# Hola! Guten Tag!  Bonjour!  Aloha!  Shalom!  Yo!



## msjhord (Dec 29, 2015)

My name is Jennifer and I live in the US. I think I have been in love with words since I was a tot, which is probably why I learned to read by age 4. Somewhere around age 8 or 9, my love of writing was awakened and, thanks to writing-happy public schoolteachers, I got plenty of practice in from then on. Fast forward to adulthood -- marriage, parenthood, child with special needs, family crises, family illness, semi-cross country move, blah blah blah. I haven't gotten as much writing practice going on as I used to. I had a brief spate of it a few years ago, but just wasn't in a good place to receive proper criticism, so I put it on hold. Got into other forms of art like painting, jewelry making, fleshing out my cooking skills. Those are going pretty well, but I still have this story in me that I am dying to tell. And maybe it's cliche, maybe it's not. But I want to tell it and tell it RIGHT! I could use some help. So . . . if you could, lemme know if I'm in the right place (I mean, this isn't a forum dedicated to ONLY one genre, right?) and we'll go forth with what's bouncing around in my head. I warn you in advance, though. I'm a little odd, and a little stubborn haha! thanks for the time!!


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## Joe_Bassett (Dec 29, 2015)

Hallo!
If you're looking to write a story then you're in the write place!(lol)  This is a _writing_ forum, the best one out there, I'd say!  Welcome!
Hope to see you around the forum!
Hiro


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 29, 2015)

Hi Jennifer, welcome to the forum. There is loads here, from word games and ways of amusing yourself to some very serious writing discussion, so you are in the right place for most things writing related.
You might find 'Piglet's picks' a good thread, there is a link in my signature, but there is plenty else out there as well. Have a good read round and when your post count reaches 10 you can post some of your own work for that dreaded critique, we do it that way to put off spammers and such, don't worry too much though, generally we try to be constructive and helpful rather than tearing people apart


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## Aquilo (Dec 29, 2015)

:hi:


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## Harper J. Cole (Dec 29, 2015)

Welcome, *msjhord*! You sound ideal for the WF; so many of us have experienced that frustration of struggling to get an great idea out of our brains and onto the page.

So what genre is your story in?

HC


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## msjhord (Dec 29, 2015)

Thanks for the welcome!  Looking forward to sharing in the interchange of ideas!


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## msjhord (Dec 29, 2015)

HarperCole said:


> Welcome, *msjhord*! You sound ideal for the WF; so many of us have experienced that frustration of struggling to get an great idea out of our brains and onto the page.
> 
> So what genre is your story in?
> 
> HC


Well, that's just it.  I am not sure.  It's a hetero love story, but not the Harlequin Romance type.  And my goal is not to be lumped into the same lot as Nicholas Sparks et. al.  No disrespect, but I find that once you've read one of his books, you've read them all.  I don't want to be THAT author, you know?  Contemporary times, places.  No sci-fi or fantasy leanings.  A May-December romance that blooms on the heels of a tragedy.


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## Harper J. Cole (Dec 30, 2015)

Sounds good, a story does need a unique voice to stand out in the market. We have a romance sub forum, which may be helpful (link here).


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## Firemajic (Dec 30, 2015)

msjhord said:


> Well, that's just it.  I am not sure.  It's a hetero love story, but not the Harlequin Romance type.  And my goal is not to be lumped into the same lot as Nicholas Sparks et. al.  No disrespect, but I find that once you've read one of his books, you've read them all.  I don't want to be THAT author, you know?  Contemporary times, places.  No sci-fi or fantasy leanings.  A May-December romance that blooms on the heels of a tragedy.



Jennifer, your story line sounds intriguing ... welcome to WF... IMHO... I have read enough of N. Sparks books to agree with you.. Explore and make yourself at home, see you around..


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## msjhord (Dec 30, 2015)

Thanks!  One thing I struggle with is perfectionism.  In everything.  If a recipe fails, I get upset.  If a piece of jewelry I am making doesn't turn out how I envisioned, it really bums me out.  Which is why MOST of the writing I have attempted over the past few years has been stunted.  Plus, I can have the tendency to be very florid in my writing and that is something I have been trying to break myself of that habit.  I just love words.  It's not me trying to come off as uber-cerebral or highfalutin' or anything.  Maybe I will get it right one of these days.


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## Firemajic (Dec 30, 2015)

LOL... well of course you love words.. you are a writer! And of course you will get it right.. you are a writer! Hahaaa... and the fact that you desire perfection tells me that you put a lot of effort into what you do.. Nooow... put your love for words to work.. jump in and critique... but you are going to need to leave the intro thread at some point, so don't be shy..


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## paryno (Dec 30, 2015)

Welcome to the forum! I look forward to seeing some of your work :thumbl:


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## msjhord (Dec 30, 2015)

So . . . About how many posts do I need to make before I can share?


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## Harper J. Cole (Dec 30, 2015)

10 posts and you're good to go, so you're nearly there. :thumbl:


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## msjhord (Dec 30, 2015)

question -- i saw something that said posting in certain forms makes the post content visible to search engines.  thus, if we don't want that we should post in appropriate workshops.  how does one do that?


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## Harper J. Cole (Dec 30, 2015)

Yes, if you're posting a snippet of your book for comment, then it's probably best done in there. You'd want the Prose Writer's Workshop (link).


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## Deleted member 56686 (Dec 30, 2015)

Hi, Jennifer. 

Once you have ten posts  (and maybe a few minutes) you will become a registered member. That's when the workshops will be open for you to post your creative pieces. You'll be able to see them on the main forum page and you will see posts there in the activity screen but again you need to have ten posts first.


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## msjhord (Dec 30, 2015)

cool!

Nice to see another Python Head in here, Mr. Mustard!


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## escorial (Jan 1, 2016)

View attachment 11116


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## Bard_Daniel (Jan 1, 2016)

Welcome Jennifer!

Be sure to check out our Mentor Directory. We're a friendly and, hopefully, useful bunch. : D

Cheers!


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## msjhord (Jan 2, 2016)

Aww, escorial.  Thanks!

Daniel, I will certainly check it out.  Thanks!


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## Pluralized (Jan 2, 2016)

Lordy, lordy. Look who's ... here! Welcome, Jennifer - hope you dig.


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