Codey
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Posts posted by Codey
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I asked Tim and he didn't know so we called his dad. (they raise horses on their ranch) He said that there are male horses that show no interest in mares and mares that will not breed unless restrained.
Codey
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Here's a special wish to a special person. Happy Birthday Ben!
Codey
ps: Is 40 really over the hill?
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this storey points out the unimportance of labels. Is he gay? Is he bi? Is he straight?
Love is what counts and the only thing that matters.
This is a good storey, Gabe. everyone should check it out at, Http://www.lonelyocean.co.uk/prose/exgay.htm
Codey
ps: this is definetly 'R' rated lmao
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you might share a bit of how you happened to write the story with our readers...
Well, mainly I used the computer but I did do a little by hand.
Seriously tho, I have a lot of time to just think and I don't waste time thinking about girls and, since I have a partner, I don't spend toooooo much time thinking about other guys. :D
I have an "adopted" little brother, who I write some things for as little gifts. You may have heard about him...he's Billy from The Adventures of Billy, a Kid. Last summer, I wrote a series of four fables for him as a 6th Bitrthday gift.
Due to a computer mis-hap, I lost a bunch of files and he'd lost his printouts. I have back-up discs of them but who knows wth I put them so I decided to redo them from memory.
This first one is the most complex. I tried to fit in ideas about diversiitiy, greed, ecology and the relationship between polititicians and their "sheep".
I was trying to make it a story with appeal for kids and with a message as well. I'll be doing the other three along with a fifth I've decided on over the next few weeks.
Codey
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Thanks Johnny and Blue. And Wiz, that's one of the nicest compliments I'll ever get.
Thanks guys
Codey
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An editor takes an author's story and points out all the ways to improve it. What are the flaws? What can obviously be corrected? Mark and change the spelling and punctuation. Mark to suggest changes. Offer suggestions where possible, or state where the author needs to make changes. Point out what's good and what works well. Be polite and be firm. It's just as easy and far nicer for you both to treat the writer as a friend or co-worker. [/i]
Yes to punctuation, spelling and grammer. These have rules and some of us don't know all those rules yet. However when the editor suggests changes in style or content, he's the one that should remember those can only be suggestions. Style and content are the exclusive rights of the writer. When an editor insists on something being included or excluded, he's becoming author instead of editor.
As an example, in a chapter of Tribe I have a paragraph dealing with parents and how they discipline their kids. Two of the three adults who read this chapter think it should be modified and less strong words used. Of all the guys near my own age that have read this chapter all the comments have been positive and they think I nailed it.
Both writer and editor have to keep in mind the target audience. When dealing with younger writers the editors tend to view the piece as an adult writing for adults and that simply is not the case. If your experience dealing with teens ended when you were no longer a teen, then you tend to think in the way you did when you were a teen.
***A new writer is insecure about his writing, even though he loves it and knows it's good.***
Maybe some "know it's good" but most of us only think it's ok and only when enough people have read and commented will we know whether it's good or not.
Codey
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I think maybe I should have been a little clearer in my post. I'm talking about young writers, teens. Believe me guys, we're a completly different animal. You can tell an adult that something he did sucks and that adult will think that he should take a second look. If you tell me or another teen that something we did sucks we hear it in an entirely different way. What we hear is 'you suck'.
When you're dealing wiith young writers, you have to play teacher. An author, whose work I really like, is doing beta reading for me on a story I'm writiing. He's tough but phrases things in a way that doesn't feel like personal attacks and is encouraging at the same time. Which sounds better to you?
"This sucks! You can do better!"
or
"I'm sorry, Codey, but I didn't like this chapter as much as the last. It's just not up to your usual standards."
By using the second approach this beta reader got me to go back and look and change some things and when I hear from the other Betas I'll probably have more to change. If he'd used the first approach, my reaction would have been "Oh yea? Wth does he know? I'm leaving it the way it is."
That would have hurt my story but that's the way teen's minds work. We're at an age where we're trying out our wings as adults and are very touchy about being TOLD what to do.
