Graeme

:) I like it.

The Bull Pen is now live....

Welcome to the Bull Pen! This place has been set aside for new writers to practise their craft. The purpose is to provide an area for story samples to be posted for comment. The intention is that others will provide constructive criticism to allow new writers to improve. That?s the goal. Now for the detail: * New writers must be registered before you can post. * Full stories are not intended for posting in this forum area. Samples only, please. * Any threads without activity will be removed after a period of time (currently 14 days). * The moderators reserve the right to remove posts that are considered to be inappropriate. Wherever possible, writing samples will not be deleted but will be removed from public viewing while any issues are resolved in private between the moderators and the author. If a satisfactory solution or explanation is found, the post will be restored. * Inappropriate content is at the discretion of the moderators. As an example you can be confident that subjects such as incest, rape, and other forms of abuse are likely to be removed. I won?t say they will because it is possible that the subjects can be treated with respect, but as a general rule they will be deemed inappropriate. Similarly, we would like samples to be non-pornographic. The purpose of this forum is to help with the ability to write, not the ability to arouse. If you are unsure, please feel free to PM myself or Dude and ask our opinion. * Anyone responding is urged to be supportive. I know I shouldn?t have to say it, but we are here to help new writers develop, not to spit on them from on-high. * Please don?t continually provide revisions for comment. The people responding do not generally have the time to provide constant feedback. I am sure they will try to be helpful, but you have to accept that they have their own lives, and (often) their own writing to attend to. That?s enough for now. We reserve the right to vary the rules over time, but the goal will (hopefully) remain the same. It wasn?t that long ago that I was a new author, putting up my first story. I can still remember the nervousness as I waited for my first bit of feedback. I was lucky in that I had someone who was willing to mentor me, and I would like this forum to provide the same assistance to others. Now, enjoy yourselves!

If you don't mind, I'm happy to move it.

*shakes head* I haven't been to Daylesford, and may never get there, but I know it has a large gay community and is well known in Victoria. I'm just very, very surprised.

I agree with Blue. English was my worst subject at school, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to write (admittedly, twenty five years after I finished secondary school -- I'm not counting university because I did NO English related subjects there at all). Welcome :D

It's not only younger people (though I'd like to be conceited and assume Codey was talking about me, too). When I started checking out sites I was paranoid about leaving ANY traces on either the internet or on my PC. That's why it took me so long before I did anything active like joining a message-board or sending an email. Anyone who is gay and in the closet is going to be cautious. Age is largely irrelevant (though those living with other people will be especially nervous about doing anything active -- and that's mainly teens).

I understand your concern Codey, but based on experiences of other sites that allow unregistered guest to post, that sort of thing is typically not a problem (though exceptions will always occur). I would be more concerned about inappropriate material being posted, but if we start with open access then what we'd be doing is taking the pragmatic approach of seeing if this is going to be an issue or not. Ultimately, it's up to Dude on whether or not he's willing to take that risk. Since this is his site, he needs to be comfortable with what may be posted there. Oh, and I'm include SPAM in the "inappropriate material" category. I've noticed some spammers joining boards just so they can advertise whatever it is they want to sell.

I can see pros and cons with allowing open access, but access control is also something that's easy to adjust afterwards. The question to me is whether it should be initially a private forum for members (ie. you need to register to be able to post), but any member can do so, or should it be open to everyone and unregistered people can post to it? There are obviously other options between these two. I'm inclined to pick one, and then adjust over time. For example, either: a) Start with open access, and if it becomes a problem, drop access to only members, or b) Start with restricted access to members only, and then open it up if it appears to not be getting a lot use. Opinions, anyone? Graeme

Very, very true, TR -- there are different types of love and while the peaks are often talked about, the rolling hills are satisfying and enjoyable, too. Well done!

The comment was posted, but it never made it out of Vegas.... No? Sorry, Jack: Part 7 of It Stays in Vegas by Jack Scribe was also added this week :D

Scenes can be similar without there being a problem. You have made it clear that it's coincidence, not plagarism. If the story became a best-seller, you might have to put up with some saying you've stolen their ideas, but if the plots are different they almost certainly wouldn't succeed. On the creativeness/originality front, I wouldn't be too concerned. There are many, many similar scenes in many, many stories. The scene itself may not be original (after all, the scenario you described above has occurred in real-life -- a similar situation was reported in the papers in Melbourne a couple of years ago because the boy ended up dying -- so people will write about it), but the words used to describe it and the focus that is taken can be. Just keep writing -- it is the overall story that is unique.

