And for all you…

Random writing.. I think that describes me. My thoughts too!

banana, turquoise, lampshade, distributor caps, Is that random enough? jk bla i’d love to read some of your writings.

Yep, I write novels. Finished a few and am in middle of some others. I don’t think I’d be able to share them here. They’re not exactly…”kosher.” But I do plan on writing a “kosher” one soon.

MP, are you really interested in my stuff? Well the NE story is in a notebook, so I’d have to type it all up… (and maybe do some rewrites!) But I don’t want to post any of my works online where anyone can steal them, so I don’t know what to do?

Supercalafrajalisticespialadociouse….

I understand. Hmm, not sure how it would work. Maybe to go through the email address on my music page? Or maybe some kind of blog? But that would mean it’s online and able to be seen..

I’m actually not so into Jewish novels. I like reading in general though. Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Biographies, History, Science…just about anything. And email would be fine. I wouldn’t want to trouble you with typing up a whole story just for me to read it! Whatever you have already is fine. And only what you’re comfortable with. And I’m sure whatever you’ve written is within my boundaries 🙂

Queen Bee -“They’re not exactly…”kosher.”

One of the first things my ex did on her way OTD was to write “non-kosher” material. The Torah says Aveirah Gorres Aveirah. The Yetzer Hora starts with small things and then he takes it all. I feel bad for you. You’re on a certain path and you don’t even realise what that path is.

MP – In my opinion when a writer admits their writing isn’t Kosher -they usually mean it’s not clean. If they just thought that it’s just not appropriate for the ultra -Frum community, I think she would have just said that! You can usually tell by the way a person speaks/writes what they mean. I could be wrong, but that would be the exception, not the rule.

You personally don’t sound MO to me, maybe just more modern, not so Yeshivish.

The girl sounds very much from the MO crowd, which really most of them aren’t really Frum.

Adios.

Queen Bee, please do not go. We need your caliber of people around here. You are so intelligent and have so much to offer all (well nearly all) of us here in the CR. You offer so much support for so many people and your wide range of knowledge only makes me look for more of your posts. Certainly, Health was way out of line for the insults that he threw at you and your way of dealing with him was amazing. I am willing to be his “kicking post” if it means you will stay.

Okay Health, fire away. I am Conservative and I guess you know what goes with that title. It suits me just fine – I daven at shul 7 days a week and love it. Have I given you enough ammunition so that you will leave Queen alone and allow her to continue her wonderful contributions to this forum? BTW, I don’t write novels, but I do read them and many of them are also not what you would consider kosher.

QB:

A few months ago I was very upset by a comment someone made (not directed at me) and I decided I didn’t want to be part of something or somewhere that would allow for a comment like that. Bpt wrote “That’s a reason to leave? On the contrary, that;s a reason to roll up your sleeves (not past the elbow, mind you) and come up with another plan of attack to get your point across.” and I decided that he was right. Sometimes people may do things that we don’t always like, but one person is only one person.

In all honesty, I don’t feel as strongly as Health on this but I would agree that “not-kosher” is probably better to stay away from (more on that later if you want). But thats not the point; people disagree sometimes but thats just a small part of a bigger picture. Please stay.

*kapusta*

Thanks MP, MG, and Kapusta. It’s people like you who make staying here worth it. Not sure I’ll post much, but I won’t disappear completely. Really, I appreciate your kind words. Also, Kapusta, you’re right, but there is a proper way how to address someone.

im not going to take a side here. all i WILL say is that i used to write exclusively for goyim. since i got one article (and only one) published in Ami i’ve written exclusively for yidden whether it gets published or not and i must say…it feels a lot better. i feel a lot better about everything i write and my work has actually improved greatly.

QB -“Would I write all those scenes you’d find in a romance novel? Of course not.”

Instead of blowing up at me when I just posted a warning -why didn’t you just post what you did now?

I was specifically clear from the git go what I thought non-Kosher means. If you have a different definition -you should have said so. All those posts that I wrote were based on that definition. So if it didn’t apply to you -why didn’t you simply say so? There is nothing to apologize for because my definition is the one I think most people would use.

health

there seem to be no other moderators here right now

and im a little busy doing other things

i dont have time to put out the fires you are starting in multiple threads

please take a break from posting for a while

thank you

Yasher Koach to whichever mods let Queen Bee’s defense through. It both deserved and was needed to be said.

Mods, why was my last post deleted? I believe what I wrote is very helpful, and not at all offensive.

Ok. Let me just say to Health, I am sorry if it seemed like I was attacking you in any way.

I didn’t want to come back to this thread, but I wanted to thank sam2 and Syag Lchochma. And gavra_at_work, there is another frum author–Rochelle Krich. She has a series where the main character is a frum detective. You might enjoy them :).

And thank you, mods, for stepping in before things got too out of hand.

blabla: I’m sorry your thread turned into a battlefield;) I’ll try bringing this thread back on track.

I wrote this when feeling that I was working so hard to overcome the challenges of my life while everybody’s having an easy time.

