DarkShadow

Thanks much Graeme. I'm trying to get better as I go. I'm having a lot of fun with this story. I'm hoping to get back on track soon after my company leaves. I'm having a good time while he's here though. It's been great. I'll get back to work on revised versions of Earth Reborn and new chapters for The Druid soon. I can't wait to get back to it! Thanks again for your kind words... hope to have more wok done soon! Kudos to my editor Sterling Silver... he's a godsend! Take care of you!

Thanks a lot for all of the kind words. My editor disappeared on me. I hope he's ok. My editor for Earth Reborn has taken over and I can't thank him enough. Things aren't moving as fast as I would like, but it's been a very nice slow down. I have company in from out of town. Chapter 3 is out! So, when ya get time have a go at it, and hopefully starting next week, I can get back into the swing of things. Take care all and thanks again for feedback!

I hope you never succumb to the feeling of giving up. I love reading your stories, and have to say you'd probably cause a damn riot! Or at least that would be my plan! An internet uprising against the thought that you might ever quit. You're a great writer DK, ever quit and I'd have to kick yer butt!

I'm going to have to dry jotting down the end of the story for one of the ones that have been rolling around in my head and see how it goes. It'll be a learning experience if nothing else. (Gods know I could use it) Thanks again both of you for your input! Take care! Shannon

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I could easily churn out 50,000 words of crap. I like the idea that every bit of writing is helpful, but I don't think that this is the case here. Perpetuating bad grammar, spelling, and shit content for the sake of speed just doesn't seem to be a good lesson in my head. It seems to me, and I may be wrong, but effort at making your writing as good as you can as you go, without the constraints of speed seems to benefit me so much. I think a better lesson, would be to take someone elses story, and do a complete rewrite. Edit it to the hilt and make it your own. In doing this, a person would become a better editor, learn new styles of writing, and most likely, read a great story! I don't suppose that would ever catch on though. I think it would be interesting to see how many version of a single chapter people might come up with, with a single 'stock' story to work from. To me... that would be helpful, but shoveling out mass crap... just doesn't seem very constructive. I could be wrong... lol it sure wouldn't be the first or last time for that.

WOW... I don't know if I could do more than a couple at one time. Like Graeme I have problems keeping them sorted out in my head. I usually have to read the previous chapter to get the voices in my head in order, before starting. Maybe part of my problem is that I'm anxious to find out what happens next in my own stories lol To me it would be like watching a movie on DVD about half way through, and then swapping to another movie. That would eat me up! Maybe if I wrote up an outline so I knew the ending it might not be so consuming. I don't know. Do you all write using an outline and just kind of fill in the words? Or do you, like me, write as it comes to you not sure what will happen next? I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I guess I'm too lazy to do a search. There is so much material here, honestly, it's kind of hard to find exactly what I'm looking for. (And.... I figure other newcomers might be interested in hearing this too) I have read that DK does a lot of research for his stories, and I wager the rest of you great writers do, too. I have pages and pages of notes with Earth Reborn. I also have quite a bit of material stored away for The Druid. I find that I'm spending more time looking up information. So much so, that I'm doing more research than writing. Does anyone else run into this? I think I'm going to try this multiple story writing thing. Do you ever find yourselves stuck on one story, while another lingers collecting dust? LOL It almost seems unfair to leave the readers hanging like that. They get bitter! Or maybe that is just me. Sorry for so many questions, but I'm curious and I'd like to see how the rest of you deal with these situations. Lastly, thanks for all of your input! I appreciate it. I didn't honestly think that this thread would get more than an offhanded glance. So thank you!

That's great... but what do you do, when there are four or five that want to be written?

What do you do when you have several stories at the same time whirling around in your head? Do you try to write them all at the same time, or just work with one and keep taking notes until that one is finished? I have several stories buzzing about my mind and have been adding little notes on where I want them to go, but I would like to know how you all deal with this. At the moment I have about four more stories that creap around in my little brain. Do you just write them all at once? I'm new at this, so your guidance would be very much appreciated. Shannon

Ahh sorry for the delay in answering this. I just noticed the message. It's in Middle America. Illinois. I grew up there so I know the feel of the place the best. The seasons are more dramatic there and I think it would be better for the story. I've had another story screep into my mind, and I'm torn on whether to begin it or not. Actually, there are a few that have crept up on me. ER2 Exile (sequel to ER), Hustler's Road, The Mortar and the Pestal, and Superstition will be the titles... Right now I'm in the note taking stages. The stories have a lot of promise until I screw them up! LOL (Isn't that always the way) What do you do when you have so many stories whirling around in your mind, and not enough time to write them? Any advice you could share on this? I dont' like to work on more than one story at a time, it seems to get confusing to me. Rewriting ER isn't very distracting being the material is already there. Creating two stories at the same time though, I don't know how that would go. I like my chapters out quick! lol I'm impatient. Anyway... any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Thanks much! I should have chapter 3 posted soon. My editor was out of town, but has let me know that he may have it to me today ... YAY! Talk at you later!

Sweet! I look forward to reading more about the guys, and your Anothology Submission! Thank you for the heads up! Have a good one!

I just read your story. I loved it. When I saw 'The End' I could have wrung your neck! lol I was kind of hoping to see a to be continued... I didn't notice anything in the way of grammar or sentence structure problems. You covered a lot of detail in a very short amount of time, but it didn't seem like you were force feeding it to me either. I thought it flowed great, and only left wanting to know more about their future. I liked the instant comradare that seems to bind the closest of friends. Sometimes things just 'click' and you gave me this impression between Jase and Trev. If there had been a 2nd or 7th chapter I know I would have continued reading until there wasn't anything left. If you have more stuff out there, I'd sure like to see it! Thanks for the story! Take care!

