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Post by devogirl on Sept 27, 2019 6:40:22 GMT -5
Writing is such a boring, solitary, time-consuming activity, the only way to do it is to follow your own desires, no matter what they are. There’s no one way to go about writing, even as a dev. You just have to do what works for you, whether it’s choosing to write for a non-dev readership or choosing not to share anything at all. For me personally, I have a compulsion to only write stories with PWD characters and to make it as devvy as I possibly can. I feel like non-dev readers already have a whole world full of books aimed at them. I only want to write the kinds of books I want to read as a dev. There are so few books with PWD characters and even fewer of those books are at all realistic or informed about disability. If non-dev readers like what I write, that’s just an added bonus but really I’m writing for the devs. It’s super frustrating that Amazon makes it so hard to find dev fiction. Instead of letting the algorithm learn what people are actually buying, they are instead pushing their exploitative advertising system where the authors pay to promote their work. It makes the problem of reaching readers in an over-saturated market so much worse. The lists on Goodreads are more helpful, some have even been created by devs, but it’s a bit hard to use. Anyway LaMara if you ever want to share something with me, I’m always happy to read stories about blind guys. Even if you’re not looking for feedback, but just to share. It can be hard to share fiction writing with friends—the reaction from your friends is pretty common, I think. That’s why it’s better to share with a dev 😊 And do consider posting on the blog. We moderate the comments for trolling, but honestly it’s only happened a few times. The commenters there are almost always very kind and supportive. Also since you asked for suggestions of books with PWD characters that are not romance, I recommend the Neve & Egan Case Files, which I just mentioned. It’s a four book series about a university student named Alexandra Neve who starts solving crimes with the help of her blind professor Ashford Egan. They become very close as friends but there is never any romance between them. The fourth book is narrated almost completely by Egan and I found it quite devvy. A first person blind narrator is hard for most sighted authors to do convincingly, but she does a good job.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2019 13:15:47 GMT -5
Lamara, I really want to read what you’re writing! Have you been posting it anywhere, or have plans to publish? Please share it! Unfortunately I don’t think I can ever put my work online, the idea itself gives me a lot of anxiety. I know I should seek constructive criticism but for now I only gave my work to 3 people who are very close to me (and the fact that two of them have been “too busy to read it” actually really hurt me). Though I love writing I tend to assume I suck at it and I fear that if I put it out there my assumption will be confirmed. Yup, welcome to the mind of an anxious/depressed individual... I totally get your anxiety about posting your writing. It's nerve wrecking and at first I was terrified at what people would think. I posted and almost deleted it all again. I know my first stories I posted need to be looked at again and edited and all that but I did start posting them a few years ago and I had to keep reminding myself that there were people who liked the stories and I did get lots of wonderful comments which motivated me to keep writing. I will have to rework some of it. I'm an amateur and not native in English so I have learned a lot as I go and have evolved, that's why my first tries at writing weren't that good. Books about writing and grammar and language and all that are scattered over my desk. Writing is such a lonely endevour for sure and it is so intimate because it does open up a window to our heart and soul I believe. My friends are not interested in reading my stories because they are not devs, it doesn't interest them but they also don't have the time. Really only one of my friends is a regular reader and she reads other things. Maybe one day you will have the courage to post your writing. I totally understand the fear and anxiety. I am a person who gets very discouraged with criticism, it's a trait I don't like very much about myself. I wish I could be less anxious about it. I literally sometimes am scared to open the feedback to a chapter of my story. Then I nudge myself and go "Dani, pull it together" and I have to bascially focus on being strong about it. I believe it has something to do with childhood stuff about being made felt "not good enough". It's a horrible thing to deal with and something I have been working on overcoming all my life.
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Post by annabelle on Sept 27, 2019 15:01:22 GMT -5
Lamara, I really want to read what you’re writing! Have you been posting it anywhere, or have plans to publish? Please share it! Unfortunately I don’t think I can ever put my work online, the idea itself gives me a lot of anxiety. I know I should seek constructive criticism but for nohw I only gave my work to 3 people who are very close to me (and the fact that two of them have been “too busy to read it” actually really hurt me). Though I love writing I tend to assume I suck at it and I fear that if I put it out there my assumption will be confirmed. Yup, welcome to the mind of an anxious/depressed individual... I just had to comment that I totally sympathize with your hurt over the people you shared your writing with not even taking the time to read it. Despite the fact that I publish, I still feel very sensitive about my writing, and it hurts me every time I get a rejection like that. Especially from somebody close to me. That’s why when somebody passes their writing on to me, I try to read it as quickly as I can and be as sensitive I can in my critique. I try to treat it like somebody is sharing part of their soul with me.
