# *waves hello*



## Flint (Jan 27, 2016)

Hi everyone. I'm mid-40s and have enjoyed reading fantasy, sci-fi and horror for years (and crime/thriller in more recent times). I haven't really written very much fiction, though. The bulk of my writing was non-fiction essays when I was studying things like psychology and philosophy.

 I thought it might be fun to pop in this site and meet some new people and maybe try a little bit of flash fiction in the writing contests at some point.

Look forward to some interesting conversations and laughs


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## Harper J. Cole (Jan 27, 2016)

Welcome, Flint! Yes, please do take part in the contests; you'll be surprised what it may lead to. I'm a sci-fi fan myself; which authors are your favourites?

HC


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## Aquilo (Jan 27, 2016)

Great to see you here, Flint! Oooh articles... psychology... and now fiction! You could always look at subbing an article for the WF Writers' Resource Book! I'd love to read about fictional profiling from a psychology pov!


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## Flint (Jan 28, 2016)

HarperCole said:


> Welcome, Flint! Yes, please do take part in the contests; you'll be surprised what it may lead to. I'm a sci-fi fan myself; which authors are your favourites?
> 
> HC



Hey HC. I did a little post and it seems to have disappeared. (I haven't used forums in years.)

 One cluster of sci-fi writers I really like tends to be the 'new wave' lot: PKD, Moorcock, Zelazny, Sheckley, etc. They blew my mind when I read them as a teenager. How about you? What are you into?

If I have time, it could be fun to take part in the 'monsters under the bed' one. However, I don't seem to be able to access the firestarter story. I'm guessing I don't have enough privileges yet?


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## Deleted member 56686 (Jan 28, 2016)

Hi Flint. 


Yes, you need ten valid posts anywhere except for the word games and procrastination central before you can access areas like the Prose Writer's Workshop or start a thread in certain areas, mainly the creative threads that are public. You will then also be able to choose your own avatar and signature.

So I guess since I'm here, I guess I should say welcome.

So, welcome :hi:


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## Flint (Jan 28, 2016)

Aquilo said:


> Great to see you here, Flint! Oooh articles... psychology... and now fiction! You could always look at subbing an article for the WF Writers' Resource Book! I'd love to read about fictional profiling from a psychology pov!



Hey Aquilo. Your resource book looks great, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have the experience to write something like that although I think it would make an interesting read. If I come across any decent articles like that, I'll share them on here. 

Also, my focus these days is more on editing rather than writing – I just started training as a proofreader. The most I've really got time and energy for at the moment would be having a bit of fun with some flash fiction.


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## Flint (Jan 28, 2016)

Thanks for the welcome Mr Mustard! 

aha! I shall see if I can make a few posts so I can join in the monster fun.


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## Aquilo (Jan 28, 2016)

Flint said:


> Also, my focus these days is more on editing rather than writing – I just started training as a proofreader.



Excellent! Who are you training with, if you don't my asking? I edit (content) for a publishing company, and it was one of the best decisions I made, one of the most challenging, but certainly one of the most rewarding! Good studying!!


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## Flint (Jan 28, 2016)

Congrats! That must be a great job.  What kind of material do you work on?

I've just started 'basic proofreading' with the PTC. I've done bits and pieces for friends in the past, but I made a decision this year to get a bit more serious. If it goes well, I'll go on to their copy-editing courses next year.


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## Harper J. Cole (Jan 28, 2016)

Flint said:


> Hey HC. I did a little post and it seems to have disappeared. (I haven't used forums in years.)
> 
> One cluster of sci-fi writers I really like tends to be the 'new wave' lot: PKD, Moorcock, Zelazny, Sheckley, etc. They blew my mind when I read them as a teenager. How about you? What are you into?
> 
> If I have time, it could be fun to take part in the 'monsters under the bed' one. However, I don't seem to be able to access the firestarter story. I'm guessing I don't have enough privileges yet?



You're up to ten posts now, so the firestarter should be visible. Let me know if it still isn't.

I'm currently working through a series of 74 sci-fi books called SF Masterworks; there's plenty you'd probably be familiar with: "Lord of Light", "The Dancers at the End of Time", "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" ...

