This, That and the Other
My PVR got confused when the CW showed the rerurn of the Vampire Diaries so I only saw the SPN ep "Like a Virgin" today.
Okay, now at the risk of getting stoned by fangirls, I must admit, I don't expect much cerebrelly from SPN. I come to LJ and read fanfic for that. but I'm still disappointed when Show is so obviously.... bad. Virgins with pink rooms and knee socks and Catholic School girl uniforms? Really? I was a virgin for a long time. I won't even tell you how old I was when I finally 'lost' my virginity [snort! is it really lost if I know exactly where it is?] but I was definitely way older than the rest of my peer group. I didn't live in a pink room. I didn't wear knee socks. I wasn't part of a club. I didn't have a ring. No one knew by looking at me, or by how I dressed. Jesus, I didn't wear a floor length high necked white nightgown to sleep in. I slept in either a pair of shorts and tee shirt or in a frilly lacy thing kind of slip thing. So if that's what CW writers think a virgin looks like.... well, the 1800s called and they want their virgins back.
On writing - I went to a one day class at my local university on getting published and I was a little disappointed in that too.
out of the 20 people there, only one person other than me had a finished book. [I consider two of my fanfics to be of finished novel length so I did say I had finished writing a book]. Everyone else was like "Well, I've not started writing yet, but I have a lot of ideas!" - which I think is great, but I was surprised they were at the getting published work shop when quite a few of them hadn't even tried writing yet.
And then I asked the presenters about twitter and facebook and livejournal communities for writing and between the two published authors presenting, neither used any of those things, saying they took away from writing time. I mentioned that I follow some of my favorite authors on twitter and this was completely foreign to them.
I was disappointed in the lack of knowledge about the internet as a tool for writing. Also, they were all E-BOOKS ARE BAD. and I just don't get it. I see ebooks as just another format for writing and not as competition for BOOKs. but maybe I'm missing something IDK.
We had to introduce ourselves and what we were going to be publishing. I said that I planned on publishing in Romance and/or Urban Fantasy - which I had to explain. They were all 'literary fiction' writers and maybe I was sensitive, but I did feel slightly indulged and/or frowned upon for my genres. To which I wanted to say, "Hey, Romance fiction is THRIVING on ebooks and always has a market and just what is so wrong about reading about people falling in love?' - But I don't like to feel like I have to justify myself, so I thought, 'they are entitled to their opinions and I will think kind thoughts for them - FROM THE BEST SELLER LIST I AM ON!"
IDK - a dismal picture was painted for the likelihood of getting published, but I must say, I knew that already and I've already decided that even if I never get published, I will always write.
They passed around some sample query and submission letters but they were mostly for short stories for magazine publications and I didn't find them too applicable.
I can't say I learned anything new that I didn't already know. I feel like at this point, I need to push my novel out and then try and get it published. I've done all the research I can into the details of submissions and it seems like the courses/classes/things I've taken or read all say the same things: Make your summary snappy! make your query letter stand out! Make your bio relevant! Make your manuscript the best it can be!
but then they don't tell you how to do that. So I'll DO IT SELF!
Okay, now at the risk of getting stoned by fangirls, I must admit, I don't expect much cerebrelly from SPN. I come to LJ and read fanfic for that. but I'm still disappointed when Show is so obviously.... bad. Virgins with pink rooms and knee socks and Catholic School girl uniforms? Really? I was a virgin for a long time. I won't even tell you how old I was when I finally 'lost' my virginity [snort! is it really lost if I know exactly where it is?] but I was definitely way older than the rest of my peer group. I didn't live in a pink room. I didn't wear knee socks. I wasn't part of a club. I didn't have a ring. No one knew by looking at me, or by how I dressed. Jesus, I didn't wear a floor length high necked white nightgown to sleep in. I slept in either a pair of shorts and tee shirt or in a frilly lacy thing kind of slip thing. So if that's what CW writers think a virgin looks like.... well, the 1800s called and they want their virgins back.
On writing - I went to a one day class at my local university on getting published and I was a little disappointed in that too.
out of the 20 people there, only one person other than me had a finished book. [I consider two of my fanfics to be of finished novel length so I did say I had finished writing a book]. Everyone else was like "Well, I've not started writing yet, but I have a lot of ideas!" - which I think is great, but I was surprised they were at the getting published work shop when quite a few of them hadn't even tried writing yet.
And then I asked the presenters about twitter and facebook and livejournal communities for writing and between the two published authors presenting, neither used any of those things, saying they took away from writing time. I mentioned that I follow some of my favorite authors on twitter and this was completely foreign to them.
I was disappointed in the lack of knowledge about the internet as a tool for writing. Also, they were all E-BOOKS ARE BAD. and I just don't get it. I see ebooks as just another format for writing and not as competition for BOOKs. but maybe I'm missing something IDK.
We had to introduce ourselves and what we were going to be publishing. I said that I planned on publishing in Romance and/or Urban Fantasy - which I had to explain. They were all 'literary fiction' writers and maybe I was sensitive, but I did feel slightly indulged and/or frowned upon for my genres. To which I wanted to say, "Hey, Romance fiction is THRIVING on ebooks and always has a market and just what is so wrong about reading about people falling in love?' - But I don't like to feel like I have to justify myself, so I thought, 'they are entitled to their opinions and I will think kind thoughts for them - FROM THE BEST SELLER LIST I AM ON!"
IDK - a dismal picture was painted for the likelihood of getting published, but I must say, I knew that already and I've already decided that even if I never get published, I will always write.
They passed around some sample query and submission letters but they were mostly for short stories for magazine publications and I didn't find them too applicable.
I can't say I learned anything new that I didn't already know. I feel like at this point, I need to push my novel out and then try and get it published. I've done all the research I can into the details of submissions and it seems like the courses/classes/things I've taken or read all say the same things: Make your summary snappy! make your query letter stand out! Make your bio relevant! Make your manuscript the best it can be!
but then they don't tell you how to do that. So I'll DO IT SELF!