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Post by annabelle on Sept 27, 2019 15:04:10 GMT -5
I also write non-dev thrillers but truth be told, some of them are kind of devvy. I like the paraplegic boyfriend in the Evan Delaney books but I don’t really like the mysteries themselves as much... I’m not really a detective mystery sort of gal. Do you have PWD in those annabelle My first few did have PWD, but I was a little more subtle about it. My last three haven’t. It got to the point where I knew my family would get suspicious if I put it in there again.
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Post by LaMara on Sept 27, 2019 16:47:13 GMT -5
Thank you all for being so supportive and understanding about the anxiety that comes with writing. I might reconsider my position once I build up the courage...
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rebeca
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Post by rebeca on Sept 28, 2019 0:39:48 GMT -5
I actually had to look up literary fiction, because I didn't know what that meant. I am not a professional writer but always interested to learn about writing. Are you stories posted somewhere rebeca ? I am curious Hi Dani, I wasn't very clear I think. I meant I was curious about Dev writers who are not exploring devness in their writing. Writing books that don't involve romantic storylines between PWD and devs. I see why I have never tried it after hearing from you guys, because what I write is not romantic fiction, or has a love story as its main focus. That's why I guess i have never explored devness in my writing. Also since devness is a purely sexual interest of mine, it's not featured in my writing. I enjoy reading these in the fiction blog, for some light reading and 'dev-porn' I've had three stories published so far (it takes me anywhere between 4-5 years to finish a story) and my novel is coming out in Jan 2020, and another novel I am translating will come out in Fall 2020. The stories are available online.
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rebeca
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Post by rebeca on Sept 28, 2019 0:43:16 GMT -5
Thank you all for being so supportive and understanding about the anxiety that comes with writing. I might reconsider my position once I build up the courage... just wanted to add that you're not alone. If you ever want any feedback from a stranger on the internet, you are always welcome. I taught Creative Writing for two years in a University and still serve as an external mentor for Creative Writing MA book projects, so I promise you won't be harshly criticised
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2019 1:00:36 GMT -5
[quote author=" Dani" source="/post/194154/thread" timestamp="1569566739"I see why I have never tried it after hearing from you guys, because what I write is not romantic fiction, or has a love story as its main focus. That's why I guess i have never explored devness in my writing. . I am sorry rebecaThat's the part I don't understand...what did we write that made you realize the reason you have you never tried to write dev related fiction? Do you think you didn't write dev related fiction because you don't identify with something we wrote above? I am sorry about having a hard time understanding. Do you want to share where your books are? Title maybe?
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rebeca
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Post by rebeca on Sept 28, 2019 1:04:36 GMT -5
That's alright Dani, I don't mind answering. From most of the responses it seems that a love story between a PWD and dev is part of the writing you're doing. I don't have any love story in my writing. If I was writing romances or erotic fiction I think I would write dev oriented fiction, since I enjoy reading them on the rare occasion that I read any romance. Does that make sense?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2019 7:21:23 GMT -5
That's alright Dani, I don't mind answering. From most of the responses it seems that a love story between a PWD and dev is part of the writing you're doing. I don't have any love story in my writing. If I was writing romances or erotic fiction I think I would write dev oriented fiction, since I enjoy reading them on the rare occasion that I read any romance. Does that make sense? Okay, I think I get it now. Maybe kind of what cilantro wrote in the beginning of this thread about stories who have no disabled character but are underlying devy. This is interesting for sure. I guess looking back at my early teenage writing I see all the signs of a dev writing but it was not obvious as in actual disabled characters. Do you think you could write dev romance or sexual situations?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2019 7:27:20 GMT -5
My first few did have PWD, but I was a little more subtle about it. My last three haven’t. It got to the point where I knew my family would get suspicious if I put it in there again. So annabelle even though you have published and have written so many dev books, noone in your family or friend circles knows about your writing dev stories? I can't imagine how you keep it "secret"... I have had this discussion with someone a little while ago, a published writer who was very worried about her family finding out. It seems very stressful.
