Feeling inadequate

[harry87]

I feel like a bum at this forum. All you guys have thousands of posts to your name and always have interesting stuff to say. I can't even get my first story off the ground either, whereas some of you have written novels...

Ah well...at least I've said something, I guess. What I need is a mentor to bring me into the fold!

 

[S-Des]

I feel like a bum at this forum. All you guys have thousands of posts to your name and always have interesting stuff to say. I can't even get my first story off the ground either, whereas some of you have written novels...

Ah well...at least I've said something, I guess. What I need is a mentor to bring me into the fold!

Bah, posts just mean we're bored. As for the stories, I've been writing for less than a year (never even wrote a short story in high school or college). Find a good editor. They do more than just correct your spelling. They'll help you with content, flow, dialogue, and oversights that can hurt you with readers. My first effort got turned down twice until I found an editor to take pity on me.

 

[Harry Leg]

I feel like a bum at this forum. All you guys have thousands of posts to your name and always have interesting stuff to say. I can't even get my first story off the ground either, whereas some of you have written novels...

Ah well...at least I've said something, I guess. What I need is a mentor to bring me into the fold!

History is full of writers that thought they had nothing to say but found that they did.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

How do I know your not an alt of someone with 10,000 posts and dozens of stories? I'll bet you're really J.K. Rowling.

 

[SeaCat]

Snicker,

You know, sometimes I feel that way even now.

Some days I feel like I don't belong. I have fewer posts than this or that person. I have fewer stories up than many. Hell I even kill threads.

Then I remember why I write. I write for me, I write because I enjoy writing. I Post my stories because once in a while someone might even like the drivel I toss onto the page.

Cat

 

[Just-Legal]

Snicker,

You know, sometimes I feel that way even now.

Some days I feel like I don't belong. I have fewer posts than this or that person. I have fewer stories up than many. Hell I even kill threads.

Then I remember why I write. I write for me, I write because I enjoy writing. I Post my stories because once in a while someone might even like the drivel I toss onto the page.

Cat

That's my job

 

[scriptordelecto]

That's my job

I thought it was just me

 

[Guest]

I feel like a bum at this forum. All you guys have thousands of posts to your name and always have interesting stuff to say. I can't even get my first story off the ground either, whereas some of you have written novels...

Ah well...at least I've said something, I guess. What I need is a mentor to bring me into the fold!

Welcome!

No worries about the forum. We all started out the same as you.

And I'm not certain if there even is a fold. Just a great big bed.

 

[S-Des]

And I'm not certain if there even is a fold. Just a great big bed.

I should know...I've been trying to catch Sarahh on that bed ever since I came here.

 

[Guest]

I should know...I've been trying to catch Sarahh on that bed ever since I came here.

Cheeky.

 

[kiten69]

I should know...I've been trying to catch Sarahh on that bed ever since I came here.

careful Sarahh if he catches you on the bed he'll want to tie you to it

 

[Guest]

careful Sarahh if he catches you on the bed he'll want to tie you to it

Laughing -

And this would be bad how?

 

[kiten69]

Laughing -

And this would be bad how?

because he would be free and so would I...ohhh the things, bad things we could do to sweet lil sarahh

 

[bronzeage]

I feel like a bum at this forum. All you guys have thousands of posts to your name and always have interesting stuff to say. I can't even get my first story off the ground either, whereas some of you have written novels...

Ah well...at least I've said something, I guess. What I need is a mentor to bring me into the fold!

Ok Harry, here is your mentoring. Pay attention.

You need an audience. It only has to be one person. Your wife, girlfriend, or cyber penpal. It doesn't matter who, it just has to be one person. You write the story to please just one person. You give them small pieces of it as you go along. Its much easier to write when you know there is someone waiting to read it.

It only has to be one.

 

[JamesSD]

The secret to posting a lot is posting. (I'm so clever!)

It took me nearly 2 years to get 1,000 posts. That breaks down to less than two posts a day.

 

[human_male]

As far as the boards go I feel somewhat alienated, like I don't belong. Like I'm invisible too, mostly. I've been here for two or three years, have nearly three thousand posts but I don't really know anyone and have no friends. I keep trying. I try to join in conversations, and people happily post to each other back and forth and ignore me. Or someone will respond to everyone in the thread but me. I've developed quite a little complex about it.

Every now and then I tell myself "fuck em, who needs em." but I always come back because it's basically the only social interaction I have access to in my life. Plus I don't have fuck all else to do for the time being.

And I whine about all this every chance I get. Hijacking other people's threads to do so. Then at the end of my self indulgent rant I tack something on the end to make it look like I'm actually trying to offer support or encouragement to the poster like...

so you're not alone. I hope that at least makes you feel a little better. Good luck to you.

 

[S-Des]

As far as the boards go I feel somewhat alienated, like I don't belong. Like I'm invisible too, mostly. I've been here for two or three years, have nearly three thousand posts but I don't really know anyone and have no friends. I keep trying. I try to join in conversations, and people happily post to each other back and forth and ignore me. Or someone will respond to everyone in the thread but me. I've developed quite a little complex about it.

Every now and then I tell myself "fuck em, who needs em." but I always come back because it's basically the only social interaction I have access to in my life. Plus I don't have fuck all else to do for the time being.

And I whine about all this every chance I get. Hijacking other people's threads to do so. Then at the end of my self indulgent rant I tack something on the end to make it look like I'm actually trying to offer support or encouragement to the poster like...

so you're not alone. I hope that at least makes you feel a little better. Good luck to you.

