My main character is going through some conflict and is pretty down about it. Unfortunately...or fortunately....I am too as a result. I wish things were easier for my MC, but if it were, the story wouldn't go anywhere. I guess the fact that its upsetting me might be a sign that the story is genuine, so that's good. But it still has me a little sad.

I often get sad when bad things happen to my characters.
And right now I'm worried that people might find my MC unlikable, because she doesn't lose well. She loses a practice fight to some guy (a not-very-nice one), and gets mad. And there's nearly a real fight, because no one else likes that guy either. But all the same, I decided that this was better than the monster-attack idea, because that felt too much like a bad horror movie. (Woman is walking alone on the beach, a monster comes OUT OF NOWHERE and attacks! )
But I think I could make this scene work.

I definitely agree with those here who have recommended getting a writer's group. That's slightly hypocritical, though, since I myself don't have any writing companions. Right now I'm trying to line up some potential readers for the story I'm working on, but I'm having a hard time finding anyone. I simply don't know many writers.

In short, writers groups = A good idea that's hard to put into acton.

I'm currently partway through the dreaded editing process. I'm not a very good editor just yet, and I'm having a hard time getting the ball rolling. Any tips/techniques, anyone?

It is difficult for me to join a writing group because I am so far away from anyone. So I pretty much need to rely on on-line stuff. I've gotten some pretty awesome feedback from a few members here on NWeb on my stuff and I try to give feedback as often as I can when requested....Writing class or not, get into a writer's group: in person or on-line. Writer, write, write, and let others read it.

This reminds me of another problem/question I have.

I don't really have any opportunities right now where I am to get into a good writing class. And no one I know in real life knows anything about books. But there are a lot of people on here who's opinions I trust, and I really want to let them read my stuff. The problem is, I'm so paranoid that someone is going to steal it. After all, even though I do consider the people on here my friends... technically I've never met them. And you have to be careful on the internet. Even friends in real life can steal the stuff you write (it's happened to me), and it's even easier on the internet.

Is there any way I can protect my stuff from being stolen, and still let my NW friends (or other internet friends) read it so I can get their advice?

~Riella

I don't know if you've heard of the author Maggie Stiefvater, but she wrote a series of novels, the first of which (Shiver) is going to be made into a film. She has a blog, and she said that she highly recommends finding two or three (online or real-life) people who have similar reading, writing, life styles as your own, to be your critique group. She also recommends that your exchange your novels/chapters with them. That way it's not just /you/ giving your idea to them. They'd be less likely to steal your ideas if you also had theirs.

I've just started to edit one of my very few "finished" (ha ha) stories. Oh my, it seems like such an avalanche of words that I have to sift through!

ChristProclamer, how long is your work? Depending on what my work load does for me when grad school starts next week, I might be able to go over it for you.

I'm nearing the climax to my latest work: The Legacy of Zorro. I'm using a large fencing tournament as a set up for my main character and villain to reveal each other in public. Right now my MC is in the Finals with the one guy who is believed to hold the answers and the MC must win for the guy to be willing to speak. Win or lose, once the final fencing bout is decided, the villain will show up and my MC will don the mask of Zorro for the first time in public. I'm expecting to be done within a week.

Once I'm done, I'm going to set it aside for a while and start editing the sequel to my published novel: Battle Cry: Expanding the Kingdom of Heaven. I still want a chance at having that ready to go to a publisher by Dec or Jan. Just don't know how realistic that is.

Have you tried pitching your work to an agent, Fencer? Seems like a good way to go for many authors.

Not at this point. The challenge with agents is similar to those of publishers. Some agents don't want to look at your unless you are established. But since the bigger publishers that would be a significant improvement over what I have with Lighthouse, especially in terms of marketing, don't take unsolicited manuscripts, perhaps seeking out an agent might be the best thing for me. I'll check it out when I finish my current project which I expect to be done in about a week.

The challenge with agents is similar to those of publishers. Some agents don't want to look at your unless you are established.

But how does one get established enough to get an agent, when one needs an agent to get established in the first place?

~Riella

Just like there are publishers that take unsolicited manuscripts (often self-publishers) there are agents that do as well. I've just heard from a lot of people it's quite difficult to get into the big part of the industry unless you are already in it. Though I'm published, I'm still trying to learn the system myself. And I'm fine with people not being published and still knowing more about the system than I do. It's a big learning process. My challenge is that I will have to find an agent that doesn't have any significant initial charges. I have little money this year and won't have much until I can get a teaching job (which is where God has called me). We'll just have to wait and see what happens. Overall, I hope to have something in place or close to it when my sequel is ready for proposals.

