(no subject)
Jun. 9th, 2011 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intothewood posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
writersloungeOkay, well, my profession and obsession has always been writing. I was an editor/story writer for an organization up until about a year ago, when I was laid off. I always did need a kick in the pants, so I took that as a big old flashing neon sign stating I best quit whining about a lack of time and energy to devote to my own stuff, and get to writing.
I picked up and old piece I had begun many years ago, something I had always intended to be a novel, but was forgotten in the shuffle of life. I read what I had, which was about 1/3 complete. To my surprise, I liked it and I was inspired. A series was born of that first effort. Two books later, I’ve begun work on the third. I am in my glory.
To keep my hand in and keep up my interviewing skills, I also do volunteer writing of profile pieces for an organization. I have yet to seriously pursue getting my own stuff published, partially because I’m not ready and partially for a lack of reputable resources and support for what I’m doing. I don’t want to get pigeonholed, but everyone dearly loves a label.
A switch to novels was eye opening, as I’d previously mainly written one-offs of boysmut to entertain my friends. I often wrote based on storyline requests from friends, and I loved the challenge to create something beautiful and thought provoking with lots of hot sex driving the plot. So to speak. I still center around gay characters, with less smut and more philosophical leanings.
I came to Dreamwidth to build relationships that are focused primarily on writing. I have other communities elsewhere that serve other purposes, but this piece was lacking. I have always shied away from writer’s communities because of preconceived notions and a lack of focus. I hope that will change as things progress.
I picked up and old piece I had begun many years ago, something I had always intended to be a novel, but was forgotten in the shuffle of life. I read what I had, which was about 1/3 complete. To my surprise, I liked it and I was inspired. A series was born of that first effort. Two books later, I’ve begun work on the third. I am in my glory.
To keep my hand in and keep up my interviewing skills, I also do volunteer writing of profile pieces for an organization. I have yet to seriously pursue getting my own stuff published, partially because I’m not ready and partially for a lack of reputable resources and support for what I’m doing. I don’t want to get pigeonholed, but everyone dearly loves a label.
A switch to novels was eye opening, as I’d previously mainly written one-offs of boysmut to entertain my friends. I often wrote based on storyline requests from friends, and I loved the challenge to create something beautiful and thought provoking with lots of hot sex driving the plot. So to speak. I still center around gay characters, with less smut and more philosophical leanings.
I came to Dreamwidth to build relationships that are focused primarily on writing. I have other communities elsewhere that serve other purposes, but this piece was lacking. I have always shied away from writer’s communities because of preconceived notions and a lack of focus. I hope that will change as things progress.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 10:51 pm (UTC)Just out of curiosity (well, mainly curiosity, but also a desire to avoid pitfalls that others may be aware of) is it the gay aspect of your writing that makes you concerned about reputable resources and pigeonholing?
no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 11:00 pm (UTC)Yeah, the way large publishers label things it's like if there are guys and there is sex, it's gay erotica. That's an over generalization, but I've spoken to people who don't get it. I guess more than anything I want to bust out of stereotypes and just let it be what it is. As for reputable sources, there are lots of publishers of gay fiction that I feel uncertain about, to put it politely.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 11:06 pm (UTC)I'm not going to ask you to say which publishers, because that would be unsuitable in an open community like this, but what is it about them that makes you feel uncertain?
no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 11:20 pm (UTC)There are very well-known publishers like Cleis, but there are three times as many lesser knowns that require a lot of research, and I'm bad at research. I used to place orders for a book store several years ago, and I got to know some of the pitfalls, so that makes me extra cautious. And with publishing evolving so quickly into ebooks and all... I'm kind of overwhelmed.
I have a feeling your novel would go over very well. My series has a bit of a metaphysical aspect to it, though I wouldn't call it fantasy. Maybe I just hate labels altogether!
I've been watching Game of Thrones and while I think it's a bit of a laughable crapfest, it's breaking ground and I secretly love it. The relationship between the King's brother and his literal knight in shining armor intrigues me. We definitely need more of that.