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rebeca
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Post by rebeca on Sept 28, 2019 7:42:54 GMT -5
That's alright Dani, I don't mind answering. From most of the responses it seems that a love story between a PWD and dev is part of the writing you're doing. I don't have any love story in my writing. If I was writing romances or erotic fiction I think I would write dev oriented fiction, since I enjoy reading them on the rare occasion that I read any romance. Does that make sense? Okay, I think I get it now. Maybe kind of what cilantro wrote in the beginning of this thread about stories who have no disabled character but are underlying devy. This is interesting for sure. I guess looking back at my early teenage writing I see all the signs of a dev writing but it was not obvious because of the stories. Do you think you could write dev romance or sexual situations? Interesting question Dani. I don't know rhe answer. But I don't know how one can write a dev book without sex. Devness is primarily about attraction, isn't it? I guess I could write a dev romance if I wanted to. I infact started one after joining this board 10 years ago. But I didn't see a point really. My novel is about sex trade and trafficking in Asia. As a writer, I'm not particularly moved by sex, love or relationships. So I don't think I'd ever write a dev book. There's no PWD or dev character I'm interested in portraying. So it's not for me clearly. But I'm interested to know what other practicing dev writers think. Also, is it the case that all dev writers of dev fiction are selfpublishing? Or are some of you with tradition publishing houses?
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Post by LaMara on Sept 28, 2019 8:01:49 GMT -5
Interesting question Dani. I don't know rhe answer. But I don't know how one can write a dev book without sex. Devness is primarily about attraction, isn't it? I guess I could write a dev romance if I wanted to. I infact started one after joining this board 10 years ago. But I didn't see a point really. My novel is about sex trade and trafficking in Asia. As a writer, I'm not particularly moved by sex, love or relationships. So I don't think I'd ever write a dev book. There's no PWD or dev character I'm interested in portraying. So it's not for me clearly. But I'm interested to know what other practicing dev writers think. Also, is it the case that all dev writers of dev fiction are selfpublishing? Or are some of you with tradition publishing houses? I think a book can totally be devvy without sex in it. But I guess that’s because I care very little about sex and I personally don’t enjoy reading about it. I’m not sure if I’m completely asexual (that’s a different issue I’m trying to figure out lately), probably not completely because I do get “dev tingles” but the sexual component of my devness is minimal. I might find a story devvy if it has a compelling PWD character realistically described, with or without a romantic component (my preference would be a small amount of romance in the frame of a different genre) and with or without an erotic component. You say that devness is primarily about attraction and I agree with you, but that attraction doesn’t have to necessarily be sexual attraction. It can be emotional or aesthetic or intellectual as well. For example, even though it’s not a book and it’s not fiction, I saw quite a few documentaries on PWD athletes and I found them very devvy.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2019 12:43:05 GMT -5
That goes back to how a dev sees their devness, for me personally it's not primarily sexual either.
I still like to write about true and deep love usually paved with lots of drama and so eventually in the story will be a sexual situation/interaction because it's kinda the nature of humans. I do like to write about sex though and some of my fetish stuff is literally only about that. Personally I separate devness from fetishes.
As for publishing, I have not published because I know nothing about it. I would like to do it just so my readers can have access to my books but I would literally give them away if I could. I have no interest in making money which will probably keep me from publishing because whichever way I would go the point is for someone to make some money like Amazon for example.
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Post by annabelle on Sept 28, 2019 17:14:45 GMT -5
My first few did have PWD, but I was a little more subtle about it. My last three haven’t. It got to the point where I knew my family would get suspicious if I put it in there again. So annabelle even though you have published and have written so many dev books, noone in your family or friend circles knows about your writing dev stories? I can't imagine how you keep it "secret"... I have had this discussion with someone a little while ago, a published writer who was very worried about her family finding out. It seems very stressful. It’s very hard. I even attend a real life writing group and am very close with some of the writers there, but none of them know. Sometimes I’m desperate to tell, but I’m not willing to reveal being a dev to my friends and family. The only person who knows is my husband.
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