That's not true. I notice your posts. I know I've replied to them as well. You have a good sense of humor and say clever things. Everyone on the board gets ignored (check out my posts today to find great examples), but although it may sometimes be due to people ignoring you, it's often that they have a specific post in mind that doesn't mesh with yours, so they skip you.

Recently I had someone PM me to privately request I post in a thread because he liked the points I had been making lately. It was funny because I didn't know he knew or respected me. You have to remember, everyone sees things through the prism of their own experience. Trust me, no one is ignored (except those we've put on ignore ).

 

[Guest]

I'm glad you answered, S-Des. Quite frankly, I didn't know what to say.

I do like this AV you have now, HM.

And I know you and I have exchanged at a few posts.

I am sorry that you feel you are being ignored.

 

[human_male]

That's not true. I notice your posts. I know I've replied to them as well. You have a good sense of humor and say clever things. Everyone on the board gets ignored (check out my posts today to find great examples), but although it may sometimes be due to people ignoring you, it's often that they have a specific post in mind that doesn't mesh with yours, so they skip you.

Recently I had someone PM me to privately request I post in a thread because he liked the points I had been making lately. It was funny because I didn't know he knew or respected me. You have to remember, everyone sees things through the prism of their own experience. Trust me, no one is ignored (except those we've put on ignore ).

Thank you. Yes you're right, it's not like I'm completely ignored. I shouldn't have said that. I just get the feeling sometimes nine times out of ten I'm ignored or jumped on. And I do have one or two aquaintences, so I shouldn't have said I don't know anyone.

And I do recall you responding to one of my posts. I was pleased to have pleased you so it stuck in my mind. That and your ass.

 

[human_male]

I'm glad you answered, S-Des. Quite frankly, I didn't know what to say.

I do like this AV you have now, HM.

And I know you and I have exchanged at a few posts.

I am sorry that you feel you are being ignored.

and thank you.

 

[S-Des]

Thank you. Yes you're right, it's not like I'm completely ignored. I shouldn't have said that. I just get the feeling sometimes nine times out of ten I'm ignored or jumped on. And I do have one or two aquaintences, so I shouldn't have said I don't know anyone.

And I do recall you responding to one of my posts. I was pleased to have pleased you so it stuck in my mind. That and your ass.

ROTFLMAOPMP....

Nicely done. I have one correction, I'm pretty sure it's not my ass that impressed you. But I told Kiten and she was flattered. I agree, it's an outstanding ass (red or not). I plan to use it as often as she'll allow.

 

[slyc_willie]

Thing is, especially with a community this size, you're going to get ignored once in a while. But you're also going to make friends. Think of it as a big online campus. There are always clicks and sects; some you want to belong to, some you don't. See someone you like, talk to them. Make the move. I met a few friends that way, and we talk all the time. And I've only been here a few months.

But as in any academic environment, what really gets attention is the quality of your work.

Post a story. Take the risk. The perception of quality is subjective. Some of us will like it, others will hate it. Such is life.

As for posting, do as you will. Sometimes, we get on incredibly introspective and well-thought philosophical rants and debates in here; other times, we simply post the equivalent of 'huh?'

Don't worry about popularity and perceived quality. Just join in and have some fun.

 

[Aurora Black]

You just have to keep trying, Harry. My PM's always open if you have any questions.

And HM, I have noticed your posts but I never replied because (before your recent change) for the longest time you had the scariest AV I had ever seen, and I couldn't bear to look at it. I shielded my eyes in the beginning to read your posts, but when I realized that didn't work, I avoided reading you altogether.

Honesty, the other white meat.

 

[Weird Harold]

I feel like a bum at this forum. All you guys have thousands of posts to your name and always have interesting stuff to say. I can't even get my first story off the ground either, whereas some of you have written novels...

Ah well...at least I've said something, I guess. What I need is a mentor to bring me into the fold!

"Thousands of posts" is mostly just a matter of longevity -- you've been registered here two months or so and post every two or three weeks when you have something to say. I've been registered for seven years or so (actually longer than that, but they changed to vBulletin and I've forgotten my original registration date) and check in two or three times a day on average -- it would take a very, very, shy lurker to hang around as long as I have and NOT have thousands of posts.

Most of us here in the AH don't pay a whole lot of attention to how many posts or even how many stories you have, we worry more about what you have to say and how relevant it is to the conversation of the moment.

One other point about post counts -- in some of the other forums, notably the playground and General Board, you'll find a lot of people who have thousands of posts but nothing to say, or at least nothing nice to say. Many of those "post whores" and "Trolls" are on my ignore list because they have nothing to say. If you click on somone's name to look at their profile, there is a posts-per-day average -- I consider mine fairly high at around 6-7 posts/day but there are some people with PPD figures in the hundreds!

Bottom line: Don't worry or be intimidated by post counts; yours will go up every time you post and eventually you'll be the one with the intimidating post count, if you hang around long enough -- and won't need to get a reputation for frivolity, flirting, or trolling to get there.

As for getting your first story off the ground, that's a very common problem; even for experienced and/or professional authors.

You just have to step back and take a look at the story you want to tell and how you're trying to tell it. Knowing where the story is going and how you're going to tell it is the first step; the better defined your concept is, the easier the story is to write.

If your intital idea on how to write it -- POV Choice, Setting, Mood, etc -- doesn't work, don't be afraid to abandon that approach and try something else.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

Harry, there's no need to feel inadequate. The trick is to adjust your definition of adequacy down until it coincides with your ability.