Young Writers Society

Hello everyone I'm glad to have found this site. For a long while I considered writing and art something you do solitary, in order to hone your unique vision blah blah blah.... But I just couldn't take the boredom anymore :/ I was starting to stagnate. I need fresh words and fresh ideas, and the anonymity that comes with posting something online for review.

My best friend writes, but I feel so shy showing her my stuff because it all sounds corny as soon as someone else's hands touch the paper. I know this isn't an uncommon feeling, but it's that fear of rejection (or moreso, of sugarcoating...) that has held me back more than anything else. I've always loved to read, and I think that this is where my desire to write comes from. I often find myself reading something and thinking, "No!! No, this is what should have happened!" and I'm left yearning for something I can't quite name.

I'm one of those people who likes to imagine stories for the strangers and places I see. Anything can be inspiring, and I get swept up in my daydreams. Putting pen to paper or fingers to keys is what I never get around to... When a story idea hits me, my mind rushes through it at hyper speed and I feel as if I already know/have experienced the story and don't need to write it down. If I had more hunger for fame and money I think I would have gotten something done by now lol, but I want to write for the sake of a story, for myself. I know I'm not alone here. As private and self-contained as I consider myself to be, I want to leave something behind.

My favorite story is Wuthering Heights. I could write a whole post about that alone (which I will, lol, when I find the right place and the time to do it), but in a nutshell, I've never seen a more passionate love. This story will have me forever. After reading that I started researching Emily Bronte and came across her poetry. We are so much alike that it's uncanny! Wuthering Heights is a book that makes me grateful to be alive, to be in the present moment where this book exists for me to read. I'm always longing for an idealized exotic past (think, Midnight in Paris), BUT if I were offered a chance to time travel I would refuse it for Wuthering Heights alone. Think of me what you will, but I'm letting my freak flag fly on this one!

My favorite authors are:
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Charles Baudelaire
Edgar Allen Poe
Emily Bronte
Charles Dickens
Ki no Tsurayuki
Ono no Komachi
Yoshimoto Banana
Rick Yancey

Some non-literary interests of mine are:
Kimono: I research, collect, and wear kimono. I'm not Japanese, and I get a lot of weird looks, but whatever. Life is too short to waste complying with the ideals of others! My kimono fashion sense is much better than my 'youfuku' fashion sense... They're the nicest garments I own. (This isn't a brag so much as an admission :/ ) I'm heavily inspired by kabuki costumes and the Edo period fashion in general.

Geisha/Geiko: My interest in geisha stems from my interest in kimono and Japanese history. I know it can be a touchy subject because of the conflicting and confusing ideas about prostitution, so I don't want to start babbling about this. They still exist today in much smaller numbers, but they are as beautiful and charming as ever. It's hard for me to pin down what exactly appeals to me about them... It's that paragon of feminity, the dedication to art, the eroticism and exoticism, the anachronism, everything. I'd like to learn some Japanese dance and singing, but alas -- I live in the boondocks of Massachusetts.

Japanese and French Culture: I study the languages, the histories, the customs, the literature, everything I can to mentally immerse myself in these places. When I have money, my body will follow lol. My love of French culture is owed to my high school French teacher. It was her passion for French that opened my heart to love learning a language. Basically, anyone speaking about something from a place of true passion and devotion can make me fall in love with anything lol. I love to listen to people talk about what they love, whether it be biochemistry, beekeeping, books, French, whatever. Always be in love. (Or in Baudelaire's words: Always be drunk.) My interest in Japanese culture started with the poetry. I liked reading the varying English translations, and every book will tell you that it's a language whose subtlety just can't properly be captured or conveyed as beautifully in English. I had to experience it for myself, so I began studying the language. And from there, my great love was born.

Zdiszlaw Beksinski: If you don't know who he is, Google him. Nothing need be said.

I'm running out of time here at work-- I've got a bus to Boston to catch! I'll be around I look forward to getting to know you guys.

~蛍葉

Hi. Glad you decided to come here and join our community. I'm Cas and I dealt with similar stuff as you when it comes to my writing. The people who know always sugarcoat things and I can't even be in the same room with someone reading some of my work even if I know they'll just say, "Good," and hand it back. The anonymity and the lack of having to watch people for reactions is nice, though it allows us to not face our fears, I suppose. As a person who is both allergic to and fears dogs, I own a dog. But letting other people read my work is terrifying. Odd. But writers are odd. I also have trouble staying with novels, especially, because I end up writing the whole thing in my head and I'm like, "I have to do it all again?" It plays out like a movie, so beautifully, and then I put pen to paper and it all seems to go awry. I can't communicate the facial expressions well enough, or someone's emotions. I have a big vocabulary, but even I, after writing for five, almost six, years, still have trouble finding words for some of my (completely in my mind) works.

As it stands, I would love to give you feedback on anything you do write down. If you'd like, you can start by critiquing my work, if you want. It'll give you points and show you I am clearly not perfect. Or rip someone else's work to shreds. I'm not begging here, just offering. Otherwise? I'm a mentor here, so if you have any lingering questions or whatnot about the site of writing or life, feel free to poke my brain with a stick. Unlike a bear, my brain enjoys being poked with a stick.

Otherwise, I am in love with Charles Baudelaire's mind. I'm glad to have 'met' a fellow fan. Alas, I know little about Japanese or French culture, oddly enough. I'm a mythology nerd, so all I know are weird things. Those parts of my mind are scary and you probably don't want to poke around there.

Lastly, to repeat myself, welcome! Break a leg, eh?

