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The Writers' Group introduction thread.

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Hi, my name is Nekro138. After leaving uni, me and some mates were going to start a film production company, not for a job, just for fun. After getting a decent job, I couldn't find the time to shoot stuff anymore, so I had some weird scripts that never got used. I am going to make some of these into short stories for this group. My stuff is mostly comedy horror. Or just comedy. Or just horror! I love reading short stories. Stephen King's are very good. I like the Graveyard Shift and Skeleton Crew books.

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So how does this work then? Do we just start a new thread with each piece? Will there be a categories for different genres? Do people want constructive feedback? Can we post stuff now?

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So how does this work then? Do we just start a new thread with each piece? Will there be a categories for different genres? Do people want constructive feedback? Can we post stuff now?

 

At this moment Wheezy, the exact format has not been ascertained. I am not too familiar with the software used on this Forum, but I know someone who is and I will seek clarification regarding use of Threads etc.

 

Some may wish to have constructive feedback, others may not.

 

Please do not upload work to the site at the moment. All will become clear within the next few days, after the main parameters have been determined and the final software has been put in place here...then it's "off we go".

 

I intend to start a new Thread on here later today asking Group Members to assist peterw and myself by inputting their ideas/preferences on various matters.

 

Meanwhile, since you are new to Sheffield Forum, would you like to tell us all a bit about yourself (excluding personal information of course) on this thread and your own interests/preferences in literature?

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My turn!:D

 

Reading: I could say so much, it would bore you to death. Suffice it to say my house is made of books, I read them by the armful, and if nothing else is available I will read the back of the toothpaste/shampoo packaging (for the millionth time - or failing that, my husband's FHM, dear lord...).

 

Writing: Ummm...I bought a laptop 2 years ago, scrimped and saved and didn't eat, lol. To this day I think my husband wonders if it comes before him in the family heirarchy (I refuse to say, on the grounds I'm currently happily married and would like to stay that way :P ). I got it to replace the four hundred and fifty million notebooks full of writing I was running out of space for/losing/misplacing/having trouble editing. I started aged....no idea, and have never stopped since, lol.

My head is constantly full of stories and characters, they plague and harass me, keep me awake, jump out and insist on being dealt with when there are far more important things to do. On the plus side, I'm rarely bored;).

 

However: I have always been intensely private about my writing, keep the stories for myself, don't bother trying to please anyone else...it's my own personal library inside my head, after all. So I reckon I'll start with some stuff I did as an English degree student one hundred thousand years ago, and see where we go from there.

I'm really, really looking forward to reading other people's work, I'm sure it'll be a great atmosphere here, supportive and bursting with creativity.

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Computers seem to have a mind of their own, and only get worse the more you update them. I was well into a discourse on myself when this one decided I'd said enough. It's bad enough when the microwave beeps at you because you didnt remove the melted ham and cheese sandwich on time, but this is beyond civility.

Anyway to finish what I was saying, I, like some of you, was born in Sheffield which had and I hope still has one of the best public library systems in the country. Nearly as good as it's wealth of indoor swimming pools, but that's another story. I joined the navy at 17, and served for 18 years. After I left the service in 1968, I lived back in Sheffield for a couple of years until itchy feet on both my wife and I put us aboard a BA Boeing 707 bound for Montreal. To cut a long story short I have been "over here" ever since.

My travels have taken me to a very big chunk of the earth, most of it at other people's expense. I've experienced hurricanes, two earthquakes, blizzards, a tornado, and combat in Korea and Egypt, as well as a fire that destroyed my apartment. So the biggest problem for me is what to write about. It may be fiction or reality but it is likely to be somewhat autobiograaphical, cos thats what I know best

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My favourite author is Allan Bennett.(Have I spelt that right?) Thats the only trouble with joining a writing group , I think we will have to watch our spelling more.! Ive always read,as a child I read "under the covers" of my bed,as we couldnt afford to have the light on too long.Cant ever remember being bought books, only "The Dandy" and "The Beano" which we absolutely loved.I dont read much these days(as I havent got the patience)but I read a lot of neswpapers, and Sunday supplements,which give you an overall look at the world.I love writing letters,and used to go to a writing group at Stannington College.I think this is ideal,the way,Joep, and Shoe have set this all up, and its right that we should all post about each other like this while we "feel the ground" :thumbsup:

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pattricia, I recall reading that Geoffrey Archer was hopeless at writing his works, to some degree. He apparently, and I may be wrong, needed some heavy input from others in order to shape up his novels to the point of being ready for his Publisher.

 

Of couse proof readers are employed by the major publishing houses to check typographical errors too.

 

Because this Group comprises really pleasant people, I expect the pedantically critically elements one finds on the General Forum will be less represented on here. Just do your best, and we will all appreciate that is all that any one of us can do.

 

Please just relax, and above all enjoy.......:)

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pattricia, I recall reading that Geoffrey Archer was hopeless at writing his works, to some degree. He apparently, and I may be wrong, needed some heavy input from others in order to shape up his novels to the point of being ready for his Publisher.

 

Of couse proof readers are employed by the major publishing houses to check typographical errors too.

 

Because this Group comprises really pleasant people, I expect the pedantically critically elements one finds on the General Forum will be less represented on here. Just do your best, and we will all appreciate that is all that any one of us can do.

 

Please just relax, and above all enjoy.......:)

Yes, I will relax,(Ill have a beer) Also Barbara Cartland never actually wrote a word,but dictated her stories to her secretary.She sold an enormous amount of novels(all trash) Its the imagination you have to have,not the literary skills.

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From the age of about eight I fell in love with reading books, and the pleasure has stayed with me for many years.

