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  1. Fitzgerald and Meredith in their book Structuring Your Novel write that nine out of ten published first novels are about personal experience. I think this is because the best writing is often about subjects with which the writer is most familiar and about which he or she is most passionate. Few subjects better meet those criteria than one's own life. I think also that writing about personal experience is cathartic. It helps the writer put the past into clearer perspective. It helps the writer get to know himself better. As others have said above, its therapeutic. I write because I have to, because I love it. The writing I enjoy the most, being a narcissist, is work about myself, or, at least, work inspired by my life and feelings. I find it more difficult to write about a subject that has nothing to do with me unless I find some connection, however tenuous, to my life, emotions, or feelings. I hope this didn't sound pretentious! :)
  2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing in either the first person or the third? I have read a lot about this and discussed it in my creative writing class, but I was wondering what the writers and editors here feel. I see advantages and problems with both. Readers seem to respond better to the first person, however, it limits the writer in areas where the narrator whouldn't have first hand knowledge. He can write about the thoughts and feelings only of the narrator himself and can't describe events he has not witnessed except third hand. Third person gives more latitude, yet readers don't always feel a connection with an omniscient narrator. What are your thoughts?
  3. There was a play in the early nineties entitled Twilight of the Golds, (a Wagnerian play on words), based on the premise that homosexuality was genetic, in which a strongly pro-life family discovered, through genetic testing, that their unborn son had the "gay gene." They were faced with the dilemna of violating their pro-life priniciples and aborting the baby or violating their anti-gay priniciples and raising the gay baby. These arguments have a double edge. What if the "Christians" decide to eliminate the "gay gene" from the gene pool? What if they decide it's a genetic defect? I agree that it's genetic and I can see the validity in the pre-natal hormone theory, as well. I believe that we should use the biological arguments in debates with the immoral moralists. However, we need to be prepared for the day when they accept our explanations. What if...
  4. I write a great deal for myself and I am always sending righteously indignant letters to the newspaper. I also have a blog which I have just started. I have written a number of short stories which are not gay-themed, but which gave me some practice and experience. I have taken some of the advice here. I have already started the project. I had outlined it as a story with a definite end, a specific theme, and a primary plot with two secondary story lines. (I've taken a couple of creative writing classes, though I don't pretend or presume to be an expert on writing!). I've grown tired of reading stories on the Internet and thinking to myself, "I can do that." So, I've decided to do it. I must admit that I rather liked the idea of an open-ended serial because I enjoy loosing myself in the story. It's nice for a couple of hours a night to be a fifteen year-old grappling with the issues of being fifteen instead of a forty-eight year-old wondering where life went! :roll: But, I also like the idea of perhaps making the work a series of stories with definite plots and endings. That would avoid confusing the reader with too many comoplicated threads and streams. Thank you very much! I appreciate the feedback. It's been an enormous help. :D
  5. Well, of course I would do that. It would be dishonest and defeat the purpose of the work to post it as an actual blog. Perhaps I was unclear in describing my idea.
  6. I would like to write a story using the device of a journal or blog. I realize this has been done frequently and I think I understand the pitfalls of doing so. It's almost a cliche. However, I believe I can do so without the problems inherent in that type of story. However, I am wondering about related issues. What do you people believe are the strengths and weaknesses of a serial or soap opera as opposed to a novel with a definite beginning and end. I have several concepts that I would like to experiment with in the same story and I feel a serial might be better than writing them as seperate, independent stories. What are your thoughts? I think I would like feedback as I am posting the story. And, I am a bit impatient. As I write, I would like to post. From a writer's POV, what are the advantages and disadvantages? From the reader's POV, I can guess. I get very tired of reading a good serial only to see the posting end with no resolution. However, if that is not an issue, what are your thoughts? Thank you!
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