There is life after Authonomy and it is good. It is, according to song, as sweet as cherry wine. Which, frankly, I probably wouldn't like since I don't much like sweet wines, so it's a bit odd that I'd use that reference. But, that's me. A bit odd and happy to be here and dancing (metaphorically speaking) again.
I've been over on WriteOn for all of... (glances at clock) oh, about forty-eight hours now, and I already have seven reads on one of my stories! Seven!! That's more than I've had in all the time I had anything posted on Autho.
I guess there people were too busy posting in the forums and promoting their own book to get it to the Editor's Desk (the carrot for the site) to spend time reading. This, however it is a breath of fresh air. So far the comments I've gotten have been minor, detaily picks. Using wrong terms for the British locale, so I'll have to clean them up, but nothing Earth shattering.
That, of course, opens the door to requirement - reciprocation is only right and fair, so I'll spend time reading and commenting on theirs. Definitely like playing doctor. 'You show me yours, I'll show you mine.' Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, etc.
It is lively, though, and that's fantastic. And the front page has big cover images that cycle instead of a static board that hadn't changed in more than a year.
I know HC is not in the web-pub business but, honestly? It would have been kinder to shoot the patient than keep on trying to resuscitate it for the past however many months. Of course, with that said, I must also say that I do appreciate the duration of it. It allowed me time to build new acquaintances and participate in some great threads.
Of all of them, the Flash Fiction thread was the most beneficial.
Yesterday afternoon, in challenge to a prompt, I posted on WEbook an 850 word 'confession' that started off at upwards of 1300 words when I copied it from the document in which it had been created. It was an early work, something I wrote in my pre-Authonomy days, and that inexperience showed. Based on what I've learned since, I was able to take that long, wordy passage and whittle away the fat to get to the meat that was buried. It took a while, but in an hour-and-a-half I got it down to the 850 word limit.
Yes, I had to cut more than I liked, but I kept the theme and thread so a reader can follow what's underlying what's there. Also, in the book, a reader will know what's referenced so all of that excess wasn't needed, anyway. My primary concern is that since it's set in Regency England (around 1810 to 1816 or so), the language is a bit stiff, but that was the time - far fewer contractions than now, more formal forms of address and speech. I might be marked down for that, but that's okay. I participated, and that's really what counts. It's practice and grist for the mill.
I also managed to re-work several chapters of 'In a Green & Shady Place' and got that uploaded, and that's the one on which I almost immediately got comments. Then, prompted by one writer's work, I went back,worked on, and then posted several of the opening chapters of 'Downlander'. They're not complete, but both have several (five plus) chapters up so readers can get a sense and flavor.
Wiped out by the day I held off doing more, so now I'm going to have to squeeze a few hours out of this week to do some reading and criting in exchange for what I've received. Then, maybe, I'll spend some more time working on what I've got going.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
No comments:
Post a Comment