Happy Birthday all of you! I have a girl at work that is tearing your stories UP! She loves them, along with many others here. It keeps her off my ass to write faster lol I hope you have a great birthday! --- "So.... what do you want for your Birthday Dom?" asked the silly writer. "Twelve inches of blinding sex!" came the raspy reply. So the silly writer f**ked him three times and punched him in the eye. --- Take care!!!

Here's what I've been doing to try to improve my writing. (mind you my skill is limited and my experience almost nonexistent.) I've read a couple of books, read a LOT of everyone elses work here, and I write. No one sees my chapters until I have deleted at least three or pages from it. I merge as much as I can and try to keep it flowing and with as much description as I man muster without stumbling through a sentence. Sometimes it's a simple change in wording, sometimes it's the deletion of an entire page. Like most, I try not to repeat grammar and spelling mistakes too many times from chapter to chapter. I'd like my editor to think I'm learning at least something! lol The other thing I do when I write is keep the www.dictionary.com open. When I've finished my first draft, the very next thing I do is go through the entire story and do my damndest to completely eliminate the words: good, bad, soft, hard, slightly, and quickly. I hate them. Looking up synonyms of a word has led to inspiration on several occasions. The main inspiration for me, is to close my eyes, turn on the music, and think of a story I would pay seven dollars to go see as a movie. The scene will pop into my head with the music guiding it, and I'll write four or five sentences about the story I want to see, and then start typing. Some nights, I can't type a thing, I sit down, maybe write a paragraph, and just stop and go read. Even on the slowest nights between reading someone elses work, I can usually squeeze out at least a page. Other nights it's ten pages. I want to see, taste smell, and touch the pictures in my head when i read, and I want my writing to resemble that as closely as I can. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. That's when my editor gives me a few slaps and I try a little harder. I don't know if any of that will help you, but I thought I'd give my two cents. Take care!

Honestly, I don't think that there is ever a story that cannot be salvaged. In my mind it is no different than putting bad actors in a great movie. If it isn't coming together, place it on hold again. I consider my stories much like children. They might take a bad turn here and there, but with any luck, they'll be just fine in the end. Some just take longer than others to come out.

I want you to consider this.... It was a hard lesson for me to learn... In every sentence, endeavour to have your reader feel, smell, touch, taste, and see what you are talking about. Mind ya.. it is no small order. You have the ideas, but pushing the words together can be a bit of trouble. DO NOT give up... You have the story in your head... just let it take the ride. We're not Banshee waiting to swoop down on ya hoping for yur failure. The Irish have many color flavors to lay upon a description. Don't waste them. I hope it helps... Take care. Shannon

For the last few days, my 'gay affiliated' email accounts have been inundated with .pif virus attempts. They are recognizable by a date of 1998. For the most part they have landed in the 'bulk' section of my email, but they can be damaging if downloaded or the .pif file is opened. If you happen to see an email like this in your bulk or regular mail. Delete it. DO NOT reply to it. That will give them the opportunity to track your IP. Do not reply to them in chat, do not reply to them if you get it on a message board. Just delete it. Take care and beware. Shannon

If you would post the link, I'd be eternally grateful. I can't manage to find the damn thing! Hope to see it soon! Thanks!

I read the entire thing in a day. (mind you... those are some nice long chapters). I ate it up. I always love your work. You writing gets the mind and the 'juices' flowing. I can't give it enough praise, so I'll stop groveling here. It seems almost like the last chapter could even work as an opening to me for another 'book' so to speak in the series. I only WISH I could kick out that much quality material. You make me feel lazy! Anyway, I had to stop by and say that I love the story, and I can't wait to read more. Take care!

This may be too little too late, but Here are some songs I have always thought would fit Com's work. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love Under Ice Waking the Witch Hello Earth Running Up That Hill Cloudbusting Watching you without me Jig of Life (basically the entire CD) Take care!

DAMN that maid! I've got visions of spies, and hi tech espionage blurring around in my brain. Thank you for that. I really like this, I read the first chapter some time ago, though I don't know why I didn't post something about it. Brain tumor? I think it's great! I got a little confused a couple of time as to who was speaking to who, but I think that is more my problem than with the way it is written. Sometimes I read a little too quickly when I find something I like. I'm one of them little hacking computer geeks from long long ago before windows existed, so this is something that definately catches my attention. Thanks for the great story... I can't wait for the next chapter! As a side note... I hope your editor the best, and gets well soon. Take care! Shannon

Thanks a lot Camy. It's good to hear I'm not wasting too much space here (so far). It was funny how this chapter popped out. For almost four days.. I had only completed two pages. Then, all of a sudden, ten pages in one day. I couldn't go to sleep... I had to keep my butt planted in front of that computer until I finally found a stopping point. (don't I wish all days were like that!) Doris popped out of me like some twisted rotund hulk of a woman, and she cracked me up! Maybe some day (much later) lol I'll have to write 'The Cronicles of Doris - Lunch Lady'. Take care!

The story of the principle and the uncle will come to the readers in pieces. It's not really a major issue, but made it fun to let the reader wonder what exactly was said and what happened in the past. Don't like Druids? j/k She is a ray of sunshine isn't she lol!

Most certainly! Use one of those incredibly intricate designs, a razor sharp filet knife, and a blindfold! (j/k I would never want you to hurt yourself) ----- The person below me is waiting to see the blood spray from the pumpkin above.