What are you writing right now?

United States
May 2, 2007 8:41pm CST
For the writers in the community, are you working on any specific pieces? What do you want your pieces to say? I'm writing a book about overcoming bullying.
4 people like this
11 responses
@Bunny2 (2102)
• Australia
5 May 07
Writing books is a major part of my life.  - Writing books is a major part of my life. I have been writing for almost ten years and love it.
I am between books at the moment and finding it difficult to get back into it. I had a publisher interested in one of my earlier books, but the publisher's reputation has gone downhill and I'm not sure I would accept a contract from them. I was so excited. SIGH. Anyway, fo rme the hardest part is now coming up with a fresh story. I write romance, many of them medically-based. Good luck with your book. My younger twin was bullied for two years in primary school and could have ruined his life! (He's 17 now and doing very well:)) )
2 people like this
@Bunny2 (2102)
• Australia
6 May 07
As I write category length romance, the places I can send to are limited. The medical romances are even more linited - only Mills & Boon in the UK. But it's a risk I take. The book that is under consideration was a ceategory length that I extended to make it fit the guidelines - so not quite single title length - it cam in at around 80,000 words. Over the years I have tried Mills & Boon in the Uk for both medical and non-medical, Silhouette in NY (USA) and Harlequin in Canada. I have also tried Precious Gems in the US (now defunct), Heartline in the UK (now defunct) and perhaps three other publishers. If your book about bullying is fiction you will find lots of different publishers to try. If it's non-fiction, the number of publishers are more limited. Good luck!
2 people like this
• United States
8 Aug 07
Bunny2: Yes, it is 4 months since you posted this reply, but I felt like I had to tell you this. Right now (August 2007), there is a romance writer's contest going on at Gather.com. The winner will get a publishing contract and $5,000 and there is no submission fee for the contest. The last contest (general lit), two people actually ended up getting contracts for their books from Simon and Schuster, with lots of promotion at Borders, which is a sponsor of Gather. Check it out.
2 people like this
• United States
5 May 07
Okay, so how many companies did you submit your piece to? I do agree that coming up with a compelling and age-appropriate story is the most difficult part to writing.
2 people like this
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
3 May 07
I am in the middle of a short story that started with a writing prompt at writing group. I am meeting with an award winning author next Friday where she will sit with me and critique the short story I sent her a couple of months ago. I am also in the sixth edit of my novel about a woman who sees a fortune teller, doesn't believe what she hears, and doesn't realize the validity of the predictions until it is too late. Ha! I never even thought of talking about it THAT way! Gotta remember that for my submission letter.
2 people like this
• United States
8 Aug 07
I think your novel sounds very interesting. What a great central idea! Hope I can buy it at the bookstore someday.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 May 07
Congratulations on working on a short story and meeting with an award-winning author on next week and getting a personal critique. A sixth edit sounds quite impressive and it seems as if you are very, very dedicated to your work. The overall arc of your story sounds intriguing and something that I think could do quite well in the bookstores and booksales. The submission letter must always hook the publisher, so make the story as exciting as possible, or so I've been told that's a good strategy for submission letters.
1 person likes this
• United States
23 Sep 07
I hope so too. When/if the novel gets published, I will reveal the title on MyLot and give anyone information access to procuring a copy.
1 person likes this
• Malaysia
3 Sep 07
I have written a novel a few years back. It is now fully completed but I have not yet found a publisher to publish it. I have sent it to one publisher before, but they rejected my novel because they said they could only produce two novels in a month, so they don't have any rooms for newcomers. I am still determined to make my dreams come true. I will publish it one day, only time will tell when it will happen. lol. I wish you good luck for your book on overcoming bullying. I hope it will be published and you will achieve success with your book.