My Reward

Beads of sweat formed on my brow. I panted heavily. My heart was racing wildly, but I didn’t give up. I continued running with unbreakable determination. I kept my eyes focused ahead of me, trying to outrun my competitors. There was still a long way to go. I felt like my energy was spent, but my feet seemed to take a life of their own.

I had to win this marathon. The ground grew hot and my sneakers itchy, but I ran on. I was driven by a hidden force. I was coming closer to my goal. But it was so hard.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the spectators on the bleachers. They were cheering wildly, laughing and eating to their hearts’ content. A wave of envy overcame me. here I was – huffing and puffing, while they were relaxing and having fun.

A salty tear made its way out of my eye. Why was I supposed to work so hard?

“It’s not fair,” I thought. I continued running half-heartedly. My thoughts were zooming to the rhythm of my running feet.

“What do they know of hard work?” I thought bitterly. “All they know is how to have a good time. They’ve got no idea what it’s like to run without a break.”

Suddenly, they bright yellow finish line winked at me from the distance. A wave of energy pumped through my veins. I ran for all I was worth.

Deafening applause thundered in my ears as I retrieved my gold trophy. I made it. I won. I beamed with pride. I glanced at the onlookers. A wide grin spread across my face.

No, they haven’t worked hard.

But they haven’t got a reward.

mustangrider, I know how hard it is to find the discipline to sit down and write. I read somewhere that a writer should try to write at least for an hour a day. It doesn’t have to be actual work on the novel, but anything. Even something personal, just to get you into the writing. For me personally, sometimes I have no motivation to sit down at my computer and continue writing, but once I sit down, put on my headphones and crank up my music, I get into it and at times end up writing for three hours straight! What helps a lot is having someone read each chapter as you write it. For me, my sister reads my work as soon as I finish writing. It’s such a great motivation. Maybe you can find a family member or friend whom you trust to show your work to? It would be really great if there was an online Jewish writing forum where frum writers can critique each other’s work and motivate them. It’s the opposite for me: I can’t write short stories. Not that my novels are over 100k words. They’re ususally around 45-50k.

Busy as a bee, that’s really cool about your mother! Can I ask you something? For the secular writing, how censored was she? About seeing my work: I might post here. I’m not sure. I don’t really like my writing being so public where anyone (and certain people who really don’t deserve to see my writing) could see. Unless someone shows me a website or something where I can post privately or something…but thanks for your interest 🙂

observanteen, really good! You wrote so much in such a short piece. I really love this line: “the bright yellow finish line winked at me from the distance.” And you gave such a great message!

Thanks for the advice Queen Bee! but my problem is that i dont let ANYONE see my work until i am absolutly certain that i polished it completely – and by that time i went over my work so many times that i end up getting bored and sick of it so i just move on to a NEW piece instead of continuing the old one! i guess you are right though, if i get a friend to read my work polished chapter by polished chapter then that friend will probably push me to continue the story to know how it ends if nothing else 🙂 and yeah i also wish there was some sort of Jewish online writing club…

Writers told me not to rewrite/revise/polish anything until you’ve finished the first draft. You’ll drive yourself crazy. They also advised not to read anything you wrote over. Personally, I always read my stuff over, because I love my characters too much. Usually when I’m halfway done, or wrote a lot, I print it out to read over shabbos.

If you’re getting bored, it’s not a bad idea to move on to another story. Some stories click more than others. I sometimes write 2 or 3 novels at one time because my head is filled with ideas. Or you can always think of twists and give your characters obstacles to overcome. Also, if you feel like your story is dragging and you want to get to a better scene, skip the scene you’re struggling with and move on. You can get back to it later. Lots of writers don’t write in order (I do, because I need order, but everyone writes the way they write. There are no rules–just grammar and stuff…).

Hope that helps. Good luck!

someone said something earlier about the authour controlling the novel…i dont find that to be true. when i write a story i have absolutely no idea whats gonna happen next. the characters “tell me” what they want to do and i sort of just enable them to do what they want. plots write themselves…i feel like a mere conduit for the expression of the story. i have very little control over what i write and i find that when i try to exercise control over my characters they rebel and the story just flops.

as far as perfection goes…writing cant be forced. it needs to be OF you. it needs to be an absolute expression of what you are feeling at the moment. your passion. your ideals. your excitement. grammar be darned! whatever you feel, just vomit it all down on paper or Word or whatever youre writing with. you can sort it all out later. NEVER waste time on grammar when youre writing the original manuscript. the most important thing is to let your story be written; editing comes afterward. remember…the story is the iddur, the grammar is the taful. always edit later.

as for being ashamed of showing other people your work…i understand. it took me a while until i felt comfortable showing rough drafts to my friends but now im fine with it. i even ask them for help proofreading, and offering opinions about what ive written. i understand why youre uncomfortable. writers pour themselves…every ounce of themselves into their writing and its hard to open that up to others unless you feel its perfect. just find someone you trust implicitly and share with them. it will get easier to share with others.