Just to say Hi to the other members...and hope to learn something here and share what I've experienced...big hugs...
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jackfrost
Pro - 2008-02-09 @ 15:37:51
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jenray
Pro - http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2008-02-09 @ 16:51:44
Not sure what's going on though...the consequences game has already muddled me...HLOL...have played so few games in my life, have never caught on quickly...and I'm hopeless at chess...unless playing a beginner...big hugs...
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Munzly
- http://poppycock.blog.co.uk/
- 2008-02-09 @ 16:56:33
Hi Jenray, welcome aboard.
Don't worry about the game, hopefully the group can cope with more than one thread at a time, just throw in a relevant subject you'd like to talk about and I'm sure people will respond.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2008-02-09 @ 17:16:29
Am interested in an agent's remark...I didn't love the main character enough?? Why do they have to 'love' the main character? Especially as they only take two or three chapters....I've read stories where the main character annoys the hell out of me, but I still want to know what happens to him...or even her after the first few chapters...LOL...
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Munzly
- http://poppycock.blog.co.uk/
- 2008-02-09 @ 20:00:57
Yes, I have come across the problem. I read a friend's manuscript for them and rather upset them by saying much the same thing, although I put it that "the hero was not particularly likeable" and therefore did not excite my sympathy for his tribulations.
I suspect that even if a character is intended to be a "baddy" they need to inspire some sort of empathy from the reader, even if it's via the reader's more unpleasant characteristics.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2008-02-09 @ 21:58:49
What I've found is that everybody reads a book from their own perspective, and, as in life, some of us like some people that others cannot stand...this makes life difficult for a writer, because the agent may be one who takes a dislike to the main character while another may warm to him or her...I find sending it out to more than three or four and getting it back again is enough to persuade me my characters aren't right in some way. But, other writers have said they've sent their script to dozens of agents??? (wish I knew where they found them, because there really aren't that many..particularly for sci-fi...six to be exact) until they found one who accepted it. Once upon a time, you could send scripts directly to the publishers, but not any more for the vast majority...must be presented by an agent...hard grind finding one
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2008-02-09 @ 22:08:01
I've just written you a response and it's vanished off the face of the earth...damn...hah...here goes again. I've found that everybody reads a story from their own perspective, and that one person may hate a character while another warms to him or her as in real life. Finding the agents who warms to your character is a damned hard grind and one I normally give up on after three or four rejections, because I reckon by then there's something lacking in my main character...now another writer may slog on sending their script around to many agents (I wish I knew where they found the many because there really aren't that many any more taking on new writers and sci-fi has only six in the UK) until they find one who likes it...that is, if successful at all...if not, they've spent a great deal of postage there and back for nothing. I'm not sure whether I've got the determination to just keep on sending my scripts out now...or what the heck I would do if an agent came back and said yes
Once upon a time, you could send your scripts directly to the publishers, but, unfortunately, in most houses that's no longer acceptable...you must have an agent...such a hard world to get a foot in now... -
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2008-02-09 @ 22:10:20
oops now they're both there!! Oh, well two for the price of one...HLOL...sorry, Munzly...blame BCUK
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Munzly
- http://poppycock.blog.co.uk/
- 2008-02-09 @ 22:19:24
These group postings seem to be running very slowly, it's still in beta, so there may be a few problems in the code.
Maybe some other group member has a view on the matter of agents and publishing, or getting characters right. I'm trying to keep a low profile as moderator, so it doesn't turn into a conversation between me and everybody else. -
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tylluanpenry
- 2008-02-10 @ 21:53:09
I've always worked without an agent and still do, although my work's non fiction, so that probably makes a difference.
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2008-02-10 @ 22:00:02
Have no idea how non-fiction writers get into print, but, today, fiction writers would not get a foot in most good publishing house's doors without an agent...
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you should be good!!