WRITERS CO-OP: A WRITER COMMUNITY FOR YOU.

GD Deckard

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13 comments on A Path

A Path

Lots of great ideas here but they are only ideas unless we put the time, effort & sometimes money into them to make them happen. Take the idea of WritersCo-op.com becoming a kind of wiki created by writers who have something to offer other writers. That would take time, effort & eventually, money.

Time, first. Members can keep posting articles until we have enough to seed a wiki. Then effort. I think I can find writers to create a wiki but that must be done. And we’d probably have to pay a server host to maintain our site online. I’ve set up websites since 1998 and I know we could find a home on the ‘Net for our wiki at a cost we’d be happy with.

The beauty of this path is that we do not have to decide right now. We can keep on blogging as we are doing.
When we have enough blogs, or articles, we can consider turning the site into a wiki.
If we end up with a wiki, we’ll figure out a way to fund it.

We can become a site where any writer could log on and find information on just about anything they are looking for regarding writing – from creating stories, to practical working advice, to shopping for agents, working with an editor, the publishing process, marketing tips – all on one website created by other writers:
The WritersCo-op Wiki.

What do you think?

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GD Deckard

Severely beaten as a child by a WWII hero and combat-induced-PTSD stepfather, the author, as a teen, faced the old man down with a shotgun and earned his blessing to join the military at the time Americans were learning about a country called Vietnam. The “lazy, no good son-of-a-bitch” opted out of combat and hard labor by becoming an Air Force medic, stamping out suffering and misery on Freedom’s Frontier at Clark Airbase in S.E. Asia and earning some kind of medal pinned on him personally by then Secretary of the Air Force, Harold Brown, for “Saving lives, etc.” There followed a summer in Europe ending in the first of happy marriages. Then graduation with University Honors, kids worth dying for and a career in business. Life is good. Author, The Phoenix Diary, Penguin, 2015. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-phoenix-diary-g-d-deckard/1122175645 Founding Member, Writers Co-op. https://WritersCo-op.com Co-Editor, The Rabbit Hole anthologies. https://www.amazon.com/Rabbit-Hole-Weird-Stories/dp/1691225355/ref=sr_1_1 Founder, SciFi Lampoon Magazine. http://scifilampoon.com/ Contributing Editor, A Celebration of Storytelling https://www.amazon.com/Celebration-Storytelling-GD-Deckard/dp/1951716167 Current WIP: Code Blue and Little Deaths, stories from Clark during the Vietnam War. Recipient of the Psi Young award for Creative Biography.

13 responses to “A Path”

  1. mimispeike Avatar
    mimispeike

    Some here are far better at giving useful, specific advice than I am. I don’t know much about writing. I don’t know a third-person this from a third-person that. I could read up on it, sure. But I don’t care. I write what feels right to me. Trust your instincts: What good is that to tell anyone?

    And, I don’t know how my usually jocular approach to these posts fits this vision. And, I don’t intend to change it.

    And, I have to say it: This is some crazy-huge undertaking. Are you out of your mind?

    Plenty of places offer information. I think that we educate by example, and entertain at the same time. But, maybe information on craft is what will draw customers. I want to hear more opinions.

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    1. GD Deckard Avatar
      GD Deckard

      “Trust your instincts” is wonderful advice. Writers at heart who have no clue how to start writing can begin with that. Writers unsure about anything where they have to make a choice can do worse than trust their instincts.

      A wiki approach can benefit from articles/blogs written by you that may help other writers who agree with the way you see things, Mimi.

      & yup, “This is some crazy-huge undertaking.” But, if we remain educational and entertaining, we will grow. New members will bring new ideas about what they would like to see on the site and I think a wiki approach allows pretty much everything.

      No rush, either. Creative people never agree on everything so a wiki approach may attract the greatest number. Given time, this site could be the most useful place for information for writers of all kind.

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    2. Carl E. Reed Avatar
      Carl E. Reed

      Hey, Mimi! If I understand you and GD correctly, the vision for the site isn’t either/or but yes/and. No one has to contribute to any section of the blog they don’t want to, is the way I understand it. I hope that never changes. (I’m too old for homework!) Personally, my no. 1 wish is to get a hidden WIP section started. I want to read and comment on anything you, GD, Atthys, Curtis, Perry, Tom et. al. may choose to post. (And, of course, I wish to put some of my own current projects in front of veteran eyes I respect in order to garner comments.)

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      1. GD Deckard Avatar
        GD Deckard

        Hi Carl,
        Your wish, I believe, has already been granted. Awhile back, we discussed each member having their own Author’s Page. You can make yours, your WIP.

