Talent Showcase Writers!
This topic here is for, and only for, Talent Showcase writers seeking advice, suggestions, support, from other fellow Talent Showcase writers. If you want to chat about something other than writing here (or your experience with writing) please try another forum topic, not this one.
You can talk about:
1. How you became a writer
2. Your books and stories, etc.
3. Things that made your writing better
4. "How do you do it (something about writing)?"
5. and the like!
Thank you, Talent Showcase writers for contributing, and thank you, everyone else, for respecting this!
-- sci_geeek

sci_geeek wrote: Thank you!

I started writing because, sometimes I had these great story ideas, and I would try to tell my mom. But sometimes she was busy, and couldn't listen at the time. So she would ask me to write it down, so she could read it later. But the thing was, I really didn't like writing. It would take a long time, and I would have to keep on erasing.
One day my mom told me that I would write down my story. I was 7 at the time. I was crying and blubbering, because I didn't want to write. But my mom remained firm.
In about 2/3 hours, I had the beginning of my first story!

sci_geeek wrote:
Hi sci_geeek! (And everyone who is reading this)
I didn’t post chapter 2 of my story about Big Bot because it got rejected and I don’t want to type it All Over Again. I don’t really like typing long chapters. That’s why the 2nd chapter is taking so long. Anyway, please read chapter 1 and I would love some feedback. I still would like suggestions for the title of the story.
Thank you!

JoyBaker wrote:
Cool. I just think you should make the chapter longer.
Also, give us some Is Big Bot gonna follow her to school? Will he stay home and make a mess? Or is he a perfectly good robot and the cat makes a mess? Make us not want to put down the chapter.

JoyBaker wrote: Oh yes, I read it. You can do it! I've been looking forward to what other annoying things Big Bot does it reminds me of some ppl I know...
And I like what BookwormJo said -- suspense!

Hey! Could you check this out, please? I edited the second scene a bit. I'm trying to give Tara a distinct voice, and also make her an unreliable narrator, so that's why I switched to first-person.


The stupidest thing I ever did was ask to get a dress from the mall. If I could time travel, that's the only thing I'd change about my life.
The Mall Incident was one of the reasons I was about to meet my 12th foster family.

I stepped out of the car and slammed the door. "Ready, Tara?" My twin, Theo asked.
 "I'd say yes, but that'd be a lie. And I don't lie."
Theo grinned impishly.  "Facts."
"Don't tease." I wagged a finger at him. "Best behavior, remember?"
"That's right kids. Come meet your new foster parents." Ms. Brown said.
She clip-clopped up the small white sidewalk. My brother and I followed, making a show of dragging our feet. "Tara, Theo, meet Mr. and Mrs. Robinson!" Ms. Brown said, over-enthusiastically. She motioned to a couple who looked like they stepped out of a 1980's magazine. Where else could you find over-curled hair, and men wearing tucked-in shirts?
"Welcome, Tara and Theo!"  Mr. Robinson exclaimed, tipping his bowler hat.
"Please, come in!"  Mrs. Robinson smiled, smoothing her striped skirt suit. The shoulder pads made her look like an awfully skinny football player.
I suppressed a grin and tucked that tidbit away to share with Theo later. That'd definitely make him laugh. There's nothing I loved more than hearing laughter. Especially since there wasn't much laughter in my life.
We clattered and tromped into the modern airy hall.
“Kids! Come meet your new siblings!” Mrs. Robinson called her voice bouncing off the high ceiling.
There was a patter of footsteps, and then three kids popped into the hall.
“Hi.” They chorused. They were all wearing modern clothes, thankfully. I doubt I could have contained my laughter if they were wearing corsets and knickers. Wait, corsets and knickers weren’t from the 1900s, right? I probably should have paid more attention in history class, but whatevs.
“Why don’t we go to the kitchen and introduce ourselves?” Mr.Robinson strode around a corner. We all trooped behind him to the large, cheerful kitchen and took seats.
“Now let's go around the table and say a couple of things about ourselves. You start, Caleb.” Mrs.Robinson beamed like the Chesire Cat. Didn’t she ever get tired of smiling?
The brown-haired teen ducked his head and grinned. “Hi. I’m Caleb and I’m fifteen.”
“Say something about yourself.” Mrs.Robinson urged.
“Well . . . I like hockey.” He finished lamely.
My impression? A wimpy simp.
Caleb nodded towards his younger sister. She brushed ebony bangs out of her eyes. “Hi. I’m Elisha, and I’m eleven. I like  . . . skating and drawing.” She lilted.
Hmm . . .
“I’m Elisheba! You can call me Sheba. My name means ‘pledged to God.’” the youngest girl blurted.
Were they Christians? I could deal with weird adults, spineless kids . . . even over-talkative kids, but Christians? That was another matter. I saw Theo’s jaw tighten through the corner of my eye.
“I’m ten. I like reading Bible stories and asking questions.” her emerald-green eyes twinkled. “Most people say I’m annoying, but what other way do I have to get answers?”
Perfect. Now I was shackled to a Christian family with a nosy little kid. Could life get any better?
Okay. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but still.
“Yes. She is the chatterbox of the family.” Mr.Robinson smiled affectionately. “Anyway, I am Mr.Robinson. I like camping, hiking . . .  pretty much anything you can do outside. I’m a journalist and photographer.”
Apparently, he wasn’t going to tell us his age. Or Christian name. My lips twitched.
“And I’m Mrs.Robinson. I like reading and gardening. I’m a landscape designer.”
I was already sizing them up. They didn’t seem like they’d be controlling, but then again, it’s hard to tell. Many so-called friendly adults were helicopter parents.
“Well, what about you?” Mrs.Robinson turned expectant eyes on me.
I glanced at Theo. He cleared his throat. Twice.
“Uhh . . .I’m Theo. I’m thirteen and I like sports.”
“And you?” Sheba asked
“I’m Tara, I’m thirteen, and I do not like being told what to do.” The words slipped from my lips. Everyone plunged into silence. I hadn’t planned to say that, but it was always good to let foster parents know who’s in charge.
“Well then, what do you like to do?” Caleb asked.
“Play sports, I guess.” I flicked a gold-brown lock over my shoulder. I know. Lame. But it was pretty much the only thing I could say.


