Are you writing something?

[Serenity]

I'm writing a novel about a dude who wears beaver pelts and lives in a refrigerator box.

When you finish it, please post link. This is clearly not self promotion and falls under the category of 'research'.

 

[Gunz]

When you finish it, please post link. This is clearly not self promotion and falls under the category of 'research'.

It's an unauthorized biography of @RackMaster .

You either didn't know I was joking, or you did and you're being a wise guy.

In any case I wrote for a living.

 

[Red Flag 1]

?

 

[RackMaster]

It's an unauthorized biography of @RackMaster .

You either didn't know I was joking, or you did and you're being a wise guy.

In any case I wrote for a living. PM me if you want specifics.

If you want to do an authorized biography... I take payment in pork product's, maple syrup, beer, rye whiskey and images of quality titties.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

The ghayness of this thread is causing me great angst.

 

[Frank S.]

The ghayness of this thread is causing me great angst.

This may sound strange, but I have a folder in my Google photos app of street debris including shit and puke entitled "the remains of the day", I usually get to add to it on Friday and Saturday nights. Once in a while it makes me wonder about the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words", which depends I guess on both message and intended audience. I still don't get Banksy yet, though...

 

[Serenity]

ghayness

Now I'm completely lost. 'Ghayness'? Is that a typo? As in a Grayness or something else? A Marine word?!

 

[Gunz]

If you want to do an authorized biography... I take payment in pork product's, maple syrup, beer, rye whiskey and images of quality titties.

I'll drink to that, and so will my faithful companion, Yukon King. What say ye, King old boy?

"Ruf! Ruf!"

 

[Serenity]

I am trying to define this thread in my head a little better.

The ghayness of this thread is causing me great angst.

Attempt #3 and if this doesn't work, I'm going into hiding...


Orientation. You are currently at www.shadowspear.com. A forum that focuses on all things special forces where careful lane navigation is paramount. But relax! You are in the General Discussion area, a place where lanes are replaced by lounges, or uncomfortable chairs that one might find in an interrogation room—it depends on who you are...

1. Situation.

A civilian has decided to make her home at SS and created a generic writing thread to capture the thoughts and experience of a niche community. It’s intent is to be a thread that fosters an interest in writing, because everyone can do with improving their writing for professional, creative or therapeutic reasons.

This thread cannot reside in a writing forum or FaceBook. This thread is uniquely what the SS community choose to make of it. It can be nurtured, ignored or killed!

2. Mission.

Regardless of rank, experience or background, contribute to the thread about ANYTHING relating to writing. Or better yet, go write something and report back on the experience. Do what you can to shape the thread according to your own writing interests. People should feel welcomed to comment on posts.

3. Execution.

This is primarily an information broadcast, but people are encouraged to interact. It’s a shared journal, a shared blog, a shared pit of word vomit relating to WRITING. This is another opportunity to participate and learn about forum members. You can pass on information or seek information on writing. Where possible, try to keep this relevant and beneficial to SoF community.

Suggested topics could include, but are not limited to:

• Your writing experiences
• Your writing projects
• Your writing goals
• How you find time?
• How writing has helped you?
• What type of writing interests you?
• Useful writing resources
• Things that inspire you to write

4. Administration & Logistics.

Refer to SS forum rules.

5. Command & Signal.

a. Signal. Well structured posts written in comprehensible English. Images, videos and external links to support posts are acceptable.

b. Command. The red-tagged guardians of SS. But failing that, anyone but the original poster! She cannot—and does not want to—dictate or further define the purpose of this thread.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Now I'm completely lost. 'Ghayness'? Is that a typo? As in a Grayness or something else? A Marine word?!

Urban Dictionary: gHay"

gHay
(adj.) a non-homosexual reference used to describe something that is lame, boring or just plain stupid.
"This thread is ghay.

 

[Serenity]

Out of curiosity. Have you completed a literary work that has been published?

Gosh no! I am trying to write my first novel. Earlier this year I posted parts of it online to get public beta reads from the target audience. It turned out really stressful writing on the fly and dealing with feedback. I had to take it offline and work on it privately. But then got distracted and did other stuff. I got back into working on it a few months ago and found this place. To summarize, if I don't finish it, I'd feel like a failure, especially since I have a few beta readers who have been waiting for months for me to get back to them on the later chapters. So guilt is the single motivator to just get this done.

Have you graduated from any schools of Journalism?

Also no. I don't even enjoy reading the news with all its horrors, so no journalism degree. I'm curious, why would you mention journalism? Fwiw, I'm in Software and if anything, it's more a generic post grad degree in communication that I'd be interested in.