I just needed to ask a bit of advice. I try to tackle problems like this on my own, but I need a pointer or two and ya'll seem like a great place to draw that advice from given your experience with this.

I'm writing a book and I'm finding that I'm putting a bit too much of myself in the main character. It creeps in when I'm not looking and all of the sudden it's not the main character in the midst of the story but rather me. Have any of you had this problem and if so how did you correct it? I can continue but I fear folks who would (potentially) read it (if I gave them a free copy and begged them to ) would see right through it and say I wrote a book about me having an adventure, and I don't want that. Pointers?

I just needed to ask a bit of advice. I try to tackle problems like this on my own, but I need a pointer or two and ya'll seem like a great place to draw that advice from given your experience with this.

I'm writing a book and I'm finding that I'm putting a bit too much of myself in the main character. It creeps in when I'm not looking and all of the sudden it's not the main character in the midst of the story but rather me. Have any of you had this problem and if so how did you correct it? I can continue but I fear folks who would (potentially) read it (if I gave them a free copy and begged them to ) would see right through it and say I wrote a book about me having an adventure, and I don't want that. Pointers?

It wouldn't be a problem with readers who don't know you personally. If they don't know what you're like, they couldn't really know how much the main character reflects you. However, if you just don't want the character to be like you, then you should try to prevent it.

~Riella

@Fencer: My very favorite site to go to if I want to understand the process of sending work in to agents and getting an agent is http://www.misssnark.blogspot.com . It's the archives of a blog by a writing agent and she gives excellent advice for drafting proposals and all that. You have to sift through the posts a bit to find what you're looking for, but it would be the first place that I'd go if I wanted to start pitching my work.

I have little problems with the proposals themselves. I've done a few and I pretty well have the hang of it. It's a matter of searching for the right ones. I'm not the kind that will just throw my work to the first name that pops up. I want to do my research and make sure the publisher/agent would look at my work. Many realistically don't have the time because they have a massive back-log of submissions. But when it comes to making a proposal, I pretty well know what to do. The challenge I will have is finding the one to propose to.

I might get around to that sooner than I thought. I'm actually expecting to finish my draft of The Legacy of Zorro by end of the weekend if not sooner. I'm now at the climax when all is revealed and the final showdown begins. That being said, it's also getting harder for my parents to get me off my computer to help them out with stuff. Well, time to get off NWeb and continue writing.

I haven't been on here for absolutely ages! I was trying to read through everything I've missed but eventually I gave up. This was a few pages back but I just thought I'd say I act like my charecters too. I wrote a scene four or five days ago when one of my charecters who had been trying to hide and contain his greiff (his mother had been murdered) finally broke down and yesterday reading it over I got so sad and I was just crying for no reason. My poor little sister was so worried about me. Actually she was acting quite like the heroine, weird! Any way i suddenly just got writers block and thought right let's see what Narnia web says! Without reading what i've writen so far or at least having a vague idea I don't think you guys will be able to help . Does anybody have sugestions for writing through writers block or should I just leave it and come back later?
This is also old but about liking villans, my main villians there are a couple of others who you aren't sure about until the end, actually you're not sure about this one either. She's proud and ruthless and she thinks she own the earth but somehow I've managed to like her. Unlike the other two, they're weedy and subservient, and that's just so boring. Well anyway I'm rambling I'm glad I'm finally back .
Jill
P.S. Those books are so pretty! My mum did something like that. It must be so satisfying to hold something you've written!
P.P.S. (sorry) I found i book I wrote 2/3 years ago i was so pleased with it when it was finished looking back it was awful:( I expect i'll feel that about this one in a couple of years, oh well you live and learn.

Well sooner than planned, I finished my first draft of "The Legacy of Zorro". In just under four weeks, I finished it at 159 pages and 81k words. It does need a lot of editing. Not so much with plot points themselves but plot point arrangements. I think I have so revelations about characters happening too soon and other development stuff that could use some tweaking. I'm also a little concerned about technical terms and stuff. Because I use sport fencing as 'Zorro's training along with parkour, I go into details about the sport. I need some of it in there because I use a big tournament to set up the final showdown. I actually pretty well like it, but it will need tweaking.

But I will set it aside for now. I've gotten some valuable feedback on my sequel to my spiritual warfare novel and that is my next writing project. I still have a dream of having Battle Cry: Expanding the Kingdom of Heaven ready to propose to a publisher/agent by Dec or Jan. We'll see.