2 people like this
• United States
23 Sep 07
Thank you for your kind words, ladysurvivor. I am sorry to hear that your publisher rejected it due to red tape. But in some ways, that is a blessing in disguise. Why? Because it means your work is of high quality, it was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not like your work was terrible. I recommend resending it to the same publisher and trying a few more. If you need help with publishers, try the writers market. You can find that book at your local library. Good luck on publishing your novel.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
4 May 07
One of my main problems is that I don't seem to have the time I would like to have in writing...I have scores of short story ideas...some of my short stories are in the re-write phase..and I don't have any particular genre that I stick to..I write anything from fantasies to stories with a historical background...Some of my short stories were published..I also have three, not one but three novels in the works...now.....if I just had the time to write them!!
2 people like this
• United States
5 May 07
I think it's good that you have a different group of genres in your range of interest...because so many writers only stick to 1-2 genres, but I think that whatever you're capable of writing about or are interested about in writing is what makes you develop better as a writer. Congratulations on getting your short stories published. What company or publishing house did you use? Three novels in the works? That's amazing...and I can relate to not having the time to write the novels you want to write because of life events or whatever. You could try making time by taking an hour a day and just writing/typing. In a month, you could be finished, depending on the length of your manuscript. Good luck and happy writing!
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
6 May 07
Most of my short stories were published by Minas Tirith-Evening Star...the Journal of the American Tolkien Society, and I felt it was an honor since I'm a Lord Of the Rings fan---they publish nothing but Tolkien based/themed stories...
2 people like this
@KATRINKA (1624)
• United States
9 Aug 07
I'm working on two novels, some short stories, and articles for my blog and my writing workshop. Thank you for asking. I wish you the best in finishing your book about bullying. Have you been bullied yourself?
• United States
23 Sep 07
Yes, I did face the persecution of bullying for a while in elementary school. That is why I feel so strongly for my novel and have really given the main character a lot of "oomph" so that he will be believable and sympathetic to the readers (both adults and kids reading it when the book gets published). Working on two novels is quite impressive. I've poured all my energy into this one as of now. I don't do a blog. Do you get paid for it? And what kind of writing workshop do you teach/learn from? Are you a university professor?
1 person likes this
@wotfpatty (2065)
• United States
3 Sep 07
I am writing columns about pro wrestling and the negative impacts of the pressure the workers are under, columns about anti aging and looking your best at any age (I should take my own advice, eh? lol), I wrote a novel and it is in my agent's hands and am hoping for news on that, and I am writing my first ever romance novel. You know, one of those that prints 10 a month or something. I am new to it and only read a few but they were very open to my idea and my writing so...here goes nothing! As always, I am writing reviews at two sites (Epinions and Viewpoints) and whatever else comes along. I freelance and work for a magazine so I am always writing something. However, when the dust settles I plan to write a serious novel about the way the sick and elderly are treated in this society and how we, as a nation, need to give them the respect and dignity they deserve. It may be a fiction novel with a message. My agent prefers it to be and I have an idea for it. It is a matter of time, which I have so little of.
• United States
23 Sep 07
I think the idea of the novel about the sick and elderly is well timed. With the aging baby boomers in this country issues like that will become even more pertinent over time. Also you may want to check out a discussion by another MyLot member, Stiletto, who noted that in the UK recently there was an incident in which some young boys kicked and urinated on a dying disabled woman and then created a video on their cell phone for YouTube. There is a criminal case going on about it. As you can see, we are not that far from "Clockwork Orange," if you've ever seen that movie.
• United States
23 Sep 07
The message about the elderly sounds well thought out. Have you seen disrespect for the elderly or seen a family member experience it? People don't treat the sick well either. My advice for that novel is to not be preachy about it, but weave it subtly through the work.
1 person likes this
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
3 May 07
I am working on some short stories (my own personal writing) and a couple of travel pieces for Associated Content. I think with summer on its way, it's time to focus on going interesting places. It seems like every day I run across something I think would make a good article. If only I could get motivated to write about all these ideas!