-Cas

Cspr, thank you for such a thoughtful welcome

I'm sharpening my poke-stick as I speak! (type?)

My biggest hangup is writing description. I don't want to be too literal, or too flowery. Also, I tend to rush everything :/ because, as you said, it's like "I have to do this again?" I don't know if I could or would want to write a novel. I enjoy reading novels, but right now I'm interested in exploring the vignette genre.

My aforementioned best friend -- hereafter, BF -- wants to be a novelist because she likes that idea of completion, a rose fully flowered. I, on the other hand, want my writing to be like passing by a high stone wall, with the scent of flowers on the wind but no view of the garden beyond. We just differ so greatly. She stresses over the most minute details, and thinks my stuff is unfinished. I get caught up in her details and feel that she's feeding the reader too much. And, as absurd as this will sound, I don't actually know any other readers!! My other friends don't read or write, nor do my siblings, and there isn't anyone else I trust. So it's been a very cyclical editing process for anything I've ever attempted lol.

I don't have anything to put up for review just yet, but I'd be happy to review your stuff I'm still learning to navigate the site, so be patient with me m(_ _)m

Is it weird to have a crush on someone who died before I was born? I like to flatter myself that if Baudelaire had known me, he would have been in love with me too lol. I first learned about him by coming across his translations of Poe. You would probably enjoy the novel?/biography La Folie Baudelaire by Roberto Calasso. Do you like Arthur Rimbaud? I feel like Poe, Baudelaire, and Rimbaud always get lumped together for their similar-yet-distinct awesomenesses...

I'm one of those people who only know weird things too XD Or, well, not necessarily "weird," but extremely specific. Think, Sherlock Holmes. But whatever, I'm harmless at least, and I love to laugh at myself Normalcy is death!

Eh, don't thank me. It's not exactly a demigod's task.

Yay.

That's understandable. Funnily, I just wrote a post on how to do description well, as it's one of my sharper tools. I'll post a link to it on your wall? As it is, I tend to write description, but just enough to suit my purposes. And it's okay. Not everyone writes novels. Actually writing at all is something to be proud of.

Oh dear. Now that is a bit of a mess. As it stands, your just description of your best friend and you? I found that beautiful. I don't think you're in as much trouble as you think. Some authors don't ever use description! However, pacing is important and going too fast or too slow can be a turn off to readers. I suggest reading your works allowed. If you get breathless or you speak in a monotone or close, I suggest changing your pace. As it is, as soon as you post something, I'll take a peak. I'm pretty good at pace by now. Sometimes I stray a bit too slow, but then I take a hatchet to my works in the editing room. On another note, I suggest you and your BF go to the nearest library and, even if there aren't books on writing there, you each get a book and try to to write in the author's style. It might be helpful to break you out of your rut. Otherwise, libraries often have writing groups of some sort. You might want to look into it. If not, tell your friend to get on here too so your works can both be critiqued. Might be for the best.

If you're having trouble navigating, I could help with that. As a mentor, it's part of my job description to give people virtual tours. Just say the word, and I'm yours for a month or as long as you need. As I helped my grandparents find their way around Venice, which is a maze on top of an island, I'd say I'm pretty good at navigating.

Nah. I mean, I don't get normal crushes at all, so don't worry. Instead, I fall for people's minds and it doesn't matter if they're real, dead, or a character. You're far more normal. As it is, I'll look into that biography if I have time, but I must admit I have not read much by Poe and I believe nothing by Rimbaud.

-isn't all that harmless- ...Well, I believe I fall more or less into the same category. My problem is I don't forget things (exception: extremely traumatic events). My brain's an agoraphobic pack rat, rather than nice and neat like Sherlock Holmes's mind palace. It makes things more complicated than they have to be.

-Cas

Keiha wrote:Cspr, thank you for such a thoughtful welcome

I'm sharpening my poke-stick as I speak! (type?)

My biggest hangup is writing description. I don't want to be too literal, or too flowery. Also, I tend to rush everything :/ because, as you said, it's like "I have to do this again?" I don't know if I could or would want to write a novel. I enjoy reading novels, but right now I'm interested in exploring the vignette genre.

My aforementioned best friend -- hereafter, BF -- wants to be a novelist because she likes that idea of completion, a rose fully flowered. I, on the other hand, want my writing to be like passing by a high stone wall, with the scent of flowers on the wind but no view of the garden beyond. We just differ so greatly. She stresses over the most minute details, and thinks my stuff is unfinished. I get caught up in her details and feel that she's feeding the reader too much. And, as absurd as this will sound, I don't actually know any other readers!! My other friends don't read or write, nor do my siblings, and there isn't anyone else I trust. So it's been a very cyclical editing process for anything I've ever attempted lol.

I don't have anything to put up for review just yet, but I'd be happy to review your stuff I'm still learning to navigate the site, so be patient with me m(_ _)m

Is it weird to have a crush on someone who died before I was born? I like to flatter myself that if Baudelaire had known me, he would have been in love with me too lol. I first learned about him by coming across his translations of Poe. You would probably enjoy the novel?/biography La Folie Baudelaire by Roberto Calasso. Do you like Arthur Rimbaud? I feel like Poe, Baudelaire, and Rimbaud always get lumped together for their similar-yet-distinct awesomenesses...

I'm one of those people who only know weird things too XD Or, well, not necessarily "weird," but extremely specific. Think, Sherlock Holmes. But whatever, I'm harmless at least, and I love to laugh at myself Normalcy is death!