        Check with Curtis to be sure, but you probably already have the tools and the permissions needed to create your WIP page. Be sure to note the URL of your new page, so that you can tell anyone you wish, where it is. Also, if you get a domain name for your WIP you can point that at the page.

        And yes, you nailed it Carl -we can take an all inclusive approach for this site. Some might like their own hidden WIP page & others -who knows 🙂

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  2. mimispeike Avatar
    mimispeike

    That sounds fine. Diversity is what we’ve got and even more diversity would be even better.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. GD Deckard Avatar
      GD Deckard

      Yup 🙂
      I agree.

      To be sure that we have the option in case we find a use for it, I just reserved the domain name, WritersWiki.com

      Woot!

      Liked by 2 people

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  3. mimispeike Avatar
    mimispeike

    Carl, put your WIP up and I’ll read and comment on it. I just did this for Atthys. His upcoming post is his response to my critique. He hasn’t changed my mind and I haven’t changed his, and that’s fine, just the way it should be.

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    1. Carl E. Reed Avatar
      Carl E. Reed

      @Mimi: Still puzzling out the site. I’ll put up something soon. Cheers!

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  4. mimispeike Avatar
    mimispeike

    The value of a critique is not that it changes your mind on things you’ve thought long and hard about. It nudges you, maybe, on a small course correction. We are all at the point where we’re pretty confident that we’ve made choices that support our vision. But we can tweak that vision.

    I confess that most of my tweaks push my thing in the the opposite direction of the recommendation. But, that’s me. My reviews often give me increased confidence to commit literary mayhem.

    Angela on Book Country told me: “I can’t take any more of this. I didn’t know I was going to be plunged into a history class.” Those who have read a few chapters of Sly know where that comment took me.

    JoeTV (also on Book Country) told me, “You’re no Jane Austen.” After initially being abashed by the opinion of a working, very successful writer, I decided that I was on the right track for the story I wanted to tell.

    It’s good to be challenged. It’s good to have to defend yourself. It’s good to open yourself up to suggestions, and to consider them. And it’s good, having done so, to stand your ground.

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    1. GD Deckard Avatar
      GD Deckard

      I collect criticisms and use them during editing. It helps me to see my writing from another person’s point of view. I want to be sure that I am communicating what I think I am.

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      1. mimispeike Avatar
        mimispeike

        Frankly, my crit-ers have advised me to do things I have no intention of doing. But I have gotten a few comments that I have paid close attention to, concerning things that I agree are (probably) real problems. I will be calling on Dr. Peabody to help me out in certain areas.

        Turns out that Peabody, in the course of his long and varied academic career, studied creative writing for a bit. Lucky for me, eh?

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        1. GD Deckard Avatar
          GD Deckard

          Never listen to those who tell you what to write but only to those who help you express what you intended to communicate in the first place. The former can go write their own story while the latter have my sincere thanks.

          Hey 🙂 Mimi, a Google search for Glabelhammies now returns 5 results, one of which is my book site:

          The Phoenix Diary a Science Fiction Novel
          thephoenixdiary.com/
          Glabelhammies Trend Higher! Book Country books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting: Book Country 375 Hudson Street New York, NY 10014 …

          A local produce market includes a vendor who will put any phrase on a T-shirt for you. Hmmm…

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  5. mimispeike Avatar
    mimispeike

    “Never listen to those who tell you what to write but only to those who help you express what you intended to communicate in the first place.”

    Excellent advice. Many people (hell, I do it myself) are telling you what they don’t want to read themselves.

    Friday night at work I read a few chapters of Mission Hill, a crime novel. I immediately disliked it for the skin-deep characterization. I didn’t read enough to get a grip on the plot.

    I looked it up on Amazon. It has a dozen four/five star reviews, most calling it fast-paced fun, or similar. One contrary review summed it up in three words: Superficial, cheesy, predictable.

    Somewhere in between fast-paced fun and superficial cheesy lies the truth. I may bring it home as a pdf and read the whole, as an experiment. Is it worthwhile, on any level, or a total waste of time?

    I bet it has the backing of the publisher. The author was a DA in Boston, then worked as a consultant on a couple of successful TV crime shows. She has a name (of sorts) and a certain amount of credibility. I think she is planning a series built around her Boston Brahmin debutante turned in-the-trenches DA, who has been known to show up at a crime scene in ballgown and heels.

    I’ll be watching this one to see how it fares. I’m guessing that the bland-as-can-be prose style won’t faze many, and they might think the diamond-wearing DA, living large on her parents’ money, a delightful twist.

    Which was done, pretty much, with great charm. I maybe better stick with The Thin Man.

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