> > Lately, I have been very dissatisfied with my life, and I have thought a lot about what I would like to be different. Looking up to the examples of the great Mr. Stoddard and the Amazing Mr. Parker, I decided I would pursue my long-time goal of writing fiction. Perhaps just for a hobby, and perhaps someday, something more. SO I whipped up a little 1400 word story in about an hour (I don't really know, I was working in betweem writing) and thought I would see what others thought of it.
> >
> > The story is a fuller description of the dream I had as a child (as mentioned in an earlier thread) with a tiny bit of embellishment and filling in where I felt more was needed. I welcome ANY sort of feedback at this point-- I haven't tried to write fiction since high school (over five years ago) and I know that I need a lot of work to be good again. Please pick apart my grammar, spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure, style, theme, or anything else you can think of. Of course, if you see good things about the work I have done, I would appreciate hearing that as well, just so I don't try to change those things about myself.
> >
> > If people like, I can add my own commentary on the story either here or on the web page where it is posted.
> >
> > Don "The Monkey'aspiring author'man" Jackson
>
>
> Wow. I'm impressed. I wish I could write something that good in an hour. The only thing that may have been wrong with it seemed to be an overuse of commas, but don't take my word for it. I'm not exactly an expert on grammar. ^^;
>
> Sa[Mine tend to take a lot longer]ku[and aren't nearly as good]ra, who is also trying multiple in-name quotes.

I just noticed that I never replied to this one, and I want to thank EVERYONE who encourages me in any way. :-)

I'll take another read through it and see what I think of my comma usage. As I have mentioned somewhere else, I did those stories without going back to edit them (partly because I'm not too good at editing my own work, especially when it is fresh in my mind). Maybe now it'll have been long enough and I can fix things up a bit.

I should also mention that I am GLOWING at your praise for how good you thought it was for so short a time. I don't exactly feel that writing should be a race (my work would almost certainly be better if I took more time on it), but it is nice to know that a rush job story holds some appeal.

For those who are interested, here's an update on my current status for writing new stuff.

I presently have two fantasy fiction stories in progress, but I don't like where either of them is going, and I don't know if I will finish them. I may post them anyway and if people really like what I've got, they can ask me to finish them.

I also have one story which is not so much a story as a new "rant" file (in quotes because my rant files really aren't rants). This one started out as a letter being written to a girl on my morning bus (a hypothetical letter, of course-- I'm not crazy enough to give out something like that) but has turned into an introspective work. It's not too interesting, unless you like getting inside the Monkey's head. :-)

The only other thing I have to say on the subject is that I have been thinking about trying my hand at writing something longer. Unfortunately, my other pieces were a story where I knew the end before I wrote it, one where I made it up as I went but had a logical conclusion in mind, and two which are unfinished becuase I couldn't keep them flowing the way I would have liked. This leads me to believe the things I was taught in grade six about writing-- It's a good idea to have a plot worked out in advance. Making up 50,000 words of story as you go is not feasible. I plan to check out Dave's Somewhat Complete SF/F Writers' Internet Resources to see what I can find there, but other than that, I welcome any suggestions from more experienced writers. What are your thoughts on lengthy stories and how do you go about planning/writing them?

That's all for now.

Don "Seeker of Knowledge" Monkey