What do you think? Oh! I found a cool picture that looks almost exactly like how I imagined Tara and Theo to look when they were 7. www.offset.com/photos/portrait-of-boy-an...7525?expand=keywords

BookwormJo wrote:
Aww, cute picture. And the thing you wrote...awesome!!!
Can I suggest something quickly?
Well... I've been wondering how Theo is dealing with the trauma of having watched his parents being shot in front of him. You're doing great showing how Tara is hurting, don't get me wrong, but I curious to know some more about how Theo is hurting too. I get you tho. It's hard to write in a boy's perspective. While writing my book, I tried to write just as much for Jared as I did for Riley (Riley and Jared are some of my book's characters), but I wrote TONS more about Riley even tho Jared is such an interesting character to write about. So. Hard. Sometimes.
Keep it up, girl I reeeaaalllyyy like your book

BookwormJo wrote: I love it and the pic too

[hello, a message from the friendly neighbourhood mod reminding the Guidesters to please not have long quotes (quoting long posts counts). Thanks!]
[the friendly neighbourhood mod]

emmykitty wrote: *best British narrator accent*
*clears throat*
Another one of Guide's Discussion Forum's Unspoken Rules, by a mod.

Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah, it is pretty hard to write from a boy's point of view. I'll try though.
But I'll probably need to interview an ESFP guy.

BookwormJo wrote: Sometimes the less details, the better. Sometimes it's more interesting to let people fill in the gaps with their own imagination.

You mean writing from a boy's perspective?

BookwormJo wrote:
I was writing down my writing story but it ended up being too long and I didn't want to cause too much trouble for the mods. But here it is, very simplified...
I've always had a very big imagination and from a very young age played make-believe games with my sister. As I grew older, I wanted to turn some of these games into books. Also, when I was probably 8 or 9, I started writing a series of short stories called "Sara of Ethiopia." I only wrote the first story, though.
When I was in 5th grade was when I realized that I had a passion for it. I began planning out a whole big, fat book that would be called These Simple Moments Change The World (inspired by Josh Wilson's "Dream Small" (it's a Christian song)).
I was sooo excited about writing this book, but I never even finished writing the first chapter. I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to write it.
But hey, here I am, countless unfinished books and four years later, and I'm done with my first book! And believe it or not, Rivals and Runaways was inspired by a make-believe game that I had with my sister that we played all the way from 5th grade to when I was in 7th or 8th grade.

emmykitty wrote: How many words, sentences, or characters can you have at max?

642 pixels tall.
No there really isn't a limit (at least I don't think so [pls don't try it out tho lol]) as to how much one can include in a singular post on the forum, but as for the length that can overwhelm the mods... I'll get back to you on that after I confer with Pyrrhic and pathfinder4ever.

emmykitty wrote: Good thing it's not like Twitter... only 140 characters per post...
But--
It's probably time to find its limits...
*evil grin*

Hey Talent Showcase writers!
Here's a question: who are your favorite characters in the books you write, and why? Which ones are the most entertaining to write about, and why?

My favorite characters in my writings are definitely the redeemed villain types. The ones that are the most entertaining to write are the villains/not-so-bright people.

sci_geeek wrote: My favourite characters are the multilayered ones because they're deep. You can explore they're personality, but you can never guess what they'll do next.
I also like writing snarky characters. It's pretty fun to make them have veiled jabs and witty retorts.

One of my favorite characters in a story chapter that I wrote was very extroverted and mischievous. It can be fun to write about characters that contrast with your own personality. Also, these types of characters can reflect parts of your personality that you might imagine for a twin or an alter ego.

sci_geeek wrote:

Do you have any advice for remaining dedicated to a particular story? Sometimes, I have so many ideas, and then I might start to lose interest. Also, since most of my stories take place within a historical time period, I have difficulty with trying to create a convincing and interesting setting. Do you have any tips for research?

JoyBaker wrote: Do you have Word Office on your computer? As a friendly suggestion, It might help to type your story on a Word Document, or another platform, and print a hard copy to avoid retyping the story. Then, you could copy and paste to the Talent Showcase.

Hi everyone! As a question, do you think that it is okay to create characters that challenge social customs in a particular time period? At what point would their behavior be unconvincing?