As I Lay Dying - Masterpost

[namichan89]

Comments

[namichan89]

It's still around 8,000 words :) I like longer fics, too, in general. You just have more time to get to know the characters and how their minds work. I love that!

And don't let something like this weigh on you, you hear me?
Because there's always gonna be people who are more eloquent, who write longer stories, who have the better description of a kiss.
Plus, there's no such thing as "real" and "not real" writers, if you ask me. There are experienced ones and not so experienced ones ;) The difference is what you make of it. No one has to know it's your first story!
And for that matter, I only started writing fanfics about three and a half years ago. When I read my early stuff today, I want to bang my head against the next wall, seriously. The only thing you can do is write :) Even if it's a silly scene in-between which you'll eventually delete before posting the story. Even if it's completely unrelated.

And maybe find yourself a beta or someone to bounce ideas with. Don't start searching for one when the story is already finished and you're two days away from posting! I have a very sweet beta reader who always picks my stories apart and thank god for that. I also have the disadvantage of not being a native speaker of the English language (I'm German), and I have basically no idea what American society is like. I've often been corrected about the differences. But that's why you need someone who knows their shit and corrects more than just your typos :)

[soserendipity]

I checked out 'Living Dead Guy' and, what a surprise: I liked it, too. : ). What you're creating, both you and your artist, it's just amazing. Thank you very much for sharing!

And, uhm. I already want to bang my head against the wall now. I don't even wanna know what I'll feel like in a couple of years about my writing ; ). But I agree, with experience comes skill and I hope to one day to be able to say that I can see the improvement, even if that means breaking a sweat whenever confronted with 'the earlier works' : ). Unfortunately I've already blabbered on and on about being nervous and a first timer and such at omgspnbigbang, so by now many people know. But I think I will follow your advice and at least won't say so when posting the thing. Or maybe I'll have notes as a last chapter and confess there, so people aren't already expecting a first timer's work when starting the story.

Thanks for the advice on getting a beta early on. I've actually been looking for betas literally since the day I started writing cause I knew I'd need a lot of help. I won't bore you with the details, but it wasn't all fun. Yesterday that search came to a very satisfying end though, so now I can proudly call two co-betas and one full-time beta my own. They helped me a lot already, on writing in general as well as on the story and yeah, I wouldn't have been able to get even where I am now without them. So. There's hope, I guess : ). (For the story, I mean.)

Finally: I can't believe you're German. Me too. I didn't reply to you in German because lj is completely English to me, at least the parts I'm using/visiting. But that was really weird, learning that you're not American. I totally thought you were : ). So where do you live? I'm currently in Kiel, studying. Oh, and I never would have guessed English not to be your first language. I honestly couldn't tell. So - even more hope for me. Maybe I can do it, too.