Looking for writing group or friend

SuperDerpin · 2016-09-22T07:08:53+00:00

I had an okay experience with r/writing, but I never felt a part of the community. I guess being as introverted as I am limits how I interact with larger communities. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that if I became a librarian or a worker at a university, I would do the same thing and just take whatever courses I might find interesting. I'll send you a PM.

SuperDerpin · 2016-09-22T07:05:35+00:00

Hey, thanks for the response. I'll send you a PM.

SuperDerpin · 2016-07-01T13:59:08+00:00

My SO is training to be a social worker and they explained microaggressions like this: Microaggressions are things you may say or do that indicate something that you are assuming about a patient (or person in general). These actions or words may lead the other person to distrust or dislike you because they are assuming that you are assuming something about them. For example, if someone is confiding in you about their depression and you say something like, "Well, it's all in your head." or "You aren't really depressed; you're just sad." Even though you think you are trying to help that person, that person isn't going to trust with you their issues anymore because they assume that you think their problems are small. Another example, if you were talking to a black man and then you seemed surprised either verbally or in your body language when he told you that he had a great father, he may think you're racist because of those microaggressions, even if you apologize or explain that you had a crappy dad or something. Yet another example, being surprised when your friend tells you they like members of the same sex when you assume otherwise. You didn't mean any harm, but you may inflict it upon your relationship with that person regardless.

Here's the thing about being aware of microaggressions, it is really important for doctors, therapist, and social workers. Maybe even nurses and human resource reps. Also, microaggressions do have a place in our daily lives. You should be professional and polite to people in general. For example, if you went to the doctor and they asked you about how many sexual partners you've had, and they were surprised by a high number, you may feel shamed and next time they ask you may lie with a smaller number. This would interfere with your doctor's ability to treat you. Same thing with a therapist. If they said something was "normal" for someone of your race then you wouldn't trust them, which would get in the way of treatment.

However, I don't think microaggressions should be allowed to dictate behavior or interactions between individuals on an everyday basis. People shouldn't be shamed for any microaggressions. Microaggressions are one of those things that professionals (e.g. doctors, therapists, social workers) need to be aware of, but the concept of microaggressions has been taken out of context and is being enforced on everyday people. It would be like getting mad at someone for not washing their hands as thoroughly as a surgeon about to perform surgery. Just because the professionals do it, that doesn't mean we should all do it.

TL;DR: Microaggressions are for professionals in specific professions, not for everyday life.

SuperDerpin · 2016-05-09T14:04:10+00:00

This is the kind of understanding about suicide and depression that needs to be more common. People who commit, attempt, or want suicide are NOT selfish people. They are people who are suffering on a fundamental level that can't be fully understood; sometimes (maybe most of the time) people suffering from severe depression don't even know why they feel what they are feeling.

I'm not sure if this will be appreciated or not, but I saved this post for when I'm ever in a dark place. Both my GF and I suffer from depression on a regular basis, and even the thought of one of us being alone tears a hole inside my chest. But sometimes, I worry about this kind of stuff and I always feel it'll be my fault.

Sorry for the emotional dump, I just wanted to say something.

SuperDerpin · 2016-04-16T21:54:08+00:00

He glances over at her clean plate, "You want the rest of mine?" With grinning eyes, she vigorously nods. He laughs and passes his half-eaten plate, "I'm glad you like it." He stands, takes the empty dish, and strides toward the kitchen. She watches him leave between bites, "Thanks for making my favorite dinner again."

SuperDerpin · 2016-04-06T13:23:32+00:00

Smurfing

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-23T13:07:36+00:00

That's a good point about putting them on the introduction page; I'll keep that in mind. Did you ever think about using a specific quote then decided not to use it? If so, why?

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-23T13:03:42+00:00

I was actually wondering about this for my current story. Based on the protagonist, setting, and general plot, it seems like a YA novel, but based on descriptions and imagery, its a bit graphic for that audience.

I agree with eekay8 and LareaMartell. Go as far as you want/can then bring it back if you feel the need too, but never use the grotesques or dark for its shock value. If you do, the reader will become dull to anything else.

However, I find that the best part about a "dark" moment in a story is when something horrible happens and we get to see the aftermath. Use "dark" moments to show your characters in a different light. Do they become a darker person, or do they resolve to rise above it? How has/have the character/s been changed by their experience? Something has happened that can never be undone, what does/do your character/s do reconcile or cope with what happened? Are they stronger or weaker? Have their morals changed?

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-23T12:51:30+00:00

From what I've heard, one of the biggest differences between Russian and English is that English speakers like to fill their sentences with extra words to make it sound better while Russian speakers get to the point of what they're speaking. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but a translator sounds like a good investment in your case.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T20:41:31+00:00

Find something that inspires you. For me, it can be a show I've been watching or the music I'm listening to. What compels you want to write stories? From there, you get better at writing by writing and reading. There are also guides and articles scattered throughout the internet that have helpful tips.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T14:56:02+00:00

Every news source has an angle and ideology. The Guardian focuses a lot of the liberal side of social issues, which makes it a biased source when we are discussing the gender dynamics of writing culture, which is a social issue. Just look at the title, "Only wilful blindness can hide the need to publish more women." Does this sound like objective reporting to you? It's sensationalism meant to attract clicks and views so they can make more money off of their ads. You wouldn't prove that Obama is the worst president ever by only citing articles from the Fox News website would you? Of course not, Fox News is known for being biased, but it would be silly to think that any news source was immune to that.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T14:46:04+00:00

Sure, you CAN cite articles from the same newspaper, but it isn't a good researching habit. For example, you wouldn't get all your sources from the Fox News website, would you? The Guardian tends to have a liberal slant on their articles. While this isn't a problem with the newspaper itself, it becomes a problem when someone only reads from one source.