I believe that we should be encouraging new authors, but I know from experience that the first step of posting that initial chapter/story is quite daunting. I?d like to put up a proposal for comment. We have probably all had the experience of someone asking us to review something they have written. Sometimes it can be very promising, but they need some guidance. I know I was very nervous about putting something up the very first time, and I suspect that many others are the same. For some it will be too frightening and they never show what they are capable of writing. What I?d like to suggest is a special forum here at AwesomeDude where new authors can post a sample of their writing for comment. There should be enough regulars here who can read that sample and provide the appropriate encouragement. I don?t want that forum to become a defacto story site, so I?d propose that all posts get aged away after 14 days. That should be enough time to provide feedback and it also means that the new writers don?t have embarrassing stories sticking around forever. There are mechanics that still need to be sorted out. Posting guidelines would need to be very clear, along with a warning that inappropriate material could be removed without notice. We?d also need to ensure that it doesn?t get too busy, as the members making comments don?t want to spend all their time reading samples, but that should only become a problem if it becomes successful. We also need to make sure we set the correct expectation for the new writers. They should not expect their work to be edited, or that continual revisions will be reviewed. The purpose is to allow someone to put up something and ask the question, ?Does it look like I might be able to write?? and if the answer is yes, help them along the way. Comments, anyone?

I can agree or disagree with what Paul has said, depending on how pedantic I want to be. Since I only ever send a copy of my work to my editor (the original stays on my hard disk), he is unable to change that original... which would be agreeing. However, I WANT my editor to change my work. I make mistakes, my sentence construction (while hopefully improving) is still poor in some areas, and as for my punctuation... :roll: I get a copy back that is full of red. I go through it and review all of the changes and then ACCEPT every single change. The handful of items I may want to change back I then alter with tracking on and send back for review. I do it this way because probably around 99% of the changes delivered my content in a better way (and it is very rare that my editor changes the content) and it is only rarely that I would question something. Having said that, I'm aware that some authors really want comment only on their work. I'm not like that but I don't expect everyone to work the same way I do. So, if an author really wants comments, then they should say so up front to ensure they find an editor that is compatible.

G'day, Paul! I'll start by saying that good editors are very much in demand, so I wish you all the best. When I started writing (which wasn't that long ago), I found that mentoring on how to write was initially more useful than editoring. I was told about the worst mistakes in amateur writing... and then proceeded to break a couple of those rules (which I now regret... but I can't find the time to go back and fix them). A good start would be to prepare the first page or two of what you're writing and then send it to someone for comment. With something that small, you could probably do it in a PM. I'd like to say I'd do some beta-reading for you (I don't consider myself to have anywhere close to the skills required to be an editor), but I'm finding less and less time to do that. However, if you would like to PM me a couple of pages, I'll let you know what I think. It's the least I can do after all the help I was given early on. Graeme :)

Very nicely done. Congratulations! :D

There are definitely people who care about this sort of information. Thanks, Bart!

LOL -- brilliant!

The story index is available at the top of the main page, but it's accessed via a java applet. If you have disabled java applets, you won't see it. The current URL's (and no guarantee that they don't change) are: Novels: http://awesomedude.com/stories/ad_stories.htm Short Stories: http://awesomedude.com/stories/ad_short_stories.htm Drawn from life: http://awesomedude.com/drawn_from_life/dra...n_from_life.htm Essays: http://awesomedude.com/essays/essays.htm Graeme :)

A very nice tale. I really got the old English boarding school atmopsphere quickly, but with the modern touches. Mixing the two gave an odd feel to the story, but that's part of its charm. Well done! Graeme :)

Thanks, Jack!

Dude, I've said it privately, but I'll say it publicly that I love this site. I also feel it is a privilege to be here, not a right. I support you in whatever way you want to take AwesomeDude, but I'll say that I'm happy that the forums are back. Best wishes as always, Graeme :)

Welcome, ubik! Elecivil's stories are excellent and I, for one, are very pleased that they are here at AwesomeDude. I just need to find the time to keep up to date on them...

Best wishes, Blue. This subject has also been on my mind a lot, though for different reasons. I'll send you an email with some of my thoughts, just in case you find something useful. ~hugs~ Graeme :)

Welcome, Colinian, and I hope you've had a great day! Cheers, Graeme :D