Barclay Stops the Banishment from the Garden of Eden

[Timewalker]

...writing is hardly a get rich quick scheme. Even the most famous authors have typically struggled for years before gaining financial security from it. Often the most talented continue to struggle anyway as commercial success is hardly tied to quality.

Yep. In his later life, Isaac Asimov could have written his grocery list and sold it, but when he was first starting out many decades earlier, he got plenty of rejection slips like any other author. And once he did start making sales, he waited for years - he had his doctorate by then and was teaching chemistry at a university - before he dared to "quit his day job" and write full-time.

Hey, you and I have the same rank now. I don't know if I'm right about this, but I'm guessing people get a new rank every 50 posts.

Nope. Check the FAQ; there's a list of the ranks and the post count needed to get there. The higher you get, the more you have to have for the next level. I still have over 1200 to go before my next promotion.

 

[Kor]

Another suggestion; if you are in college, your school may have some kind of literary journal that's printed quarterly or annually. Look into submitting some short stories to that journal.

The college newspaper may be another way to get your name out there. But news requires adherence to a very specific style, as well as understanding of journalistic principles. So you would probably need to complete a news writing course or two before trying that out.

And again, you won't get paid for any of this. It's really to get established and gain experience. Getting on the editorial staff would probably look good on your resume (and in that case, you might get a stipend of some kind).

Kor

 

[Sgt_G]

Check the FAQ; there's a list of the ranks and the post count needed to get there.

Where the heck IS that list?? I found it once, by accident, but I can't hunt it down anymore.

 

[somebuddyX]

I think this story could work but only if we find out that God was a Goa'uld

 

[Spot261]

Just checked Pocket's submissions criteria, no unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need an agent

 

[Spot261]

I think this story could work but only if we find out that God was a Goa'uld

The Devil was Q and the apple was the Calamarain

 

[5billionof5billion]

Just checked Pocket's submissions criteria, no unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need an agent

I asked about an agent a long time ago.

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[5billionof5billion]

Check to see if there are any writers clubs in your area. That's how my sister got started. She has since written several pieces for travel magazines and been paid for them. Not a lot. Some might fill the gas tank, a few might make a car payment. Most buy a meal at a fast-food joint.

I have to ask: how old are you? You don't have to say if you don't want to. From some of your postings (using library computer, etc.) I have to suspect you're a teenager, perhaps not quite old enough to drive yet. Or perhaps early 20s and just out on your own.

I won't tell you my age, but you might be able to figure it out on your own if I tell you I'm older than Heidi Klum by a few months.

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Sgt_G]

Just checked Pocket's submissions criteria, no unsolicited manuscripts, so you'll need an agent

That's good to know. Thanks for that.

5,000,000,000: That was my other guess: retirement age, or pretty near to. Hey, have you taken any college night classes? Even if you have a degree, it might not be a bad idea to take some writing courses.

 

[5billionof5billion]

No I haven't taken any college night classes. I took two semesters of college at a junior college in Rockford, Illinoi back in the early nineties after I got out of high school.

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[uniderth]

Where the heck IS that list?? I found it once, by accident, but I can't hunt it down anymore.

Found it: http://web.archive.org/web/20050129175422/http://www.trekbbs.com/members/faq.shtml

That's where the in forum links took me anyway. I don't know if there is a better version.

 

[Sgt_G]

I think that's for the old BBS software ......

 

[Timewalker]

Yikes. It'll take me another ten years to make Admiral, assuming I manage Vice-Admiral by the end of this year.

 

[5billionof5billion]

What about agents? Since I was advised to get one by a couple people, can someone please give me information?

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[sojourner]

Just google "literary agent". It's not that hard.

 

[5billionof5billion]

Just google "literary agent". It's not that hard.

When it was suggested that I take a course in college. Did someone mean a course in creative writing? The concept of it has fascinated me. I remember my sixth grade teacher saying something about it; but unfortunately, he didn't do much with it. The most he did is ask someone to make a creative statement about rainbows; and I raised my hand and said, "A rainbow is a street of many colors,"; and he said, "Not bad."

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan
P.S. I watched Doctor Who that had the Cybermen in it a little bit and was disappointed. I was told the Borg were kind of like them, but the Cybermen aren't nearly as tough. I saw them going down with shot after shot by one robot in the Five Doctors special, and the Borg would've adapted to that weapon a lot sooner.

 

[Sgt_G]

When it was suggested that I take a course in college. Did someone mean a course in creative writing?

Yes, exactly. You may have to take English 101 first, which is like all of high school grammar / punctuation rolled into one six-eight week class. If you've been out of school for a while, that will be helpful both to get the basics down again and gear up into the habit of studying and such. Just check with your local community college and see what they offer.

 

[5billionof5billion]

I took two courses of English when I was in college and hated them because they made me write term papers. I don't want to write term papers. I want to write stories.

We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
God bless, Jason Irelan

 

[Sgt_G]

Yes, but writing term papers teaches you all the rules. Creative writing will teach you how and when you can break the rules to be a better author. If you read anything over on fan-fic-dot-net, you'll see tons of dreck that indicates some authors, and I use that term loosely, never took any sort of writers class in their lives.

 

[Timewalker]

P.S. I watched Doctor Who that had the Cybermen in it a little bit and was disappointed. I was told the Borg were kind of like them, but the Cybermen aren't nearly as tough. I saw them going down with shot after shot by one robot in the Five Doctors special, and the Borg would've adapted to that weapon a lot sooner.

Keep in mind that the Five Doctors story was aired in 1983, which was four years before TNG premiered. Also keep in mind that there's a considerable difference between Classic Doctor Who (1963-1996) and nuWho (2005-present). Classic Cybermen and modern Cybermen are not the same. And you shouldn't read too much into the Raston Warrior Robot, as that's something that (to the best of my recollection) only appeared in that one story, in very specific circumstances.

I took two courses of English when I was in college and hated them because they made me write term papers. I don't want to write term papers. I want to write stories.

Welcome to the club. I had to write essays and term papers in my college English courses. It's part of every kind of English class, and I recall that the exams in my creative writing course in high school included essay questions about poetry and short stories.

By the way, one of my favorite Canadian authors is Margaret Atwood. My first exposure to her writing was in a college course on essay-writing. She's not only a fantastic novelist, but she's also an excellent essayist.

Yes, but writing term papers teaches you all the rules. Creative writing will teach you how and when you can break the rules to be a better author. If you read anything over on fan-fic-dot-net, you'll see tons of dreck that indicates some authors, and I use that term loosely, never took any sort of writers class in their lives.

Exactly. And they wail and stomp if you give them a fair review and tell them that they could benefit from a writing class or, at the very least, a competent beta reader.

I don't care how interesting the initial story idea might be; if the spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting drive me up the wall inside of the first three paragraphs, I won't bother to read the rest of it.