[hero in the hallways]

Yeah, I've been reading it, too. The grammar/mechanics can get pretty rough at times, but it's still a good story.

It's about a guy who wrote a best selling book about his experiences in high school, but then lost his memory. He's reading the book to find out who he is and what he's done. The story switches between excerpts from the book and the main character dealing with what he's discovering about himself and his friends.

Link:

http://www.selfpics.org/nifty/gay/highscho...n-the-hallways/

[Leaves and Lunatics by EleCivil]

No apology needed, but nope, I'm not a female. Not the first time I've been mistaken for one based on my writing, though. I've got a bad habit of using a lot of hedges/intensifiers, which I hear is a female trait. I'm working on cutting back on that, though.

Anyway, I'm not making any promises, but with they way things are shaping up, next chapter should be done by the end of the week.

[Leaves and Lunatics by EleCivil]

Hey, I'm an official AwesomeDuder now. Cool.

I bailed on The Confusion Sets In because of the drug use, too. That's always been a bail point for me, and it's lead to my almost missing out on some really good stories (For example, I almost bailed on Drama Club because of all the smoking).

Anyway, I'm working on chapter 5 right now. I was kind of writer's-blocked for a while there, but after a few night shifts in a deserted facility with nothing else to think about...well, now I know exactly what I want to do with this story. Problem is, I can't use any of my plans yet, because a lot of other stuff has to happen to build up to them, and I know that if I try to rush it, it'll suck. Arg, that's frustrating.

[Tim Comes Home]

This was a one-shot, all-at-once read for me. Incredibly heavy stuff. I started out kind of so-so about it, but as things picked up, I knew there was no way I could leave without seeing how it ended.

[Leaves and Lunatics by EleCivil]

Hey, no need to sugarcoat on my account. Rip it apart, crucify it, and leave it for dead on the side of a stetch of highway somewhere if it'll help me improve.

The plot I'm working on can't really start until time moves on more in the story - I'll admit, that was due to bad planning, and was one of the main reasons why I did that one-month time jump. Probably sounds like I'm making excuses...because I am, heh. It's pretty much too late to go back and re-vamp this one, but if/when I write something else, I'll be keeping the timetable in mind.

[Music!]

I'm into punk, folk, indie, alternative...lately I've been listening to:

Defiance OH, Flogging Molly, Coheed and Cambria, Belle and Sebastian, Desaparecidos, Bright Eyes, Thursday, Xiu Xiu, Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution.

I'd suggest checking out Defiance, OH - they're an acoustic folk-punk band. Punk with violin, cello, stand-up bass, etc. Pretty good stuff. Plus, they let you download all their songs for free at their site. http://defianceohio.terrorware.com/audio.php

[Bail Point]

Some personal bail points of mine:

Too many characters, not enough personality:

Especially common in the "youth crew" type stories, where there's a whole gang of gay/bi kids and couples. Twelve characters who all speak, act, and look the same can get pretty old, especially if they all start pairing off. I mean, you can only stand to watch so many identical teen couples getting together before you start to think "Hey, this exact same thing happened two chapters ago...why am I taking the time to read it again?"

Celebrities/Sci-Fi coming out of nowhere:

I've seen a few stories that started out great, completely original, but then all of a sudden, a few chapters in: "You mean that guy from Hanson is your long lost cousin!? And he'll fly us to the set of the new Harry Potter movie in the Millenium Falcon!? *gasp* Look out, SPACE NINJAS!" I've got nothing against Sci-Fi authors and fan-fictionists...it's just that I'd prefer some kind of warning ahead of time.

Of course, the ones that other people have mentioned apply to me, too: Too much sex, too much kinkiness, plot lines that don't go anywhere, hospital scenes, etc. However, I can usually look past those. The above two, on the other hand, are immediate bail points for me.

[Leaves and Lunatics by EleCivil]

Hey, thanks for the welcome.

As for the title, it's not a song or poem reference (that I know of, anyway), but it will have some relevance to the story later on.