I wonder whether, despite their success, well established authors still feel insecurities about their talent and if this has anything to do with the decision to use a pen name for a genre outside their comfort zone?
And I would really love to read a romance novel by Stephen King. If only he'd write one!
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Quote by AshleighQuote by LisaQuote by Ashleigh
Most of my characters are immediately flawed, and you slowly grow to love them or appreciate their complexities. I certainly did, as I wrote them, which was surprising to me. I wasn't expecting to like some of them and it kind of made me feel a little guilty to make bad things happen to them.
I love flawed characters, they're a lot more realistic and easier to relate to. Do you spend a lot of time deciding what your characters' flaws will be? Do you ever worry you might choose the wrong traits for your characters and make them into people the readers aren't able to warm to?
I tend to draw a lot from real life when creating central characters. Those people that I know in real life always have flaws (or tendencies to flaws) so I tend to follow that lead. I want the flaws to be as realistic as possible.
I have had the concern that readers may not warm up to certain characters. I tend to enjoy stories with controversial on unconventional characters, but that is not the case with all readers. The entire "cast" is really meant to portray the concepts central to the overall themes of the story, and so they may tend to the extremes in certain cases.
Having said that, I do go out of my way (as the story progresses) to humanize the characters and give them more relatable and sympathetic traits.
But yeah... it's been on my mind since the beginning... are the characters too abrasive for readers to care about? If anyone is reading the story and has an opinion on this, be sure to let me know...
I'm enjoying your characters. The way they interact with one another works well. You use some nice subtle little expressions and gestures that make them seem all the more real.
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Quote by Ashleigh
Most of my characters are immediately flawed, and you slowly grow to love them or appreciate their complexities. I certainly did, as I wrote them, which was surprising to me. I wasn't expecting to like some of them and it kind of made me feel a little guilty to make bad things happen to them.
I love flawed characters, they're a lot more realistic and easier to relate to. Do you spend a lot of time deciding what your characters' flaws will be? Do you ever worry you might choose the wrong traits for your characters and make them into people the readers aren't able to warm to?
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Quote by AshleighQuote by Lisa
Now we have our first stories posted on site, it's a good time to ask how you feel as a writer when you put your work out there to be read by others.
Does it take you a while to build the courage or do you have nerves of steel and are not put off at all by the idea?
I get full nerves every single time. But I'm always eager to post as soon as I finish something. I've never delayed submitting a story just because I was nervous about it. When in doubt, a few drinks always help to ease the anxiety...
Years ago when I submitted my first ever story online, I was so nevous that I did the liquid courage thing before finally hitting the submit button. I got several comments shortly afterwrds and started telling those people I loved them and that they "rocked". It's important to know when to stop!
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It's great to see so many new members joining up!
Just a request that you please not make mention of our sister site here. We really want this to be a site people can feel comfortable sharing with their family and friends, and if there are posts relating to the other site throughout the forum, they may be reluctant to do that.
Thanks!
Just a request that you please not make mention of our sister site here. We really want this to be a site people can feel comfortable sharing with their family and friends, and if there are posts relating to the other site throughout the forum, they may be reluctant to do that.
Thanks!
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Quote by bikebum1975Quote by LisaQuote by sassy
Milk..I know Im weird!
I don't think it's weird. I love an ice cold glass of milk!
One of my all time favorite drinks in the summer. I have it with ice cubes sometimes but only whole milk for me
Same for me too. I don't buy low fat milk. It just doesn't taste as good.
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Quote by DirtyMartiniQuote by Lisa
I removed your link to a competitor's site, Alan. We're trying to encourage that kind of participation here rather than send people elsewhere.
I could swear I saw a link to WritersResources.com somewhere that you posted, but I must be mistaken...
Just trying to be helpful...
Writersresources.com is mostly a collection of articles rather than an online community where people post their work.
No harm done!
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Quote by shy_scribe
I would really love to be published. I can't imagine how that would feel!
I want to be published too...in print. I've had one story published as an e-book and that was exciting enough. I'd love to know what it feels like to hold a paperback book in my hands with my name on it.