My sincere apologies, but internet is outrageously expensive in Italy. Am currently in a cafe in Assisi, mooching off their free wireless, for the price of a very tasty cappuccino, and am planning on spending the New Years at a mass and party hosted (I think) by Franciscan monks. I mean, it's Assisi. The Franciscan monks do pretty much everything.  They are so cool.

So, my Christmas present from my parents (aside from about ten boxes of Craft Mac and Cheese and a very nice pair of gloves) was a week-long trip around Italy with a very good friend of mine from high school. Utterly adore her, but she has far more energy than I do (i.e. when she was teaching English in Poland two summers ago, she walked 30 km to see a concentration camp and then ran the 30 km back). Bref, arrived in Milan, got overcharged for a taxi, met up with friend, took a train to Venice, then, two days later, decided to follow the Romantic impulse and randomly go to Assisi for two days before two days in Florence and then a return home to Paris.

I was charmed by Venice, utterly charmed. It was a bit like an 18th/19th century Harlequinade, where one slips on a mask, loses one's identity in an clever, convenient archetype and looses oneself in art. It's a triumph of artifice- when Harlequin smacks down his bat, up rises yet another testiment to human ingenuity, yet another Volterian parody of life (or something like it) with a wink and a smile at the ever-present audience. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and was fascinated by all the masks on display. It was a very transitory sort of place though, so friend mentioned, sort of randomly, "Hey, you mentioned you wanted to go to Assisi. Shall we?"

So, one spurt of Romantic impulse later, here I am. I mean, I was typically more phelgmatic and practical (i.e. "That's great, but, as much as I admire the Poor Clares, I have no desire to emmulate them. Even I don't follow Rousseau enough to want to sleep in an open field. Call a hostel before we cancel our last night in Venice.") but, eh. I am starting to accept myself for who I am, slash have discovered that, despite it all, I have somehow turned out to be relatively competent and pragmatic.

This year, I do think, marks the year Marguerite Fell Totally In Love With Romanticism, though I quasi-characterize it as the year where I started trying to find ways to apply the truth for which I can live and die (see rambling Kierkegaard posts for details). I still am not entirely sure how to go about doing it, but I suppose that's what next year is for. At any rate, am very happy to be celebrating the new year in Assisi, which is beautiful and so... peaceful. I mean, yes, St. Francis is pretty much their commerical industry, despite his poverty-depending-on-nature-and-God interpretation of Christianity, but there is something so very lovely about this place. I can't quite put it into words- will have to ruminate a bit more.

At any rate, friend is getting bored, so must sign off. However, I love you all so very much and hope that the new year is everything you need it to be. Happy New Year! <3

This is actually my first time posting in a community. I just wanted to get some feedback on this story I wrote. It's not the first story I wrote, but it's the first that has been posted in a community. Maybe a comment or two?

This was written for our school paper. The editor assigned me to write a story about love. Since the whole school, including the children, are going to receive this paper, I planned to make it child friendly. It was supposed to be about a bratty student who turned out to have leukemia, but since it sounded a little too sad for a child, I changed it to something inspired by children's riddles - Humpty Dumpty. This story narrated in a child's point of view shows her determination to save Humpty Dumpty after feeling sad for his miserable end, that "he couldn't be put together again..."


( Here it goes... )

A/N: After a really, really long break, I have returned to writing. Here's chapter eight of Boy Bride. I think I've improved as a writer! Yay! ^__^

Title: Boy Bride
Fandom: Original
Genre: Romance, angst, drama, fantasy, mythology, humor.
Pairing: OMCxOMC
Rating: M
Author: Angel_Gospel (aka, TheLadyPendragon)
Disclaimer: Mine. Roar!
Warnings: Language, sexual content, violence, slash, relationship with a minor, mentions of mpreg, etc.
Summary: A gay prince, an unintentionally sexy foreigner, and the meddling Wizard who just wants them to get laid. Everyone else is just along for the ride. A fairy-tale unlike any you've ever read. MxM, Slash, Yaoi, Possible Mpreg.
 

--Prologue--Chapter One--Chapter Two--Chapter Three--Chapter Four--Chapter Five--Chapter Six--Chapter Seven--

A/N: After a really, really long break, I have returned to writing. Here's chapter eight of Boy Bride. I think I've improved as a writer! Yay! ^__^

Title: Boy Bride
Fandom: Original
Genre: Romance, angst, drama, fantasy, mythology, humor.
Pairing: OMCxOMC
Rating: M
Author: Angel_Gospel (aka, TheLadyPendragon)
Disclaimer: Mine. Roar!
Warnings: Language, sexual content, violence, slash, relationship with a minor, mentions of mpreg, etc.
Summary: A gay prince, an unintentionally sexy foreigner, and the meddling Wizard who just wants them to get laid. Everyone else is just along for the ride. A fairy-tale unlike any you've ever read. MxM, Slash, Yaoi, Possible Mpreg.
 

