Jen - writer

Hi all, I figured I should probably get around to posting my intro.

I'm 26 and married, but no kids yet. I grew up in McCandless, lived on the North Side for several years, moved across the country to live in Oregon for a while, and now live near Squirrel Hill. I've yet to finish a college degree for various reasons, but most recently I studied fiction writing and sociology at Pitt.

I've gotten out of the habit of writing, other than journaling, but I'm looking to start again. I've written a bunch of short stories and a bunch of poetry. I've started a bunch of novels, the longest being a YA fantasy that I abandoned when it got to over 200 pages in Word and I realized I wasn't even at the halfway point. I'd really like to finish a novel at some point; I'd like to rewrite that YA novel but have a ton of other ideas too. I also enjoy writing creative nonfiction. Right now I'm just looking to write whatever I'm inspired to write, and I have some old stories/poems that I wouldn't mind revising.

Glad to have you here Jenna--I had a dual major at Pitt in fiction writing and sociology as well. It seems like maybe we have a lot in common. It is great to be in touch with someone who has so much writing under their belt. It has been ages since I have had any kind of writing community to work with. I look forward to reading some of your work!

Thanks and hi! I don't think I ever knew anyone with the same double major, so that's really cool. If I don't get anything to the polished draft stage soon, I might dig out some older stuff to post for critique. The thing I miss most about being in school is all the feedback in writing courses.

Also, not sure where else to ask this, but is there any way to make some of the forums viewable by members only? I'm thinking specifically of the boards where we're going to be posting our work, since I'm sure I'm not the only one here who might be looking to [try to] publish things eventually. I personally would feel more comfortable putting up my writing if I knew it wouldn't be archived by search engines, just in case. (Not really concerned about plagiarism, but about it being "published" online.) It's no big deal, just wondering if that's an option.

I can make those viewable by members only. That is a good idea. I'll get right on it!

Thanks!

Hi Jen! That's kinda crazy, how you and Alyssa had the same double major. It sounds like you have a ton of ideas. Which is great. You also mentioned work that you may revise - do you have any ideas for how we could go about that? I imagine it will be a pretty organic process in the end, but you know, sometimes people are looking for more technical advice, others looking for things about their work, like themes and etc, they may not notice themselves. My Virgo-ness loves the former, some other angles in my astrological chart make me prone to the latter, digging deeper approach, lol. I've found the best thing though is to have a group where everyone has a good level of trust so you can share freely (ah, thinking of that takes me back to my college days...Crafting Fiction from Memoir, I miss you so )

Yeah, I know what you mean. When I post something for a critique, I tend to get really specific about what kind of feedback I want, so I dunno. I really want to polish a few things to the point where I'm ready to send them out, but there's also the issue where too many opinions makes it tougher to revise instead of easier -- especially if they're conflicting, etc. I have one short story that I really want to see if I can publish; I wrote it for a fiction course, and the professor said it was "basically done" before I even turned in the revisions. But that's just one opinion, and I never got any feedback after I made changes, so.

I know personally I'd really love criticism that's both thorough and harsh, but not everyone necessarily is looking for that. But I also really enjoy giving other people that type of feedback, even though I also have no problem pulling punches if that's what someone wants. (I'm actually a huge nerd in that I LOVE copy editing, so there's that too.)

I'm not being especially helpful, obviously, so here are some thoughts: When we get together, we might want to exchange hard copies of pieces we really want detailed feedback on, so that those who are willing to do that sort of thing might have an easier go of it -- I know that makes it easier for me anyway. And what about putting up a board here where we can find betas/offer to beta read for others? Especially in the case of longer works, that might help. People could post, like, "I have a 100K word detective novel, and I want someone to read it with an eye to spelling/grammar and continuity errors. I'd also love you to let me know if the suspense works for you." Or, "I'm willing to critique anything in the romance, mystery, or SF/fantasy genres. I'm especially good at helping with characterization." That sort of thing, so that people can get into one-on-one contact based on what they write/like to read, and find someone willing to commit to detailed feedback based on a particular project. I don't know if that's feasible, but that was my main thought. Done rambling now!

ETA that Crafting Fiction from Memoir sounds like an amazing course.

Jenna your type of critique sounds like it's right up my alley. I don't mind harsh and thorough at all. It tends to help me fill in gaps, lose dead material and just generally tighten up my work. So anytime you want to take a good hard look at anything I have posted be my guest.

I like your idea about matching pieces that need read to the right readers--give me a day or two to figure out a workable online setup and then we can carry it over to live workshops as we start to meet.

I agree that handing out hard copies for thorough feedback is generally easiest and often provides really interesting results when done with a diverse group.

I am so excited to be working with you guys like this.