- #1
vulsite
I am a college student interested in writing as a career. I am particularly interested in autobiographical writing. But before I do that I need to polish my writing skills. I need help in that .
Danger said:You do realize, however, that autobiographical writing is pretty much a one-shot deal as opposed to a career. (Unless you plan to serialize it and produce a new chapter every year.) There'll also be quite a limited readership unless you've done a lot of very interesting or funny things in your life.
Danger said:You could start with reading "Writer's Digest" magazine. I haven't bought it in years, but it sure had some good advice in it. They also offer books.
You do realize, however, that autobiographical writing is pretty much a one-shot deal as opposed to a career. (Unless you plan to serialize it and produce a new chapter every year.) There'll also be quite a limited readership unless you've done a lot of very interesting or funny things in your life.
(Or did you mean 'ghost writing' other people's autobiographies?)
Danger said:Too right, Stats.
Apparently the proper approach nowadays is to submit your work on disc. When I was doing it professionally, it had to be typed in 10 pitch, double-spaced, with 1 1/2" margins (except for screenplays which have half a dozen different margins depending upon whether it's action, dialogue, setting, etc.), on #20 bond paper with return postage. It cost a freaking fortune.
TheStatutoryApe said:I was amazed at just how difficult and involved the process is.
vulsite said:I am a college student interested in writing as a career. I am particularly interested in autobiographical writing. But before I do that I need to polish my writing skills. I need help in that .
And why not?Danger said:One tip... don't begin a sentence with a conjunction.
Danger said:I'm not saying that it isn't done; I merely point out that it isn't proper English.
OAQfirst said:Then I suppose the Bible isn't proper English, either?
OAQfirst said:Geeze.
vulsite, please please please go to a writers' forum. There are thousands of them all over the Internet. This is the wrong place to get that kind of advice. Surround yourself with insiders and people who've been through it all. Now, this is a fantastic place for science questions, but for the support on writing, try http://www.writingforums.com or http://www.writers.net/forum/ . Scope around for others on the Net until you find one that you feel comfortable with.
You don't need an editor. You already know how to write, so take off those training wheels and do it. There's a very good reason why so many writers say the same thing (write!); that's what works. You don't need to take a creative writing class, either. Not that you can't benefit from it, but fussing over skills you naturally already possesses is the direction our experienced writers see in newcomers all the time; it typically leads to procrastination. Writing is a journey and can be a most rewarding one, but you have to get going with it. If anything, you could try a critiquing service because they are better suited to judging the story, instead of focusing on the punctuation marks. Editors are not writers. If the commercial publisher needed you to have your work professionally edited, then they wouldn't need their editing departments, now would they? Sure, you need to be able to write with a reasonable degree of intelligibility, but I can tell from your four sentences alone that you have the mechanics down. You have what you need.
Go to a writers' forum, please. Make friends there and follow their experiences. It can be an amazing and rewarding journey.
Danger said:I will add to Stats' post with the caution to stay as far away as possible from 'vanity publishers' (also known as 'subsidy press'). Those are the ones who will edit, print, and distribute your book at your expense. If it's a viable project, a reputable publisher will foot the expense in hope of reaping a profit. The vanity press preys upon talentless egotists.
TheStatutoryApe said:Many famous people who write their autobiographies, particularly ones who are otherwise too busy to spend lengthy periods of time on the book, use professional editors. Like I mentioned of course its expensive and you would have to justify the cost by knowing it will be published. We may doubt that Vulsite is famous or worthy of automatically getting published but who knows.
Danger said:Of course it isn't. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, then translated into Greek, and after that into various languages. The New Testament was originally in Aramaic, then followed the same translation process. Either one in English bears only a passing resemblance to what was originally written.
Here: "[URLOAQfirst said:And what is "proper English?"
jimmysnyder said:Here: "[URL
Writers's Guide To Well English.[/URL]
OAQfirst said:p51: "When you allow yourself to be bored..."
Nor is it in any other. For it is not one at all. And not about to become one. But that shouldn't bother me. Or make me give up hope. Yet it seems hopeless. So perhaps I should reconsider.Danger said:That one doesn't count. 'When' is not a conjunction when used in that context.
Danger said:That one doesn't count. 'When' is not a conjunction when used in that context.