Is this thread one for seeking information, or passing along information about writing?

See above. In my mind it's more posting thoughts. I find people's thoughts on writing interesting. The first few responses were exactly what I'd expect. It goes back to the original question, 'Are you writing something?' If you are and want to share, go ahead! I for one want to know.

Personally, I prefer not make people feel pressured to answer people's questions. It's why I word my posts in a way that doesn't request responses. People can show an interest or not. But I'm really feeling this might not work if everyone is confused. To me this is no different from the movie, tv or even the open mic thread. It's meant to invite people post about writing without feeling weird. But maybe it is weird to want to post about writing on this forum?

 

[Serenity]

Urban Dictionary: gHay"

gHay
(adj.) a non-homosexual reference used to describe something that is lame, boring or just plain stupid.
"This thread is ghay.

Well okay, that is your opinion and it would seem to be the opinion of many others. If it's not something that fits with the culture of this place then please feel free to close the thread. I'm not here to upset the balance of this place.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Well okay, that is your opinion and it would seem to be the opinion of many others. If it's not something that fits with the culture of this place then please feel free to close the thread. I'm not here to upset the balance of this place.

If you were an established writer, maybe had some published works, and wanted to have a thread dedicated to the craft, that would be pretty cool. Hell just about every military guy I know things they have a book in them; there are a handful of guys here (and one gal I can think of) who I would be first in line to buy their books.

But you offer none of that, and have no real expertise on the subject. That makes this thread ghay.

 

[Serenity]

It's a joke, not a dick; don't take it so hard.

I'm just disappointed that this isn't working out as expected and I'm a little exhausted.

If you were an established writer, maybe had some published works, and wanted to have a thread dedicated to the craft, that would be pretty cool. Hell just about every military guy I know things they have a book in them; there are a handful of guys here (and one gal I can think of) who I would be first in line to buy their books.

But you offer none of that, and have no real expertise on the subject. That makes this thread ghay.

Well, I've never prescribed to elitism with respect to writing. It's ugly and ghay to me. I'm not so interested in the famous or established writers - whatever that means to you. There are books that can be bought for that experience, I don't need a forum for that. I don't judge writers by whether they're published or not, I read what's in front of me and decide if I've gotten some sort of value from it. I just wanted a place I can read and write about writing without the negativity that is often connected with writing forums, or the spamming that is connected to FaceBook. And really, I'd love for these guys and gal you speak of to reveal themselves. That is the point of this thread! But also, I'd love to hear more from those who are tentatively thinking of writing. I'm not a snob. I love this place for its depth of life experience and professionalism, but there seems to be a gap I'm unable to cross and just be me, so I'll back off. I'd be best getting back to my writing and chilling out. I write for fun and learning, and not stressing! I probably sound impolite, it's difficult to disengage from this gracefully.

 

[amlove21]

Welp, this little experiment is working out swimmingly.

Let's go forward with a, "try to keep with the intent of the thread and if you don't understand or want to be a part of the thread, just ignore the thread" sort of vibe.

Mmmmmkay? Mmmmmmkay.

 

[Kakashi66223]

I'm tracking. I've been hastily throwing this together.

I wrote a journal during my deployment, most of it was for myself as something extra to do and for self enlightenment in my later years, so I thought. I'm sure I've mentioned this before.

To this day I haven't opened that journal, most of what I wrote was just things that stood out to me, ergo: something that made me laugh, something odd, training, or something that was a serious.

Lately I'd thought that I'd hand it down to the kids. For what it's worth, my Grandfather was a B24 pilot in the USAF and left behind zero stories for his grand kids about WW2 Europe-Korea. Kids just want to hear stories, until just recently, I've forgotten what it was to be a kid and listen to stories people told (among family.) I just wish my Grandfather would have shared. Even now, I think of him as a hero in my eyes, it would have been great if he told us something, anything to tell my kids.

I'm gonna break it out and tell my kid before a time comes and I can't.

I never really liked writing in middle school or anytime before though. I did it because I had to which took all the fun out of it. I was in a Creative Writing 1&2 as a sophomore. Creative writing was a different experience, and allowed the students to write, not laborious papers that followed rails set by the teacher. More like painting in written form. Most of the students in this class were eccentric and to include myself somewhat. Found a good use for my witty humor, the junior smart hottie in my class. Which was the reason I stuck with the class in the first place.

Universal truth in any circumstance: the hottie made me do it.