An editor working with a young writer (teen) has to stop and think back to how he felt at that age...and be realistic about it. Seeing your own teen years through rose colored glasses won't work when you're working with teens.
Some things we do will just have to not be very good...it's the way we learn and when we're older and more mature, we can always go back and redo them. I don't know anyone that started out as an expert in anything.
I recieved an e-mail recently from a well know teen author and he said something that was true for we teens. He said that one of my poems reminded him how scared he was when he first started posting his first story...that he was afraid of being laughed at.
That fear of being laughed at or ridicled is something teens deal with everyday and so why should we write if even the people who're supposed to be helping us learn to be a better writer, ridicules our work? I know...you'll say it's criticism not ridicule but remember that we hear things differently than you mean them.
Codey
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Hey Zot...80,000 words for a first effort is awesome. You should be proud that you finished it and it turned out the way you wanted. Size doesn't matter...go for the quality.
Codey
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WOW! Awesome isn't a strong enough word for this story...it's way beyond awesome.
Codey
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Happy Cupids Day from Me and Tim too!
Watch out for the little fairy with the bow and arrows dressed in...well almost nothing!
Codey
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New Story was really great. I admit I'm a romantic and you got the feeling of love just right.
I wasn't sure where you were going with Dare to Dream but when I got to the end it was the absolute perfect ending.
I loved both of these stories
Codey
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In an effort to please everyone.
For those who thought it was too long, I've added another Verse.
For those who thought it was too short, I've deleted a few words.
For those who thought it was just right, too bad. I decided to change it.
:twisted:
Codey
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The Cowboy and the Geezer
a poem by Codey
The old man sat in the shade
of his ramshackle old abode,
when, off in the distance, he spied a horse
coming down the dusty road.
On the horse, there sat a rider
with features dim eyes couldn?t see.
The old man watched and wondered
just who this stranger could be.
The cowboy rode tall in the saddle
with his horse at a gentle trot.
?Welcome stranger? the geezer said
as the cowboy rode up and stopped.
?If you have time to tarry,
you?re welcome to rest a spell.
Tie your horse up in the shade.
There?s cool water in my well.?
?I thank you for your kindness sir
but I dare not linger long.
There is a bullet in my chest
and soon I must be gone.?
?How came you to get that bullet, boy,
you carry in your chest?
were you beset by brigands?
Come sit awhile and rest.?
?I left home but six months ago
coming West to earn my fortune.
There?s gold in California hills
and I was bound to get my portion.
I found the treasure that I sought
but another wanted my gold.
He left me dying in the dark
and now I?ll never grow old.?
?I?ve come to choose a saddle mate,
someone to call my friend.
To show me sights I?ve never seen
and places I?ve never been.
To ride with me among the stars
chasing mavericks with fiery tails.
To sit with me around the fire
regaling me with his tales.?
?There?s not much good in being old.?
the geezer sadly said.
Then looking anew at the stranger, he asked
?Are you then truly dead?
Are you an old man?s vision,
merely seen in a fitful dream?
Or, perhaps, an ethereal messenger
fulfilling some unknown scheme??
?Tho? I am old and past my prime
I?ll gladly be your friend.
I?ll show you sights you?ve never seen
and take you places you?ve never been.
I?ll ride with you among the stars,
we?ll chase mavericks with fiery tails.
We?ll sit ?round celestial campfires,
I have a lifetime of tales to tell.?
The old man sat in the shade
of his ramshackle old abode.
Off in the distance were two horses
heading up the dusty road.
On each horse there sat a rider
with features living eyes couldn?t see.
It was the cowboy and the geezer.
Two souls now riding free.
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](*,) ... the truth about life! LMAO
Codey
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I'd like to thankeveryone for the get well wishes and the welcome backs.
Things won't be back to normal for me for a few weeks so I won't be very active for awhile. It's nice to know you have friends pulling for you and I appreciate it in ways you may never know.
I'd also like to give a special thanks to a bunch of special guys. From this day forward they are the only ones allowed to call me Codeman. (Now you know who you are Aaron and the gang. LOL)
Codey
PS; We don't hear enough from you Johnny, I hope things are good with you and we miss you on AD
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I think non-fiction should be just that. I don't see anything wrong with using fake names to protect others but if facts are changed then it isn't and shouldn't be called non-fiction.