--Prologue--Chapter One--Chapter Two--Chapter Three--Chapter Four--Chapter Five--Chapter Six--Chapter Seven--

Hey guys. Wrote another short story, it's the third one or so that I've posted here. You guys have been tremendously helpful in the past and even if this isn't good it's certainly a step up from my earlier stuff IMO.

I will award any readers/critics with free hugs and internets as well as my thoughts on anything you've written.

Details:
-5,000 words
-Some harsh language
-Fairly darkish tone

If you don't like reading in the LJ format feel free to read it in PDF form here: http://disc.420chan.org/lit/src/Julian%20and%20the%20Worm.pdf

 

( Read more... )

A quick write, non-beta or whatever, just going with an sudden idea in my head.

Might include material that might offend some people. I use a mixture of British and American english, so my grammar and spelling might not be work out for some people.

About the lives of three people in an apartment. I know this is done before but I've never read anything about this so here it goes. Sorry for spelling errors and etc.
( The Lives )

Now,
Here's the score: For 7 years my writing has been a combination of photos and prose, with one influencing the other, often shaping the other.

But,
The last two years I've been in grad school and beginning my career. The writing and photography suffered.

However,
I've got a handle on things now, and the creative habit is returning.

Take this photo of me, for example:



I used it to form a micro-story about two spies who grew to hate each other the day they got stuck underneath the President's Gala Ballroom.
Then I grew to not like the man I was with, but you know how that goes.

If this interests you, add away. I'm looking for creative writers, and if you like to take pictures, let's do this.

Oh yeah: I'm 26, surviving in California with a parrot, no kids.

Chapter 2:  Willard Street, West Avenue, and Alfred Street

 

Nick Sparks was, most of his friends agreed, a very good-looking, generally congenial guy.  Obviously of Italian descent, he had brown hair, brown eyes, dark features, was just short of tall, and was thin but athletic; he dressed, like a typical young person of nineteen or twenty, in clothes mostly purchased from the mall.  His face was somewhat long and slightly angular, with prominent cheekbones and thin cheeks, though he did not appear gaunt.  His chin was very noticeably cleft.

 

Nick was also, most of his friends agreed, a little odd at times; but at the James School almost everyone was at least a little odd, and so this was usually overlooked.

 

 

( Read more... )

 

Name: Sydney
Age: 19 (tomorrow)
Location: Illinois, SIUC

About Me: I've always thought it is more fun to learn about someone as you go. So, I'll give you the basic foundation, and hopefully reading my journal will be a scavenger hunt of About Sydney. As aforementioned, I'm nineteen years young, I attend college at SIUC in Illinois, USA. It's a given that I enjoy to write, I believe in positive verbs and refrain from judging.

About My Journal: Consider it a scrapbook of words. It's a new journal, I discarded my old one. I'll write about whatever reflects me on any given day, whether it be a large entry or a single sentence. On the not of reflecting what I am, I'm generally not a negative person, so it won't be a journal filled with ranting. I like the feel-good messages as well as the bittersweet stories. Some of my smaller pieces of writing will probably be posted there, as well as silly updates on projects.

What I Write: Dramatic Comedies, short stories, light angst, drama, science fiction, satire.

What I Don't Write: Romance eludes me. Whatever I write, whether it be dramatic comedies or science fiction or fantasy, if there is romance involved at all, it is between the lines and up for the reader's interpretation. I don't write vampire stories either (not necessarily because I'm against the current vamp. crazy; it has more to do with the vampires themselves--you'll probably find an explanation for this in a later post in my journal).

What I read: Anything that snags my attention. I don't have a particular category or genre I flock to.

What I Don't Read: Vampires (sorry Anne Rice).

Favorite Authors & Books:
Edward Gorey (I'm aware he's an illustrator, but stories are told).
Susanne Clark - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Neal Stephenson
Jane Austin (It's almost a requirement)
Tony Vigorito - Just a Couple of Days
Tom Holt
Douglas Adams

Could I edit someone else's work: If someone really needed it and asked me to, yes.

What I'm Looking For: Someone to teach me something new. Someone to teach me something old. Someone who can hold a good conversation through our lovely comment-sessions here on lj. My car keys, but that is irrelevant.

