# Evening all



## Canjul (Jul 9, 2014)

Ladies and gentlemen...no, too obvious.

Friends, writers, countrymen...no, too dramatic.

...

Evening all. My name is Canjul, and I am here to tell you a story...or at least, I hope to in time. And not just my own, although that is the purpose of this thread. 

So here are the basics then. I'm 21 years old, possess an Y chromosome and live in Ireland. And now the basics must come to a shuddering conclusion, as I try to piece together the right words to present to you all. I feel that perhaps honesty is the best policy and will lay my cards on the table right now. My life's not been a terrible amount of fun for the last five or six years. Or seven. Perhaps more, but my memory's a little fuzzy. It suffices to admit that I'm depressed and have been for quite awhile. The reasons are long-winded and really rather dull, though still unhappily unresolved. Still, I have been doing what I can over the last year or so try and turn things around, in many fields of my life. I recently finished a repeat of my Leaving Cert (what we Irish have in place of high school finals [USA] or GCSEs [UK]), I've applied for a job, signed a deal with Lifetime Movie of the Week yadda yadda etc. etc.

But the subject of writing and how I approach it has always been difficult for me. I love to read. And I love to tell stories. I really do. In the past, attempts to do so have been marred by any number of things. Other forum profiles have gone downhill in a hail of forum drama (the best kind), only about 99% of which was my fault and only 110% of which I'm bloody mortified over. Relax moderators, I was just 16 or 17 at the time. No more of that now. And nothing fuels writer's block like the imp of the perverse sitting on your shoulder, jabbing you with his barbed fork and needling words. I've been advised to write and God only knows I'd love to but well...my motivation is to tell stories. To give people that beautiful feeling of excitement and joy that can be found in seeing a well-executed tale, the sense of wonder and...well, everyone knows what I mean here, I'm sure. And I can hardly do that in an echo chamber, so here I am.

Now, I'd like to clarify that this does not mean I'll be treating the forum as nothing more than a personal gallery and that under no circumstances is my little backstory up there meant to elicit pity or quell criticism. I deeply enjoy the mechanics of writing, the structure of dialogue and the crafting of a steady, compelling narrative. Admittedly, the ideal outcome would be to make you forget all about those as you read because you're so damn engrossed, but let's learn to walk first, right? I'm a firm believer that nothing would ever improve without constructive criticism. And I'm bursting with curiosity to see what you all have to offer, both in terms of work to learn from and advice on my own. The frankness about my situation is merely to let people know who I am and where I'm coming from. Haha, honestly, I think that if people could do that more often life would would be a simpler thing.

Oh, mother of...wow that's a lot of text. Hmm...you know, I was going to say a few words about my favourite genre (Horror) or writers (James, Lovecraft, Poe) but I have rambled a bit [citation needed] more than I intended. I'll save it, I think.

I am very pleased to meet you all, by the way.

Hoping to contribute,
Canjul


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## LeeC (Jul 9, 2014)

Welcome Canjul,

Wow, out there with it  To me such is indicative of a good writer, and I hope to see your offerings after the first ten posts. 

My best wishes to you and yours,
LeeC


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## aj47 (Jul 9, 2014)

Howdy from Texas! Welcome to our community. I can relate to your circumstances but this is your thread so I'll not hijack it.

We have a number of writers of varying skillsets, ambitions, abilities and experiences.  As individuals in this community we learn and grow and share.

The important thing to remember is we critique the work, not the writer.  

After you've made ten replies, you can post your own work for us to comment and critique.  You will also get the keys to your profile/avatar/sig and a ticket to the Workshop areas that are members-only (and free from the prying eyes of search engines).

Come in, look around, make yourself comfy.


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## InstituteMan (Jul 9, 2014)

Hi, Canjul. The best vacation I ever took was to Ireland. We rented a cabin in Doolin. The visit was lovely: friendly people and beautiful countryside.

Welcome to the forums!


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## Siennea (Jul 9, 2014)

Hi!


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## Greimour (Jul 10, 2014)

Welcome, and wow.

I can honestly say I have never been so engrossed in an introduction post before. Throughout I was constantly impressed with your writing ability and your backdrop story was a clear indication [in my eyes] of your story telling skills and potential. The flaming posts of your youth which destroyed your forum activity didn't concern me even as I read it. I have had more than my fair share of "debates" on the forum, but we do keep it within moderation and attempt to avoid breaching the forum rules. 

You might be glad to learn that your depressive state will not earn you sympathy with me. Though I will always wish you the best; even if it turns out I don't particularly like you. (I will never stoop so low as to become pitying or apathetic) 

One line in your post did make me smile and frown simultaneously. So I must ask: How do you burst 'without' curiosity? 


> And I'm bursting without curiosity to see what you all have to offer,


Regardless, I find myself liking that one little comment quite a lot. 



> I've been advised to write and God only knows I'd love to but well...my motivation is to tell stories.


You make it sound like that motivation isn't good enough or big enough. What other reason do you need? 
Besides that even, why do you want to tell stories to begin with? A readers joy? Immortality? To torture students five hundred years from now in English class where teachers dissect different parts of your work year after year?


With an introduction like that, I am eager to read what you have to share with us. Even if your genre is horror. I am not keen on horror personally but a member of this site [Pluralized] has slowly made me come around. I will never like horror films though - completely boring. Stuff that is supposed to be 'scary' and isn't is just a complete let down. Like England's football team they have let me down too many times. They will be unforgiven eternally. 
(In fact I gave up on football completely)

At any rate, I _am_ curious as to what you will share and I will be looking forward to it.


~Kev.