 

Christmas used to be a time in my childhood when the present of a new book was as important to me as a toy. I loved the feel of a brand new book, the excitement of opening the pristine pages and the anticipation of enjoying the story within it.

 

I recall reading Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer", Baroness Orczy's "The Scarlet Pimpernel", Robert Louis Stevenson's " Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped", Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" and lots of others as I progressed into my teenage years.

 

During my adult years I have always been a member of a Public Library. I visit my local library every month or so. To me they really are "treasure houses". I have never read much of Dicken's work.......even now they seem too "hard going". Fortunately some of the Classic Fiction has been transformed into TV series, so someone else has waded through them and done the really hard work

 

Of late I have read most if not all of the Tom Sharpe novels, and the entire output of Terry Pratchett "Disc World" Series........brilliantly funny authors.

 

My favourite genres? I particularly like Sci-Fi, Mystery, Horror and Non-Fiction books on virtually any subject.

 

Finally, a few weeks ago I revisited my childhood by re-reading "Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The novels stand alone as general stories for children's reading, but I realise now, at my age, there is an underlying depiction of the hardship and bondage to slavery that was the norm throughout the southern States contained within the boyish adventure stories written by Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clements). Whilst I loved the books as a child, I saw them in a new light as an adult.

 

Shoeshine read the right books! I think she’ll agree, though, that Treasure Island (RLS’s title doesn’t have quotes Shoeshine) is probably the best book a writer can read. The first few paragraphs really set the scene. The old pub, Admiral Benbow, Blind Pew, the treasure chest — everything. I’d recommend all novelists to read it.

 

JoelP —I currently have a one-hour play with BBC Radio. It’s a ‘bit different’ and I don’t expect they’ll touch it but I’m waiting! Disabled old man, former Intelligence Officer second world war, murderers the local yob aged 14. Police know who did it. Old man knows police know, but they can’t prove it. Mystery lies in how he disposed of body. Police eventually get a good lead but man dies naturally hours before they call to arrest him.

 

To all — if you’ve got an idea don’t play around with it, get it written. But remember, first check you’ve got a prospective market for it! All it’s going to cost you is the postage, and a few purches of the magazines, or whatever your aim is, to get a feel of the style it should be written in.

 

Apart from designing newspaper pages and CD labels I do nothing else but write, and it gives me a good living. If you need advice, I’m always willing to give it.

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From the age of about eight I fell in love with reading books, and the pleasure has stayed with me for many years.

 

Christmas used to be a time in my childhood when the present of a new book was as important to me as a toy. I loved the feel of a brand new book, the excitement of opening the pristine pages and the anticipation of enjoying the story within it.

 

I recall reading Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer", Baroness Orczy's "The Scarlet Pimpernel", Robert Louis Stevenson's " Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped", Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" and lots of others as I progressed into my teenage years.

 

During my adult years I have always been a member of a Public Library. I visit my local library every month or so. To me they really are "treasure houses". I have never read much of Dicken's work.......even now they seem too "hard going". Fortunately some of the Classic Fiction has been transformed into TV series, so someone else has waded through them and done the really hard work

 

Of late I have read most if not all of the Tom Sharpe novels, and the entire output of Terry Pratchett "Disc World" Series........brilliantly funny authors.

 

My favourite genres? I particularly like Sci-Fi, Mystery, Horror and Non-Fiction books on virtually any subject.

 

Finally, a few weeks ago I revisited my childhood by re-reading "Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The novels stand alone as general stories for children's reading, but I realise now, at my age, there is an underlying depiction of the hardship and bondage to slavery that was the norm throughout the southern States contained within the boyish adventure stories written by Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clements). Whilst I loved the books as a child, I saw them in a new light as an adult.

 

Shoeshine read the right books! I think she’ll agree, though, that Treasure Island (RLS’s title doesn’t have quotes Shoeshine, and neither do any of your other favourites [just constructive criticism]) is probably the best book a writer can read. The first few paragraphs really set the scene. The old pub, Admiral Benbow, Blind Pew, the treasure chest — everything. I’d recommend all novelists to read it.

 

JoelP —I currently have a one-hour play with BBC Radio. It’s a ‘bit different’ and I don’t expect they’ll touch it but I’m waiting! Disabled old man, former Intelligence Officer second world war, murderers the local yob aged 14. Police know who did it. Old man knows police know, but they can’t prove it. Mystery lies in how he disposed of body. Police eventually get a good lead but man dies naturally hours before they call to arrest him.

 

To all — if you’ve got an idea don’t play around with it, get it written. But remember, first check you’ve got a prospective market for it! All it’s going to cost you is the postage, and a few purches of the magazines, or whatever your aim is, to get a feel of the style it should be written in.

 

Apart from designing newspaper pages and CD labels I do nothing else but write, and it gives me a good living. If you need advice, I’m always willing to give it.

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peterw, you have just, publically, advertised my fetish..:o

 

I love commas, inverted ones, misplaced ones, "orphaned" ones

 

Yes, I am well known for it, round here, they say, I can't get enough, of commas,

 

Full stops are anathema to me, simply can't help it, I think I may need treatment for this "commaritis" :hihi:

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Yes, I will relax,(Ill have a beer) Also Barbara Cartland never actually wrote a word,but dictated her stories to her secretary.She sold an enormous amount of novels(all trash) Its the imagination you have to have,not the literary skills.

 

I always find that my best ideas come to me when im as far as humanly possible from either a pen or paper:(

 

For this reason,ive often toyed with the idea of buying a dictaphone, so I can record the idea as soon as it pops into my head(which may or may not be a good thing:hihi: )

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