I think that Alfred Bester and Brian Aldiss have been my favourites that you haven't mentioned. Sheckley is name I'm not familiar with; I'll have to look into that one.

HC


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## Flint (Jan 28, 2016)

Thanks. I found the firestarter 

Yeah, those three books are all great, and you can't go wrong with that Masterworks series, in general, IMO.

Yeah, Bester and Aldiss I liked as well from what I can remember (although I never got round to reading the Heliconia series). I'm trying to think of others I've enjoyed: Kuttner, Blish, Heinlein, Silverberg, Gibson, CL Moore, EC Tubb, Anthony. I like all sorts, really, whether pulp, golden age, new wave, hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, or whatever labels people seem to come up with nowadays.

Robert Sheckley is probably my all-time favourite. He did loads and loads of short stories and a few novels around the 60s/70s/80s (I think). I'm not quite sure how to put into words what he's like: funny, absurd (or perhaps bizarre might be a better word), psychedelic, sci-fi/fantasy?


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## Aquilo (Jan 29, 2016)

I've heard of the PTC.  There's also the SfEaP.  

I focus on fiction, but I don't handle YA, Historical or High fantasy. I do love psych thrillers, crime, steampunk, and BDSM, plus a lot of the dark content too, depending on the author. All have a core romance element.

How are you finding the course? I'm Brit English, working for two American publishers, and I find myself more Americanised by the day, lol. 



Flint said:


> Congrats! That must be a great job.  What kind of material do you work on?
> 
> I've just started 'basic proofreading' with the PTC. I've done bits and pieces for friends in the past, but I made a decision this year to get a bit more serious. If it goes well, I'll go on to their copy-editing courses next year.


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## Flint (Jan 29, 2016)

Aquilo said:


> I've heard of the PTC.  There's also the SfEaP.
> 
> I focus on fiction, but I don't handle YA, Historical or High fantasy. I do love psych thrillers, crime, steampunk, and BDSM, plus a lot of the dark content too, depending on the author. All have a core romance element.
> 
> How are you finding the course? I'm Brit English, working for two American publishers, and I find myself more Americanised by the day, lol.



Yeah, PTC and SfEP is it, basically, if you want to train in editing. They scrapped NVQs years ago and those two seem to be the industry-standard now, especially for people in my position: career-changers with no formal job experience in that area. It's this one here:

http://www.publishingtrainingcentre...eginner-level-courses/item/basic-proofreading

That all sounds good to me. I take it you're on the copy-editing level? Or do you work on other levels? You have any favourite authors in those genres?

Yeah, I'm really enjoying the course. It's around 40-50 hours spread over a maximum of 12 months. You can go at your own pace, which suits me. It's focused on book and journal publishing mainly, and using BSI marks. 

That's interesting. How do you find doing American English? A lot of my friends whom I've done little bits and pieces for are American. Actually, one is Australian, which was a bit easier, as they seem to be more in line with the UK.


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## Bard_Daniel (Jan 29, 2016)

Welcome Flint!

Aha, the Contests and Prompts are a good thing to look into. We also have a Mentor Directory that's worth checking out.

Hopefully, we'll see some of your stuff on the forum soon! : D


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## Hairball (Jan 30, 2016)

Greetings! Looks like you're finding your way around here pretty well!

If you have any questions, the mentors are always within PMing distance. Looking forward to seeing your work!


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## Aquilo (Jan 30, 2016)

Flint said:


> Yeah, I'm really enjoying the course. It's around 40-50 hours spread over a maximum of 12 months. You can go at your own pace, which suits me. It's focused on book and journal publishing mainly, and using BSI marks..



Are you happy to stay within proofing? It's a skill all on it's own, but sometimes once you have the bug for proofing, it shifts a gear to copy edits. 

I'm mostly structural (content), but I've worked with these two publishers long enough to tailor to copy edits too. And yeah, Ame Eng is... not too bad.   I work with the CMoS 16th Ed, plus house style, and Merriam Webster's Unabridged. I love the likes of privileged forms of speech and how in tune copy edits have to be around them, but then I love the content side too...