If my name didn't give it away, I am of the Y chromosome- or if we wanted to get technical, XY would do the trick too seeing as X is in both genders. ^_^


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## Canjul (Jul 10, 2014)

I thank you all for the warm welcomes, long and short. Haha, I admit that I'm a little relieved the length of the post didn't put anyone off.

In answer to your two questions Greimour...



> So I must ask: How do you burst 'without' curiosity?



Hehe. Simplicity itself. You write your forum introduction at 2:47 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Same way I mixed up the chromosomes.

And as for the question about my motivation, the comment meant that to tell stories one needs an audience. It was either a forum or seriously trying to engross my word processor. My main desire is absolutely reader joy, the desire to take the ideas I have in my head and present them to people in a way that would elicit enjoyment and excitement. Of course, the beauty of the forum model is the contact it gives an author with his audience, the spontaneous and immediate feedback one can receive and the sense of community it fosters. It allows for the writer to grow with his/her stories at a rate that seems unlikely or even impossible elsewhere.

I would put it thus. While I got a good laugh out of your "five-hundred years from now in English class" comment, it does nicely illustrate a point. Everyone has studied a few different authors in English class, and while some may be tedious, others can be quite the opposite. I'm not going to sling any mud in the first category, but in the second? Shakespeare. Haha, the nuclear option of writers, I know. But he's a fine example of a writer whose work requires careful navigation, whose subtext and colourful use of language can become obscured by the passing of centuries, whose contemporary cultural context is now a thing of the history textbook. He requires a steady hand to appreciate, especially when you're dealing with a class of bloody secondary school students who wouldn't know Shakespeare if he plucked out their vile jellies. But even so, with the help of a good teacher, English classes with Shakespeare became a joy, because even though I was studying, working, I could still laugh at the many little jokes, the one liners (Shakespeare could be, by way of a digression, a very funny man). I flinched at the bad, cheered at the good, and felt pity for the tragic and all while I was working and learning.

While I am in no way comparing myself to the Bard himself, my English classes with him beautifully represent how I hope my work is read. By people who have a critical eye open to learning and helping me to learn, whose objective is to further the craft of writing as a whole, but who still, after posting their reply, will smile with the satisfaction of having enjoyed a good story or think "Man...when's the next bit coming?"

Yours,
Ye Olde Canjul


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## Pandora (Jul 10, 2014)

Hi Canjul nice to meet you, happy you joined us, welcome! Your country is beautiful, looks like heaven.


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## Greimour (Jul 10, 2014)

> And as for the question about my motivation, the comment meant that to  tell stories one needs an audience. It was either a forum or seriously  trying to engross my word processor.



Hahaha, 


***

I won't get into Shakespeare at this time but lets just say that in the 7 years I had it forced on me (and not _just  _in English and Drama either) I only had one teacher who made Shakespeare come alive. The rest of my teachers killed him. Like an overplayed song on the radio.

in fact I will add a little more. What I learned in English Lit 1st year high school around Shakespeare's Hamlet was also what I learned the year later around Macbeth and again the year later on through Romeo and Juliet. Different material does not change the lesson. Unfortunately it didn't change the year after that either, when we mostly revised everything we'd learned the 3 years prior to that year. I am not inclined to learn the same thing repeatedly- so at that point my attention had wandered off. Soon after I went looking for it and of the lessons I did attend periodically still covered stuff we'd already spent 3 consecutive years repeatedly learning. I barely attended a quarter of my lessons that year and I still got high marks. Unfortunately my reports had changed from glowing to "Kevin pays no attention in class - if and when he bothers to even show up - which is almost as rare as an appearance of his attention."

-.-''

So like I said, wont go into that on this occasion. Too many little volcanoes simmering and ready to erupt. ^_^



> Same way I mixed up the chromosomes.



Hahahaha... this is doubly funny because I thought you put X on purpose - to be ambiguous. Which is why I commented on XY.


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## aliveatnight (Jul 10, 2014)

Welcome! I enjoyed reading your intro, and it makes me look forward to reading some of your stuff!


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## Canjul (Jul 10, 2014)

> I won't get into Shakespeare at this time but lets just say that in the 7 years I had it forced on me (and not _just  _in  English and Drama either) I only had one teacher who made Shakespeare  come alive. The rest of my teachers killed him. Like an overplayed song  on the radio.



Oof, I can relate. The right teacher is just so bloody important and even then, in a subject like English, sometimes you just won't like the subject matter, be it poem or play or prose. But your marks are still riding on it all the same. Really though, you could substitute any author in my previous post. Haha, pick a favourite! It's the spirit of the thing!


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## Nickleby (Jul 10, 2014)

Shakespeare is The Man. I go back to his work every ten years or so, and each time it's like finding a new present inside a box when you'd thought it was empty.

Before you start posting your stuff, consider spending some time to give feedback to other members. It will help you to look more objectively at your own work, to develop tact and clarity, and to get more feedback from them.

Welcome to Writing Forums.


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## A_Jones (Jul 11, 2014)

Oh please do tell me a story!  I do love stories.  *gets comfy*  welcome to the forums.  It is good to have you here!


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## Gumby (Jul 12, 2014)

> Other forum profiles have gone downhill in a hail of forum drama (the  best kind), only about 99% of which was my fault and only 110% of which  I'm bloody mortified over.



_*Nods, red flags and files away for future reference* _

Hey, we're all allowed to change our spots or stripes. Age usually helps that along.  Welcome to the site!


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## Elvenswordsman (Jul 23, 2014)

Welcome, Canjul the Verbose. You'll be at home among us.


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