Name: Elyssa

Age: 21

About Me: I am an avid writer currently suffering from an intense bout of writer's block. Despite that, writing is my life and I am very dedicated to my two characters. I would LOVE to make some writing friends (or any friends!), especially those like myself who are devoted to certain characters or stories. I love sharing my characters with others and want very badly to meet people who want to share their characters or worlds with me as well.

About My Journal: I post whatever I write to my journal, no matter how terrible or short it is (and many of my pieces ARE terrible and short XD). I try to update several times a week but I am a slave to my muse so sometimes that changes. My journal is pretty well organized tag-wise so it's easy to navigate.

What I Write: Fiction, mostly, or whatever strikes my fancy. I have spent seven years writing about the same two characters, so they are a major focus of my LJ posts. I do not have one single storyline for these characters, though, but instead use them to explore hundreds of different stories, situations, and worlds. I suppose I should also say they're both men, in case someone is HORRIBLY INSULTED by stories involving two adult men and not, I don't know, anthro vampire albino wolves or whatever.

I also write some more spiritually-minded things (usually pertaining to writing itself) or simple descriptive pieces if the mood strikes me. My writing is usually very short, at most a few paragraphs, so I promise it doesn't take long to read. I also LOVE questions, so if you want to know more about a certain story/character/piece, PLEASE ask! It will make my freaking month. :D

What I Don't Write: Very long pieces, fanfiction, erotica. I also don't usually use my journal for everyday ranting, so don't expect me to post quiz results or to blather on about school/work/friends. However, I don't mind reading journals where people DO do that.

What I Read: Right now, anything! I especially admire writing which focuses on developing particular characters or stories, though. I also prefer short writing to longer pieces, but I'm not that picky.

What I Don't Read: Fanfiction (though I'm open to it if it's creative), graphic erotica, or anything with offensively stereotypical characters (i.e weak or passive female characters, overly feminine or promiscuous gay men, etc).

Can I critique/edit someone else's work: Yes, though you may have to request me to do so.

Please check out my journal if any of this caught your eye. I'm not looking for a following, just some new friends who can rant with me about writer's block, characters, and stories, and would be willing to work through a particular story or idea with me. I promise I'm open and friendly and would love to talk to anyone here regardless of age, gender, or writing preferences. Also, if you think I would enjoy your journal, feel free to send me a message saying just that. :3

Title: The Turn of the Clock
Fandom: xxxHolic/Gakuen Heaven
Pairings: Nakajima/Watanuki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Watanuki meets Nakajima, whose wish he cannot immediately discern. Nakajima keeps coming back.
Comments: I finally finished it! For sidecharacter who asked for this pairing. :D ...And okay, this piece feels kind of rushed at the end, but I don't know where I was going. Aha. 2875 words.

( The Turn of the Clock )

Here is another peice up for feed back. It is a peice on lycanthropy but I swear on my children's lives I had the synopsis for this one worked out a year before I even heard of 'Twilight'. What I have here is just the prologue. Essentially the main character has no idea what she is and went through quite a lot as a child because her parents didn't have much of a clue either.

( Read more... )

So I'm writing my first synopsis and it has my brain log jammed.  I don't know  what the heck I'm doing. I have searched for examples other than tips (i.e., first paragraph do this . . .).  I'm so visual in nature I need a concrete example to spring board my own ideas.  I have gone to Story Sensei and searched agent blogs, but have come up empty.  Help! Websites. Books.  I'm open.  Feed me Seymour!!!

Fandom: Hellsing
Genre: romance... sorta.  It is Hellsing, after all.
Pairings: Captain/Doc, Heinkel/Yumiko
Rating: PG-13
Author: kellen_eires
Disclaimer: I own nothing.  Obviously.
Warnings: Yaoi and yuri both

http://kellen-eires.livejournal.com/622.html#cutid1  links to my journal.  Comments are love <3.

The coffee shop in which we had been sitting was a dimly lit kind of place with all kinds of pretentious art crap cluttering the walls. I’m sure that at any given moment, one could easily find a patron there who enjoys the kind of garbage I’m asking you to read. I can say with some certainty, however, that finding a Nicholas Sparks lover there would be very unusual. It was not the sort of place someone who reads Nicholas Sparks would sit and read Nicholas Sparks. That would be embarrassing in such a hip and intellectual place as the coffee shop.

( Read more... )

So, I have been writing an outline/ key scenes for a graphic novel. It is a sci fi adventure that takes place in 1930's dustbowl. I had some questions about research.

1.) How in depth do you all go into for research. I mean should I be a stickler or can I bend the rules a bit and make things not so historically accurate?

2.) what is a good resource about writing and letting your audience know it is in a certain time period without starting the first chapter, "It was a cold morning in the fall of 1932."

Thanks in advance!