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## Flint (Jan 30, 2016)

danielstj said:


> Welcome Flint!
> 
> Aha, the Contests and Prompts are a good thing to look into. We also have a Mentor Directory that's worth checking out.
> 
> Hopefully, we'll see some of your stuff on the forum soon! : D





Hairball said:


> Greetings! Looks like you're finding your way around here pretty well!
> 
> If you have any questions, the mentors are always within PMing distance. Looking forward to seeing your work!
> 
> View attachment 11717




Thanks for the warm welcome. It's always a bit daunting joining a big new group, so I appreciate it.


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## Firemajic (Jan 30, 2016)

lol... no worries Flint! We are a friendly, wacky bunch... Jump in and enjoy...


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## Flint (Jan 30, 2016)

Aquilo said:


> Are you happy to stay within proofing? It's a skill all on it's own, but sometimes once you have the bug for proofing, it shifts a gear to copy edits.
> 
> I'm mostly structural (content), but I've worked with these two publishers long enough to tailor to copy edits too. And yeah, Ame Eng is... not too bad.   I work with the CMoS 16th Ed, plus house style, and Merriam Webster's Unabridged. I love the likes of privileged forms of speech and how in tune copy edits have to be around them, but then I love the content side too...



It's a good question. I do enjoy being part of the writing process and helping people to get their message through clearly, so copy-editing would be a natural thing to get into as well, I guess. It's all open at the moment. If the course goes well this year, I'll do a basic editing course with the PTC next year.

Interesting. I've not had a chance to peek into the Chicago manual yet. I have free access to NHR in the Oxford dictionaries website (it's free as a member of my local library), so that's been it so far.

That's awesome that you're working at the content level as well, IMO, especially with types of material you enjoy reading. How long have you been doing it?


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## belthagor (Jan 30, 2016)

Welcome to our very active community!


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## H.Brown (Jan 31, 2016)

Waving hi back. Welcome nice to meet you. You have definitely come to the right place I think. Looking forward to getting to know you more.


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## Flint (Jan 31, 2016)

belthagor said:


> Welcome to our very active community!





H.Brown said:


> Waving hi back. Welcome nice to meet you. You have definitely come to the right place I think. Looking forward to getting to know you more.



Thanks, you two.  I'm already having a lot of fun. It's been quite nice to escape from Facebook land and go back to forums again.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 17, 2016)

Flint said:


> Congrats! That must be a great job.  What kind of material do you work on?
> 
> I've just started 'basic proofreading' with the PTC. I've done bits and pieces for friends in the past, but I made a decision this year to get a bit more serious. If it goes well, I'll go on to their copy-editing courses next year.



I have found giving crit here has honed my ability to spot stuff, the good side is that my own writing has improved, on the down side I find myself reaching for the pencil  and making notes in the margin when I read books


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## MzSnowleopard (Feb 17, 2016)

"waves back" howdy there Flint, welcome aboard. Always good to see new members. IMO- of the sites I've been to, this is one of the few worth coming back to.


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## inkwellness (Feb 18, 2016)

Hello Flint,

I'm glad you are enjoying your stay so far. Yes, it is a nice change from Facebookland. We have some great story writing sections that you may enjoy. We also have a monthly writing contest for fiction and one for nonfiction as well. Please let us know if you need any help.


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## Flint (Feb 18, 2016)

Olly Buckle said:


> I have found giving crit here has honed my ability to spot stuff, the good side is that my own writing has improved, on the down side I find myself reaching for the pencil  and making notes in the margin when I read books



Ha! Yeah, I can understand that. 



MzSnowleopard said:


> "waves back" howdy there Flint, welcome aboard. Always good to see new members. IMO- of the sites I've been to, this is one of the few worth coming back to.



Thanks. Yes, I can believe that. My grasp of English has already improved and everyone seems cool on here. 



inkwellness said:


> Hello Flint,
> 
> I'm glad you are enjoying your stay so far. Yes, it is a nice change from Facebookland. We have some great story writing sections that you may enjoy. We also have a monthly writing contest for fiction and one for nonfiction as well. Please let us know if you need any help.



Thanks. I'm still enjoying slowly getting to know everybody on here and reading all the posts.Yeah, I'll be aiming to write a short story each month for a contest. I like what I've seen of them so far.


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