Young Writers Society

►Speakeasy - It's getting written, if not slowly. So many people are on the other end, demanding it be written, that I don't think I can quit.

►NaNoWriMo Project - This is the real reason I'm updating. I got restless, I'm going to start working on this soon. It's a memoir, so it will be, ah, wilder than fiction? I haven't a clue how to go about doing this. I also think it needs a title. I had liked Don't Panic though it is so Douglas Adams, I couldn't. I want it to have a title. After a while of talking with Dreamy, and getting myself prepared for this and over the fear of honesty, I think I can do it. It will be rather scattered, and rant filled, but aren't memoirs like that...? Finding a place to start seems to be the challenge, for now. We'll work something out of it.

I'm not sure how I will share it. I might email it to some people here or there, perhaps give it a live journal. If I was going to publish a book, this would probably be it.

Till wrote:►Speakeasy - It's getting written, if not slowly. So many people are on the other end, demanding it be written, that I don't think I can quit.

Speakeasy - It's getting written, if not slowly. So many people are on the other end, demanding it be written, that I don't think I can quit.

►Módlmy Się - Still in publishing purgatory. I did some calculations, I should get a rejection letter no later than December. (Being a cynical will make the acceptance all the better. ^_~)

►Speakeasy - Very dead! Do not ask. This might be recycled eventually, characters may be recycled. I loved it, but it failed, so we are stashing it and all the ideas for a later time.

►Avoir L'espoir - This was going to be my NaNoWriMo Novel but due to impatience, I've already started it. Hoping to write it in a month or so. A very cynical romance novel set in 19th century Russian.

►Possible NaNoWriMo - I get vague ideas for beginning scenes at times, and one caught my eye. Death Machine--though probably in German--would be about a Nazi. I'll leave it at that, because honestly, that is all I have.

►Avoir L'espoir - This was going to be my NaNoWriMo Novel but due to impatience, I've already started it. Hoping to write it in a month or so. A very cynical romance novel set in 19th century Russian.

Dear Ms Myszkowski,
I'm going to decline . . . "Modlmy sie." The Polish shouldn't have been a problem, although you did manage to create one with it. The basic problem was the lack of tension in the story. There was a certain degree of realism in the interactions of the crew, which helped immensely, but there was no sense of wondering what was going to happen next. There were shadows, true, but no sense of danger, of peril. Without that, this story becomes a narrative, nothing more.
The problem with the Polish was the unnecessary creation of one. There was nothing in this story to suggest that this was a particularly Polish voyage. You might have chosen Bulgarian or Ossetian or Malawi, as well. [Yes, you're of Polish extraction, or your husband is...I got that bit]. So what you've done is inflict some difficult words on an unsuspecting readership. If you're going to do that, choose some simpler names. Dybski, for example. Or you could choose something on the order of Andrzejewski [as I did in one of my novels] and refer to him by his nickname, Andy. That way you don't clutter up the reader's mind with difficult consonant clusters. The repartee with the pronunciation of your protagonist's first name also doesn't work. It has nothing to do with the story, or even with your character development. It's just...there. It has no purpose.
As for using Polish phrases here and there, like seasoning, that often works better. It allows the flavor to seep in without requiring the reader to be a translator. Little bits like "na zdrowie" or "nie wiem" are useful...in moderation. But use them in context, as you did with the drinking. Or, frex: "Nie wiem," said Andy, and shrugged. "I don't know."
Regards, and do try us again,
Tyree Campbell
Managing Editor
Sam's Dot Publishing

►Módlmy Się - Oh, you know? I have a third [rejection] letter floating around somewhere. Hah, it's just one I haven't received yet.

►Speakeasy - In case you missed it, this is dead.

►L'Avoir Espoir - This, on the other hand, isn't dead. It's... delayed shall we say? My mind has been fully taken over by the prospects of NaNoWriMo. But I do not reject this idea! I still like it a whole lot. So, all you fans *cough*Melja, only, hahha *cough* Don't worry! I will eventually get around to writing this. No point giving up on it, it had no problems, I just lost interest very quickly, because WWII is fun like that.

►Death Machine - Research is almost entirely over. I keep forgetting to go find primary source documents from the time period, so I might do that tonight. October for outlining, then November for the scary writing. Hehe. It will be fun, I am sure. I am currently using my Writing Eljay to record my happenings with this novel, so if you want more on it, check there.

Claudette wrote:Otherwise? Nothing. I'm rather lackadaisical with writing. :p School is taking me over. Eh.