Dark Whisper,
You are such a talented author. I have been guilty quite a few times of reading your stories well into the night. Have you ever considered writing professionally?
Xenophillius,
Well... it is truly a rare thrill that someone finds me on the forums to ask a question. Thank you so very much for taking the time and for the compliments. Truly... thank you!
My apologies for taking such a long time to respond to this and reviews in general. I am extremely busy... having a full time job that many times requires over-time. I also have two awesome children that are in many, many things (multiple sports and music). I hardly have time to write, but I do enjoy it.
Now.. on to your question.
It does have a windy answer, but here goes...
Writing professionally is quite a dream of mine. I would LOVE it immensely.
I even worked at a book publisher/manufacturer for just under a year. I was a coordinator that assisted with work orders, fulfillment, and billing. During that time, I was able to actually watch books being made. From computer file to finished product. I watched as the pages were printed from a huge digital printer and got to see covers actually being made on a 4-color press. I saw covers being measured (there are set calcuations for this depending on the number of pages and the thickness of paper being used). I saw something that looked like a metal wheel glueing the pages to the covers (called perfect-bound) and then a huge blade slicing through all of it to create the finished book.
It was all a very cool process to watch. I even shipped the proofs to the author/publisher for final approval before the book went to print.
I did like it. However, at the time, I had no book finished to print. I still do not. It would have been costly... money I did not have. And the publisher had a very narrow niche... not the fiction writing that I wanted. They serviced professors from colleges that wrote or wanted an out of print book to become available again as well as Bible scholars writing materials for Pastors across the globe to help them. Instructional books, not too much fiction.
I quit when I moved out of town, but took the knowledge gained of the publishing industry with me... hopefully for future use.
Awhile back, I actually had a professor in college tell me that I was a good writer. But the only thing I saw available as a major was Jounalism. Yikes. I did not want to be a journalist... writing about either someone's tragedies or fluff like a pumpkin show. *shivers*
I didn't think I could make any money at writing, so I went into the financial world instead. I am decent at it, but I am miserable. Talk about NO CREATIVITY! The only creative part is trying to come up with ways to make it easier and faster so that I can get out of there!
Writing now... is my stress relief.
When I found this site, I instantly fell in love with it. There were so many stories and so many comments. I was instantly hooked on the fact that somebody like me could post a story and actually get real feedback from a real person. FREE!
I have many unfinished original fiction in notebooks waiting on me to work on them. But who cares about them, but me? No one. I could write 10 or 100 chapters and no one would care. No one encouraging me or telling me if it was crap or not. And so... they all go unfinished.
Also, I seriously lack confidence in my writing. So, with this site, it has been a grand experiment of mine to create a fairly complicated story and actually FINISH IT... gaining feedback as I go.
The many compliments and wonderful Reviews are truly GOLDEN to me. They are the fuel that truly helps keep me going.
My novel on HPFF,
Delilah's Black Book of Poems is my true grand experiment. It is very important to me that I keep going to the finish line. It will be a very important milestone and proof that I can actually do it.... however long it takes. I am committed to finishing it.
Writing on this site has been a wonderful ride, but it has also disciplined me to write good publisher-type quality chapters. I don't want to rush through and post something that I am not happy with.
I truly feel that this site will help me get back on track to what I was supposed to do in the first place, which is writing stories.
For far too long I have listened to people say things about failures in the writing world... that too many have tried for nothing... that it is just a waste of time... just a dumb dream.
I grow tired of listening to such discouragement. But it also comes from within as I read a great book or story on HPFF and think... "I'll never be that good."
Reviews and compliments such as yours give me hope that maybe... just maybe... I might... sort of... kind of... be good enough to publish.... some day.
I am truly humbled and thankful at such comments that encourage me along this journey. They tell me to keep going... they nudge me on.
This site, the authors, and the reviewers are just awesome to people like me who need the confidence to attempt the dream.
Have I thought about writing professionally? Oh, my yes, indeed. A thousand times... yes.
Thanks for reading my windy response. I hope you didn't fall asleep.
Your words are wonderful and so needed! Thanks so very much!
I hope. I dream.
~Dark Whisper