Codey
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this was amazing! maybe TR isn't jealous, but I sure as heck am!!
Codey
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I've been reading this section lately and would like to make a few comments from a new writers perspective.
A good editor by definition is one who makes an AUTHOR'S story the best it can be. When an editor begins to interject his personal views and opinions, he's turning the story into his own or at best a collaboration.
I recieved an e-mail from a friend a while back who also does editing for some new writers and I'd like to share his advise to to me and other new writers.
"Codey, speaking as an editor, let me throw a out few comments about editors and your work. Don't forget that what they are working on is your story. I know you think there are too many rules in prose, but rules are made to be broken, and a rule broken consistently is a rule in its own right (for example when you make up your own language with its own syntax and rules...see Drake's "A Royal Thief"). I guess what I'm trying to say is that you need to remember that the editor is there to do two things. First, to catch those annoying spelling and punctuation errors, and second, to help make sure your story stays on topic. If they want to change something you feel strongly about, stand your ground because it's your story!"
Someone who is a beginning writer, needs encouragement as much as he needs editing. There is no way a new writer will turn out a masterpiece in his first efforts. He needs the encouragement from editors and comments from the readers to perfect his art. That is if there is ever perfection in any art form. My personal belief is that all art forms are subjective and thier worth is judged from the viewer or reader's perspective.
I'm probably overstepping my bounds but speaking for guys my age, if an editor makes my writing seem like a school assignment then I'm dropping that class. I write because it's fun for me but if it turns "un-fun", I'm outta there!
I guess what I'm trying to say is that editors in a non-professional setting like the internet, need to be a little more lenient. If you want professional stuff to read, there's plenty to choose from on Amazon or your local bookstore. Given time and guuidance without pressure, who knows? Maybe one of the inexperienced writers on the net will become a new Faulkner or Hemingway. But not if they're turned off from writing.
Codey
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Thanks Gabe. That praise means a lot coming from you.
I think I'm going to spend the next few days going through some poems I stopped working on and try finishing a few.
Codey
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Me's
a poem by Codey
The me that was is broken,
in desperate need of repair.
the layers of my life peeled back,
the broken parts laid bare.
The essence of me is hidden,
lost in the blather of a crowd.
Like grains of sand and pebbles
in a field that's freshly plowed.
The white-coats gather round,
deciding which parts to replace,
further obscuring the me that was
and making it harder to trace.
The me that is stands watching
in wonderment and wide eyed,
as broken parts and pieces
are casually tossed aside.
Pieces not deemed necessary,
are scheduled to be replaced.
Sorted into piles to keep
and piles to be labeled as waste.
The me that?s meant to emerge
I?ll have to wait to see.
Will it be the me I was, the me I am
or a me that?s yet to be?
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Memoriam
by Codey
I feel your eyes upon me
in everything I do.
There's not a minute in any day
that I don't think of you.
I feel the comfort of your love
in life's unsettled clime.
I hear you speaking to me,
in the recesses of my mind
You whisper the past is for memories
but not a place to dwell.
Trying to relive the past,
can make life a living Hell.
I can feel the distant nearness
as our souls are still entwined.
You now free to soar and swoop,
I still trapped in my earthly rind.
You free of human cares and woes
as you've moved to another plane.
I with little more to lose,
and even less to gain.
You to live with Angels
in everlasting light.
I to do battle with demons
in shadows and the darkness of night.
I know I'll have to live with the past,
my destiny in coming years.
I can only hope, when I close my eyes,
I will see you still, through my tears.
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=D> =D> =D> ...I like the format here a lot
great job TR
Codey
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Very good Alex, I especially liked "About How I Miss You"
I agree with Gabe, keep writing.
Codey
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Where exactly to start the story?
in Writers' Workshop
Posted
I like the plopping thuds...reminds me of the sound the ant eater in the BC strip makes when he nails an ant :D
Codey