[Chat], and the world [chats] with you; [Brainstorm], and you [brainstorm] alone.

liquiddark

Don't go to anything just to pitch. That advice is repeated again and again as I ask various professionals about doing this kind of thing. Go to be involved, to find like-minded people, but be cool. I Will Not Read Your Script applies.

geardrops

Re: Conferences and pitching

Go prepared to pitch should you be asked what your work is about. Do not pitch until you are asked. Until that magic moment, talk about things which are not your writing.

My two cents.

MKR

Think of it like a party. You wouldn't run around telling people you're an astronaut. You wait for the right moment.

"So what do you do for a living?"
"Some people in white coats strap a rocket to my back and see how long I last."
"So you're an astronaut?"
"Not as much these days with all the budget cuts. I'm looking to writing as my next career."

Then your pitch begins.

zenpotato

Right. Your goal is to get someone to ask you to pitch them. Be so interesting and awesome that they want to know what you're working on. Agents, much like women, can smell desperation.

joshgotro

People don't go to conferences anymore just for the drunk stranger sex?

ElJeffe

Ooh, someone gave me a call-back for a job I applied for. It would require a lengthy commute and a lot of expensive gas, and it pays at the bottom end of what is even realistic to accept. The main task would be organizing and writing reports about kids killed by parental abuse.

Sounds like a blast!

tapeslinger

Congrats on the callback, sucks that it's not a great opportunity.

joshgotro

ElJeffe wrote: »

Ooh, someone gave me a call-back for a job I applied for. It would require a lengthy commute and a lot of expensive gas, and it pays at the bottom end of what is even realistic to accept. The main task would be organizing and writing reports about kids killed by parental abuse.

Sounds like a blast!

That sounds like the worst job ever. Even in this economy.

ElJeffe

Well, I've been unemployed for over two years now. I've lost the ability to be picky.

Anyway, my initial phone interview went well and I can expect to hear back from them next week for real interviews.

I guess if it really sucks, it will just give me more motivation to become a super-successful novelist so I can quit my day job! Silver lining, ho!

geardrops

Hooray for potential gainful income! And income for doing not-illegal things!

Harrier

Oh God I'm on the verge of rewriting my entire novel. An agent I sent samples to said it didn't "rise sufficiently above the pack" so now I'm in RIP AND TEAR mode.

Quoth

You can do that, but you might also wait for a few more agents to respond first.

Quoth

You can also put it up here and get some feedback.

VanityPants

You got a personal note from an agent? Scooooore!

Seriously, not everyone will like your book. That said, if you feel you can still improve the book, you probably aren't ready to query it yet. Do like Quoth said and post part of it here if you really want unbiased opinions, though.

Harrier

I was distraught when I got the note, but now I'm just determined. I know I'm a good writer. I might even be a great writer. If my current writing does not reflect that, I'll simply keep working until it does.

And I'm not sure you guys want to see my whole 116,000 word novel.

ElJeffe

Several of us would at least be willing to look at chunks, though. If you can get us to care based on the first few thousand words, there's a good chance it's a decent book (or at least has serious potential). And if you can't get us to care in that amount of space, then that's a problem in itself that would be good for you to know.

Harrier

I know why nobody likes the first two chapters. There's a three year timeskip between chapters two and three, so I'd tried to leave chapters one and two a little raw, then do my major revising from chapter three onwards. Since my novel is written in a first-person perspective, I'd hoped to demonstrate how three years (and the dramatic change in circumstances of my protagonist) had altered the internal narrative.

But I may not be a good enough writer at this point to pull that off while still making the first two chapters compelling. Since every agent seems to want to see the first ten pages, those should be as good as anything.

Wank

You gotta lead with your best, dude. Just how it works.

joshgotro

Put up the first three chapters stat. I have nothing to do between noon and 4 tomorrow.

Harrier

I've rewritten chapter one already in the .odt version of the story, but the original is preserved in the .doc copy of the story. Which version do you want?

Wank

Hey guys, I feel goofy making a thread for something this short, but does anyone want to critique a 100 word flash? In da spoiler.

Spoiler:

Chronology of Heart Break

Jack left the restaurant with red wine blooming through his shirt and Kristine sobbing into napkins. Tears had run tracks down her makeup and he almost, almost felt bad for her. But he’d cried just as hard eight months from now. No, harder.

Kristine couldn’t understand. This mystery man who’d entered her life had understood her so well and so completely, from favorite drinks to deepest fears. She’d thought they were soulmates. She’d fallen hard. Fast. And now he was leaving.