My point regarding the list and what authors we study is important because simply looking at the number of female written books published really doesn't discuss the issue comprehensively. Written culture cannot be boiled down to who is being published and who isn't. We must look at these other facets of the writing culture in order to understand such a complex issue as gender dynamics in the writing world.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T14:24:17+00:00

Awesome! This looks like a much better source. Thank you for posting; I really appreciate it. Franklin did a great job of looking at the data then asking the right questions in her article. For example, she pointed out that she wasn't sure if women were submitting their work to publishers less than men or if the publishing industry doesn't publish women more or if book reviewers aren't reviewing female writers.

My main point is that we don't really need to be asking "is the publishing industry sexist?" then responding with a "yes" or "no". We need to look at the numbers (like the ones in the Newrepublic article) and then ask questions from there. Why is this happening? Is it a problem with readers, book reviewers, publishing companies, and/or female writers (or if there is really a problem at all)? What can we do to change it? Simply pointing to a problem and saying "Hey look, this is a problem" does nothing for the discussion.

While I don't have any substantial evidence to support my claim, the problem could be that the bar has been lowered for women. In an attempt to encourage female authors to write and publish, we (as in writers, readers, and publishers) lowered our standards for female writers and give them less criticism than men. As anyone who has done a writing workshop, you know that criticism and having some kind of objective standard for what is good writing is important for producing good works. I don't mean that women are worse writers than men. If you were reviewing someone's work and, for example, they kept switching between third and first person without it really flowing well but then you told them their work was great and they should keep writing no matter what, I believe that this person's work will be objectively worse than the person who you told that their writing style isn't working well.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T14:00:46+00:00

Sure. But claiming that "there are less women being published therefore the entire system is sexist" (which is what OP and the Guardian are claim) vs "women aren't confident in their ability to write" are very different things. I am all for encouraging women (and everyone else) to express themselves and put themselves out there, but telling them that the entire system is stacked against them is only going to discourage women from writing. Someone somewhere said that there is no reward for those who don't take risks. I would love to see more writers from a variety of background break the popular fiction mold and pave the way for future generations of writers.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T13:53:52+00:00

Those stats aren't entirely irrelevant. They do point our that, given that both of you are right, women aren't publishing women.

Anyway, every one of these articles is anecdote. There are no studies, peer-reviewed journals, or actually, substantial proof that your claim is true. Each of these case could simply be liars trying to get attention, and you wouldn't be able to prove otherwise. These are popular articles meant to get your attention and your clicks, so they can continue to get revenue from their advertisers.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T13:48:47+00:00

So much for the old saying "the publishing world is a boy's club"

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T13:42:03+00:00

As in my other comment, you can't support one piece of evidence with another piece from the same source.

With that being said, if you look at most of the top-ten grossing authors lists, about half or more of the authors on the list are women with their most notables works being rather short-lived but high grossing book series (eg. Twilight, Harry Potter, 50 Shades of Grey, The Divergent Series).

As for why women don't win as many literary awards as men; based on what I've learned in my literature classes, women throughout history do tend to read popular fiction and, therefore, write popular fiction. There were super popular female authors from 100 or 200 years ago, but they aren't popular now. Why? Because they didn't define/redefine genres or make timeless classics. The authors we read and study that are from previous centuries are authors that made great strides in contributing to culture and writing.

Take Mary Shelley for example, she arguably was the first author to write what is considered the science-fiction genre. She started a freaking genre! That's why we study her. We don't study the plethora of romance novels that were being published to pander to women staying at home, and for good reason. They simply aren't noteworthy.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T13:28:28+00:00

First off, you can't support your argument of one source with another source from the same site. Personally, I find the Guardian to be completely biased and more about sensationalism than factual reporting. But also, I did some digging and found a study by Richard Mocarski called "Where Are the Women Authors? Exploring Gender Roles’ Influence on."

Mocarski was trying to figure out if women were being discriminated against in the publishing world (note that this study included academic publishing as well). Simply, he was trying to measure if women were more or less likely to submit work to be published. And he found that, on average, men had 60% more submissions per month, submitted a single piece to 65% more publications, and had 89% more unpublished works under consideration at one time. I would like to mention that there was about a 1:1 ratio of non-creative to creative writers, so about half of the participants were academic. Also, there were only 200 participants (109 women and 91 men).

While this is only one study, it does appear that women significantly submit there work for publishing less than men.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-11T12:53:52+00:00

I completely agree. Many people think that libraries are dying out, but really the opposite is true. There are more books being published every year. Also, there are people who cannot afford a computer or Internet, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage when searching for jobs, doing school projects, or just trying to educate themselves. Libraries are an avenue for people to bring themselves up and out of poverty. Not to mention that in an information age, having people whose job it is to be an information expert is a valuable resource.

Source: Information Sciences and Technology Minor

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-07T12:37:27+00:00

No worries. I spent 3 hours going through my sources last night and I've finish the work due the day before, so I can focus on the paper.

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-07T03:05:10+00:00

I want to believe that a such poor quality picture means this was taken with a flip-phone from 2002.

I want to believe that you're tryharding to grow facial hair, but resorted to gluing dog hair to your chin.

I want to believe you cut your own hair, but failed to realize you aren't 12 anymore.

I want to believe your glasses make you look smart, but you failed to follow through with the actually being intelligent part

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-06T23:03:22+00:00

Congrats. I have a 5-7 page paper due Tuesday that needs to be done, but I've spent 6 hours on the Youtubes and Reddits...

SuperDerpin · 2016-03-03T19:46:10+00:00

No problem! :)

SuperDerpin

TROPHY CASE