posted
I'm curious about something. How many of you folks have posted the first 13 lines of something on the Fragments section, gotten a not so good response, and then immediately dropped the idea and gone on to something else?
Posts: 331 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
It just worries me that some people are letting a little thing like the fact that the first thirteen lines of something doesn't make everyone happy. A little hint: It never will. Even King gets rejected now and then. So finish the original thought, even if you're not happy with it. But finish it for God's sake, or you'll never have any confidence. And you'll never make a sale.
I mean, come on. I'm the laziest person on the planet, and I just finished a 600 page novel two weeks ago. Of course, I still have to go back and edit, but if 'I' can finish something of that length, not a one of you has an excuse for not finishing 15 or 20 pages. Even at a page or a paragraph a night, it'll get done eventually. And I'm really, really lazy..
[This message has been edited by Netstorm2k (edited January 11, 2005).]
posted
I don't give up on a project because I'm discourage per se.
I generally churn out 2-3 pages of something. Post the first 13 lines and see what happens.
Sometimes the feedback gives me a better direction to go with the piece, sometimes it shows that the piece is flawed enough that my time would be better spent on another project.
posted
I've put 13-liners up once or twice that had some major issues pointed out, so I stopped working on the project in favour of something else. I haven't given up on them, but until I can reconcile the problems and move forward with the story, it will have to simmer on the back burner for a while.
Posts: 1473 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I don't usually post anything until I've taken the piece through a few drafts - my approach is that I want to get it as far as I can take it myself before I ask for help in taking it to the next step. So that's how I avoid posting 13 lines and dropping something - I just wait until way later in the cycle.
I've never quite understood what people get out of posting 13 lines of an early draft - for me the value comes in getting people to read the whole piece. mileage clearly varies on this!
posted
I generally post as early as possible so that comments can help me find problems as early in the process as possible. Ideally then I can weed out issues from the outset and not waste time by having the problem recur through a greater part of the piece.
Posts: 552 | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
I'm in the same camp as Beth. I find that I usually rewrite, or cut, the first thirteen lines I write by the time I reach the end of the piece. I will, occasionally, post lines when I need a swift kick in the pants to keep going on a project, or if it's a passage that might be confusing and I want opinions on how to deal with it.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I only post when I have something complete I want feedback on. I want to have my full vision down before I start soliciting other's views. Then I can see how they fit into a the whole of the piece, rather than further muddling the nebulous initial development phase.
Posts: 652 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:You're bypassing the intent of the forum if you are doing that, I believe.
Not necessarily. If I were inclined to pick one intent for the forum, it would be for people to do as Beth, Mary Robinette, and GZ do--wait until they have something more complete.
I'm not inclined to pick one intent for the forum, though. I kind of like the idea of the forum filling several different intents.
If I thought people were only doing what Netstorm is afraid they may be doing (only writing 13-line bits and getting discouraged), I would try to do something to change the situation.
I don't think that is a problem here, though.
Netstorm, perhaps if you thought of this particular practice as a form of writing exercise that some people are doing, it wouldn't be quite so worrisome.
posted
I'll buy that. I have done that myself, what Beth, Mary and others are referring to. I've just wondered about some others. Not that I have a right to judge, I just wouldn't want anyone to get distracted by early comments. It's kind of like when I used to let my wife read the first bit of a story. She'd make her comments, and depending on how positive or negative they were, I might be inclined to find another idea and go off on it, instead of finishing the perfectly good idea I had to begin with.
Posts: 331 | Registered: Jan 2005
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