Lit Reactor looks like a fine community, so I thought I'd say hello.
I live in Chicago. A fine town no doubt, but I find myself daydreaming of wilder environments like the Rockies or the Sierras. I'm a huge camping nut and any free time I get is spent in glorious mountains far from the flatlands of Illinois. I even wrote one of my novels across various campgrounds in the Northern Rockies.
I'm working hard on several writing projects. I'm 60,000 words into the first draft of a new novel, with two others polished and ready to go (at least I hope so). I'm signed with FinePrint Literary for my novel Invasive, which is making the rounds. I've learned that the publishing industry moves like a starfish, but that's okay. I've also got a few short stories out there. If interested, check out my site:
http://michaelhodgesfiction.com/
Lit Reactor looks like a great place to learn and to mingle with other writers. I'm always craving more knowledge and of course the input of fellow writers.
Nice to meet you all, and thanks for the whiskey.
ooooo, fresh meat... i mean, umm.. hi
Nice website. Nice to meet more enthusiastic writers. Feel free to post in the workshop anytime. We are your friends, join us......................
Hey Charles and Aliensoul. Thanks for saying hello.
Great site.
Hey Michael. Welcome.
Great that there seems to be a wave of really eager folks joing up at the moment. Good to see. The more the merrier round these parts.
What's this Invasive novel about then? Will it make you famous sir?
Welcome to the site! Hope to see you around!
Hello.
Thanks for the greeting, Wicked, Averydoll and nkwilczy.
Wicked - As far as Invasive, I highly doubt it will have those effects. It's about three characters trapped in a remote Montana valley by invasive species. One of the species builds road dams like beavers, blocking traffic and corralling prey. Another mimics the sound of humans. Those aren't all the critters in the valley, though. Just a sampling. It's up to the main characters to survive the onslaught and to figure out what the hell's going on. But there are other species in the valley, too. Native species. ;)
Welcome. Glad to see more newbs than lurkers.
Joined the workshop yet?
No I haven't. I actually had a few questions about it.
Did you...did you ask the questions? Did I miss it?
Thanks for the reply, Averydoll. I had not posted the questions yet because I wanted to search the site. Could you or anyone else point me to the "FAQ" that explains the rights users have when posting a story for critique? I'm also wondering if there's a feature to delete your writing at any time. Thanks for any info.
I do know that you can delete your workshop pieces at any time. I've done it! :)
Great. Thanks for the feedback.
The rights you have as a poster?
Well, copyright law applies, obviously. So it isn't as though another reviewer is going to steal your work because you posted it in the workshop, not legally anyways.
You have the right to get defensive when people criticize your writing. I mean, is it a good right? Not really, but you have that option.
You have the right to ignore any review or any segment of a review.
You have the right to determine what sort of points you give for any review of your submission.
And of course you can delete your submission at any time. This is great when you would rather have people review anything else you wrote. Like, I had a story up for a while called the Best Friend. It didn't work on many levels, which was fine, I wrote it when I was like 16 and I didn't mind that being pointed out.
But I deleted it so that if anyone was trying to reciprocate a review they wouldn't be telling me what was wrong with a story I wasn't going to work on.
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Your right to post submissions is probably the main one, it is limited though by the point system. You need 15 points to post a new submission, and I believe that you start off with 15 points to do so (I did, but I've heard conflicting reports). When you review someone else's submission they can rate your review Not Helpful (I have no idea what happens, it shouldn't be a problem if you read and make real comments on the submission) Helpful (worth 2 points) or Very Helpful (3 points).
Wow, thanks for all the info, NK. I was referring to the rights as far as posting material to be critiqued on this site. For example, if you post a story on your blog, it's considered published. But seeing as the critique section here is behind a wall, it shouldn't be the same in the eyes of editors.
The reason for deleting a story I've submitted for a critique would be simple. It means it's ready for submission to a magazine or anthology.
Yeah, but you don't get the points back or anything. I understand what you're saying and yes, it's a good way to steer people to stories you still want help on.
No, a story being uploaded here for workshopping won't make it ineligable at places that are paranoid about printing already published stories. Like you said, it's only available to other workshoppers (and there's a double your inaccessability button on there even) and the people who workshop your story are likely to be supportive still when you get it published.