Writing to me is pen and paper, lines, and expressing thoughts, which 15 years ago had morphed into typed thoughts stored on in word processor. Laptops made the pen and paper irrelevant and antiquated. The medium evolves with technology.

Am I writing? Well sorta, not really going for a published work.

An audience of one is all any writer really needs.

Therefore a forum is a conduit for humble writers and those that don't need a NYTimes bestseller Achievement.




By the way I've read some of the archives and current posts here and some of the writing skills you guys have are noteworthy, don't be surprised people like Serenity come here and commend you guys on writing.

 

[Red Flag 1]

.

 

[Serenity]

I wrote a journal during my deployment, most of it was for myself as something extra to do and for self enlightenment in my later years, so I thought. I'm sure I've mentioned this before.

To this day I haven't opened that journal, most of what I wrote was just things that stood out to me, ergo: something that made me laugh, something odd, training, or something that was a serious.

Lately I'd thought that I'd hand it down to the kids. For what it's worth, my Grandfather was a B24 pilot in the USAF and left behind zero stories for his grand kids about WW2 Europe-Korea. Kids just want to hear stories, until just recently, I've forgotten what it was to be a kid and listen to stories people told (among family.) I just wish my Grandfather would have shared. Even now, I think of him as a hero in my eyes, it would have been great if he told us something, anything to tell my kids.

I'm gonna break it out and tell my kid before a time comes and I can't.

I wished more people thought this way. I remember last year I was chatting to a young man who was in the Army. He had been deployed and suffered some injuries. I never wanted to intrude and ask about the specifics because he clearly did not want to talk about specifics. But I remember telling him he should write about his experiences for his own personal records. At the time he was complaining how he started hundreds of fictional stories but could never focus or finish them. His reasons for not writing his personal experiences was that he wanted to be older? More mature? I can't remember what wording it was but that was his meaning. I think back to my 20-ish self and I simply cannot relate anymore, she's so foreign to me. It's scary how you forget details too. I think back to my IVF days now because I decided that I wanted to write about it recently, but for the life of me, I cannot remember how it was! That's pretty terrible, it was only 8 years ago and was possibly one of the saddest time in my life.

I've got similar thoughts regarding my own parents. I come from a family that emigrated from Saigon during the Vietnam war. My dad and his brothers were fishermen. For this reason, they had the skills and also the knowledge in monitoring the activity on the beaches and ocean to be well prepared when they knew it was time to leave. I only learnt about this recently, and oddly, this conversation only came up with my mother when I mentioned to her I was chatting to a US Marine whose parents were also Vietnamese emigrants. So weird that this stuff comes up because of where my writing leads me. Sometimes I wonder if I thought very much at all before I decided to pick up creative writing. But the point is, I've come to realize my parents had some fascinating stories of their time during the war and how they escaped. It niggles me now that all their hardships and victories might be forgotten when they're gone.

I never really liked writing in middle school or anytime before though. I did it because I had to which took all the fun out of it. I was in a Creative Writing 1&2 as a sophomore. Creative writing was a different experience, and allowed the students to write, not laborious papers that followed rails set by the teacher. More like painting in written form. Most of the students in this class were eccentric and to include myself somewhat. Found a good use for my witty humor, the junior smart hottie in my class. Which was the reason I stuck with the class in the first place.

Universal truth in any circumstance: the hottie made me do it.

No hottie for me. It was actually my history teacher, Mr Harold, that first gave me some confidence in writing. I only took his class for an easy grade to get into University. I was not so studious at school. I remember the topic was the Russian Revolution and the man gave me A's, which motivated me to keep working harder. He kept waving my essays around saying I wrote well. I wished I'd paid attention to Mr Harold more. I remember I was too self-conscious of the fact I was the only girl in the class of boys. I just wanted to fade into the background because I thought the boys were extremely annoying. All I cared about was getting the grades I needed. I'd be a much more rounded person today if I'd thought to write my own stories earlier. In the last two years I've encountered some young writers. I've been impressed by their maturity and talent. It's never too late to start but I'm envious of those who had the mind to start young. I make a point of instilling an appreciation of story-telling in my children.

By the way I've read some of the archives and current posts here and some of the writing skills you guys have are noteworthy, don't be surprised people like Serenity come here and commend you guys on writing.

Yes. I've gotten more in my short time here than I have on writing forums over years. There are thousands of writing forums and groups online filled with people telling you how to write, focused on every nuance on writing. Again, I'm not so studious and I write based on instinct; these sites only hold my interest so much. What keeps my interest here is more about professional communication and critical thinking. But there are many reasons I like this place, writing is just one aspect.