with similar things about the cold harsh reality of getting accepted etc., while still keeping the rest of the site carefree? What do we think?

Trying to find the time (as usual)!

I think it's important to keep the site focused on the fun of writing. :)

No Excuses. Just Write.

And the fun of developing it...!

Oh yeah, writing, right ;-)

But to touch on what angellic said, isn't it funny how these days we don't "write" but instead "type/tap/whatever"?

It's like "writing an email" which is funny when you think about it. I would hazard a guess that no-one in the world has ever 'actually written' an email!

*andy's mind is currently in the Friday 6pm mindset where no real point exists but R&R is coming soon*

Andrew Chilton - http://kapiti.geek.nz/

Guys,

I was so not focused on the negatives of writing that it didn't even occur to me. Just something funny that I thought I'd post.

I am almost skipping by Ms Snark's blog these days. There are just SO MANY of them. There must be at least 3 a day. I'm sure that the archive will come in useful to me some day, but for now, I think I'll unsubscribe. And - it is pretty negative.

Travis.
--
http://cottreau.blogspot.com
http://cottreaureviews.blogspot.com/

Hmm. Yes, I agree that we should probably have a separate section for publishing aspects (Don't we have one already? The "Submissions" forum or something?) But I think some of Miss Snark's advice isn't just about publishing, but about how to be a better writer -even if you don't aim to publish.

I think it's good that we emphasize on the joy of writing. But... I think some of what Miss Snark says e.g. about getting the facts right and avoiding cliches -are also a very important of writing even if we don't intend to publish.

The goal of every writer should be to produce good quality writing and have fun while doing it, right? I think the thing with Nanowrimo is they emphasize on the First Draft stage, so it doesn't matter if your draft is made up of plot cliches and disjointed writing, for the month. But since KiwiWriters is an all year round activity, we should not just do crappy first drafts but discuss techniques and Miss Snark's advice like this, and look to improve the quality of our writing as well -aka the editing/revising/pre-/post-writing stages- not necessarily to suit the market demands, but at least to good standards. Which is another reason why I think having the editing and critique forums to discuss is good.

It's kinda hard to explain, but anyway, hopefully this post did make SOME sort of sense...

Angel I totally agree. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that the tone of the critquing is something we should be careful about.

While I can see that Miss Snark is going for comedy with her approach, I guess I'm just wary of things that sound a bit elitist . Things that imply "Well if you were stupid enough to write that one sentence in the description of your novel then you shouldn't even bother trying to be a writer because you just suck." I think critiquing and a focus on creating quality writing is important for Kiwiwriters, we just have to be aware to keep the tone of it light and make sure there is room for people to make mistakes and learn from them, rather than make mistakes and be told they're dumb and should just give up.

Which of course, no one here does anyway , so I'm really just rambling on and on about something that isn't even an issue.

Hey! Tra la la!

Trying to find the time (as usual)!

Hm. I see what you mean. Yup, kiwiwriters should definitely take a lighter approach, which means we can't be too snarky and criticize people, only their writing.

You're right, it isn't really an issue here. But interesting to discuss all the same :)