Dolores Esteban

That's exactly how I do it.

Most of my stories are set in the beginning of the 19th century. I have to do a lot of research. I sometimes find letters that people wrote 200 years ago. These letters always touch me deeply. Those people lived in a different world and in a different time. But they were not so different from us. They felt love and hate, fear and pride, pain and joy. I feel connected to them.

Well, I submitted a work to a publishing house one or two years ago. It was rejected, of course. But I received a list of very good comments written by a professional editor. Those comments helped me a lot to improve my writing. They have a different point of view when reading a submission. The book must sell. I think it's easier to get an eBook published. There are hundreds of eBook publishers. It seems to me they publish all they can get. Personally, I don't want to publish an eBook. What would I gain? Nothing. Publish an eBook just tell everybody 'Oh, look, xxx published my short story. The cover is beautiful'? No.

It's hard to write with no or only little feedback. But I got used to it, lol. Well, I write historical fiction, the stories mainly set in Europe and in the 18th or 19th century. There certainly is an audience, but it's not a very popular genre in general. I received some great feedback recently. I will continue writing historical stories. It's my favorite genre. I think a writer should never try to write a story just to please his audience or get feedback. It won't work in the long run. He would lose his authenticity and his 'voice'.

Glad to hear this. 2nd person sounds interesting. I look forward to reading the story. Write a poem to a stranger. Should be interesting also. I'm going to read it. Hope you're still enjoying your new place.

Please stay. I loved your posts. And I love your poems.

It depends on the artist's intentions, I'd say. If the artist desires to create something unique and original, the artist should do so, regardless of what others think and say. The artist will find pleasure in creating. His satisfaction and happiness will not depend on other people's opinions. If the artist wants to address an audience in order to entertain them, give them some thoughts, receive feedback, or earn money, he probably should make his art work appealing to his audience. Two questions: 1. Who is a real artist? 2. Artists who create something unique, are they necessarily ahead of their time?

I was thinking about a reply. When I came back I found Graeme's answer. It is exactly what I wanted to post. But I agree also with David. Through technology we can communicate much easier. We can think about a story and the author's intentions. We can think about a post before we reply. It would be harder sometimes to communicate, sitting at a table together, face to face, and other people maybe watching and overhearing the conversation. I think through cyberspace we can learn to 'connect' in reality the same way and thus overcome cultural differences.

Don't forget Billy Idol.

Authors might also pick a theme for their stories and develop it over time. For instance, the story might start start in Ancient Rome and end in contemporary USA. Thus, the writers of historical fiction would have to start, while the authors, skilled in describing effectively contemporary events, would have to finish.

English is my second language. I don't write in German. I write in English since I find it easier to express my thoughts in English. Thus, I have to think about every sentence I put down. My English will never be perfect. In particular, punctuation is a big problem, I know. But the more I appreciate the readers who read and like my stories. I have not yet found an editor. I guess it's a tedious work for a native speaker of English to edit the stories of a non-native speaker of English. I agree, though. An editor can help improve the story. The basics - grammar, punctuation etc. - as well as character development, flow of story etc. I think the editor should have an interest in the genre. I write historical fiction. An editor interested mainly in Science Fiction would not be the best choice, I think. I put aside my stories for quite some time, months sometimes, before I read them again. It helps me to see the typos, mistakes and all the crap I put down.

I'll see friends. We have fireworks also. We'll probably tell each other which habits etc. we will change in 2009. On January 1 we won't remember our announcements. Same procedure as every year.

Happy New Year! Nice little video

I like Feynius.

Best wishes!

Hope you get well soon.

THANK YOU I enjoyed writing and reading.

Excellent and perfect in every way! Great.

I agree with your statements. In particular, I agree with your final statement.

I donated 3000. But I bookmarked the site.

I answered 1) become a better writer 2) other reasons - My vote was not accepted, so I had to pick an answer here. 3) no I started writing in 2003. I started posting my stories in 2004. I came across this site in August 2008. GA is very different from other writing boards. Many stories are on a very high level. I turned to eFiction, wondering if I could dare to post a story. I was truly scared. I'm not a native speaker of English also. I started to rewrite and polish two stories and finally I posted them. Well, there was only very little feedback and I almost gave up. I received some encouragement recently, though. To me GA is a challenge. This challenge helps me a lot. I find that my writing improves and that counts. That's why I answered 'become a better writer'. I also don't want a grading system for the reasons already mentioned by others. Dolores Esteban

I also read 'Public Shaving' every time I see the line. And every time I think 'What?' And I only realize when I have clicked on the link. This is so annoying me.