Jack turned the corner. The professor was idling the time machine.

“Bit petty,” he said.

Jack shrugged. “A bit.”

Harrier

Short and bitter. I like it.

But I've slowly grown to realize that I am a terrible critic. I'm too easy to please and too forgiving.

ruzkin

Just finished my third Olesia Anderson, Sexy Superspy novella. Can send it to anyone if they feel like a read, but I have a 2 week publishing deadline so I gotta be brusque about asking for quick feedback.

tapeslinger

I only just got around to actually posting a review for CoS so I um, don't think it's going to be me this time around
but hey, I have finally gotten around to an Amazon review, ha

ruzkin

I saw that review, you totally made my day. Thanks so much!

joshgotro

Harrier wrote: »

I've rewritten chapter one already in the .odt version of the story, but the original is preserved in the .doc copy of the story. Which version do you want?

The one you want people to read.

VanityPants

@Joshgotro has it right. Post the first chapter of whatever you think is best. I'll certainly give it a read and lay some OPINIONS down on you.

Also, I just finished the second draft of the Lorelei book I've been working on! Woooooooooo! I am really, really excited for this one.

Crimson King

dude put up the first four thousand words

i will read that shit and tell you why it's bad

ElJeffe

Wank wrote: »

Hey guys, I feel goofy making a thread for something this short, but does anyone want to critique a 100 word flash? In da spoiler.

Spoiler:

Chronology of Heart Break

Jack left the restaurant with red wine blooming through his shirt and Kristine sobbing into napkins. Tears had run tracks down her makeup and he almost, almost felt bad for her. But he’d cried just as hard eight months from now. No, harder.

Kristine couldn’t understand. This mystery man who’d entered her life had understood her so well and so completely, from favorite drinks to deepest fears. She’d thought they were soulmates. She’d fallen hard. Fast. And now he was leaving.

Jack turned the corner. The professor was idling the time machine.

“Bit petty,” he said.

Jack shrugged. “A bit.”

I enjoyed this. :^:

Harrier

It's so satisfying to cut things from a long work. It's like sharpening a knife.

Amalia

Apparently my brain wants to work on ALL the projects at once, tonight! So totally unproductive and annoying. But on the plus side, I have a new short story idea.

liquiddark

Dammit Wank. Why you gotta make it look easy?

zenpotato

Wank wrote: »

Hey guys, I feel goofy making a thread for something this short, but does anyone want to critique a 100 word flash? In da spoiler.

Spoiler:

Chronology of Heart Break

Jack left the restaurant with red wine blooming through his shirt and Kristine sobbing into napkins. Tears had run tracks down her makeup and he almost, almost felt bad for her. But he’d cried just as hard eight months from now. No, harder.

Kristine couldn’t understand. This mystery man who’d entered her life had understood her so well and so completely, from favorite drinks to deepest fears. She’d thought they were soulmates. She’d fallen hard. Fast. And now he was leaving.

Jack turned the corner. The professor was idling the time machine.

“Bit petty,” he said.

Jack shrugged. “A bit.”

This is good, but I'm going to pick on one sentence.

Spoiler:

The professor was idling the time machine.

This one lazy sentence ruined the entire thing for me. You just told me, and then hoped I had a lifetime of genre cliches to dip into to understand what you wanted me to know. Why don't you rework that sentence and show me instead?

Edit: I just realized this might read kind of harsh; I'm just trying on my new grumpy and to the point critical-pants. You do good work, and I think "okay" isn't what you're shooting for with this one.

spcmnspff

I like this little piece as well. I'm going to nitpick the same sentence as zen, but for slightly different reasons. I like how direct and simple it is, but I don't like the word "time." It's too obvious and makes the final dialogue kind of meaningless. I think you give enough strong hints in the title and the third sentence for "machine" to stand on its own. I also get tripped up on the first sentence. Grammatically, it's ambiguous whether Kristine left the restaurant with Jack, or whether she was left behind.

ElJeffe

I got called in for a second interview, yay. The subject of the confirmation email was "Dead Child Review Team Interview".

My job title is probably going to be something like "Baby Corpse Counter". My office will consist of a chair and an abacus.

zenpotato

How do you think George R. R. Martin got his start?

Quoth

Behold, my poetry is publishéd: http://www.scissorsandspackle.com/index.php/april/

liquiddark

Congrats Quoth!

Quoth

Thanks. I had forgotten the bio I wrote for them. Ahahaha why do I think I am funny, someone shoot me.

Edcrab

Congratulations, Quoth! Also if I shot you I'd have to kill myself five times over. So no.