• United States
5 May 07
Writing about what you want to do for the summer could be a good idea for Associated Content or Constant Content. I do agree with summer coming there appears to be more to do around the different towns and neighborhoods, and I'm sure that's true for you. The motivation could come from within, or the thought of getting paid by Associated Content. How many short stories do you want for your personal work?
1 person likes this
• United States
8 Aug 07
I just found this old email while cleaning out my inbox and see that I have not done very well with my writing goals this summer, but seem to have gone in a strange new direction...writing book reviews. I've become a reviewer for two sites online and then begun my own blog (a collection of reviews). I need to get back to writing some other stuff. What have you been doing in the past 4 months?
1 person likes this
• United States
23 Sep 07
I know this is kind of a personal question, but do you support yourself with your writing of book reviews or do you have a "real" job and do the book review writing on the side? As for what I've been doing these past few months, I've been working hard on finishing my novel about childhood bullying. I am sending it off to publishing companies on tomorrow. I hope that they are willing to embrace my novel. I believe it is a strong story, grammatically worthwhile, linguistically intricate and just a great chance to entertain little children and help them make informed and intelligent decisions regarding bullies or problems in their lives. I am working on writing my query letter and required synopsis.
1 person likes this
• United States
8 May 07
Hi Transformed. I'm working on my first novel. Yea me... I finished a long genealogy type story, then did a cookbook, both of which are self published. I'm making some money from these. My novel is a story about my life, embellished some but not much. It's very interesting. It's in critique right now and later I hope to be able to find a literary agent who will help me get it published. The book is about a woman who started a search to find herself, leaving a small town finding her own fame and fortune as a performer. The thrill of being discovered in a small dive to entertaining in some of Hollywood's most famous night spots, ending up in a out of the way nightclub. Falling in love , loosing her love, living the remainder of her years with a west texas cowboy..... That's what I'm working on now.
• United States
23 Sep 07
What self-publishing company did you use? Just curious. As for your novel, that sounds like a terrific story arc of a small-town girl to Hollywood diva to country man lover. That is the type of book I'd be very interested in reading if it gets published. If it does, please reveal on MyLot the name of the work.
1 person likes this
@shyshy (21)
• United States
3 May 07
I've been writing a book, partly of my life and part of it is the way I wish my life was.
2 people like this
• United States
3 May 07
Wow, that sounds fascinating. Will it be styled as a memoir?
1 person likes this
@misstree (241)
• United States
3 May 07
I'm writing song lyrics right now. :-)
• United States
5 May 07
What kind of songs? Happy songs? Sad songs? Love songs? What kind of genre do you want your songs to be?
1 person likes this
• United States
4 May 07
I'm trying to write more articles right now for Helium's writing contest, just to see if I can actually earn more than the few cents I have earned there so far. So I wrote two articles about Horse Racing, and will probably try to write more contest topics this week. Most weeks there weren't that many topics I really felt I could write about, but this week had more of them for me. I think your book on overcoming bullying should be very interesting, and probably very much needed. I was the target of a work place bully, that actually resulted in my getting fired from my job, so I can relate to what you're saying, and I wrote an article in Helium about that. I also think school yard bullies grow up to be work place bullies in some cases, and most of us aren't trained as to their sociopath type character traits or how to fight against it. Not necessarily physical fights, but defending ourselves against bullies in the workplace. Work place bullies often hold supervisory positions over those they bully. So I really wish you well with the book, and I hope I get to hear more about your progress with it!
• United States
5 May 07
I've heard that Helium doesn't pay particularly well...only about $0.25 an article. Associated Content and Constant Content pay $3.00-$20.00 per article. I think my book will be interesting too. I'm debating over publishing it traditionally or self-publishing via a site like LuLu. I'm sorry to hear that you had problems in the workplace. People can be so bossy and demanding and mean, and it is true that most of the people who are workplace bullies were bullies in elementary and middle school. I might, might put a few chapters on MyLot when I get 1-2 days away from sending it off for publishing.
1 person likes this