Hi there!

Well, what an amazing community to stumble upon! Finding this place has persuaded me to dig my musty old first attempt at a book out of the depths of my computer, and upload it here.

I am, or was, trying to write a Pratchett-esque novel about two unlikely friends, set in a loose, fantasy interpretation of 15th Century. I never thought anywhere like this forum could exist...and I'd be really happy to receive any, and I mean any comments from community members on my piece.

I have uploaded chapter one, which I am probably going to split into two chapters, because it is quite large...

Don't worry about going easy on me, just as long as you stay reasonably..poilte? I know what I've written isn't great, heck, I've never written more than a thousand words before I attempted this. But, I am armoured in the knowledge that, even if the whole world panned this work, I'd be happy enough writing it for myself

a HUGE thank you in advace to anyone who even glances at this!

Here, I think....is the link:

http://www.writewords.org.uk/archive/8240.asp

If anyone wants to chat to me about it, just email me at james_owen46@hotmail.com (I fear not the risk of spam mail, thats all you get at Hotmail anyway).

<Added>

I have realised that what I have uploaded is a bit big...so please, if you just read as much of it as you can stomach, before making a comment, then that would be fine!

James, you’ve discovered the secret of the universe – this site IS amazing… however, I’ve started reading your first chapter and, while I’m enjoying it very much, I’m overfaced by the size of it. I’ve had to stop because I have my own writing to work on.

Can I give you a couple of tips? Break it up into smaller sections – 2 or 3 thousand words – and don’t compare your work with someone else, especially someone as famous as Terry Pratchett. You’re setting yourself up for a fall – we read it with established expectations and if it doesn’t match up we may be, unintentionally, too critical.

Let your writing stand on its own merits. And good luck.

Dee.


<Added>

and welcome to WW!

James,

I shall certainly (as you say) 'glance' at it for I have a lot on my plate at the moment and, as Dee has said, it is a long piece.

However my main point in replying to your announcement was to say I so agree with your comment that 'even if the whole world panned this piece, I'd be happy enough writing it for myself'. I love this attitude. To my mind, the first, main ,prime reason for writing is that you enjoy it. A very close second may be Fame, Fortune, Wealth and Adulation but all these should only be secondary reasons.

Welcome to WW!

Len.

Hi Dee!

First, thanks for starting to read it. I'm really sorry there's so much. I am going to turn that first chapter into my first two.

I read somewhere, I think, that a trial member can only ever upload one piece of work...and as I can't afford full membership yet, I wanted to get as much into my upload as I can. (I managed to refrain from sticking all four chapters in at once...heheh).

Read as much as you can stand, then stop, and still feel free to comment.

Speaking of comments, you are the first person on this planet to lay eyes upon my work apart from me, in the two years that it has existed. And to hear that you're enjoying it so far is an immense encouragement.

I never, ever meant to comapre myself to Mr Pratchett. Heaven forbid. I'm not fit to walk in his shadow. I was merely struggling for a way to give potential readers a clue as to what sort of style to expect.

You say you've had to stop? I totally understand! I mean to have a crack at commenting on some people's work, but, having taken a day off work to look at my own, I just haven't had time yet! However, will you coming back to it?

Thanks for taking the time that you have so far, and thanks for letting me know.

Big grin.

Hey, Hi Len, too.

Writing for myself is great. I thought I'd hate writing, having failed badly at English at school. But, I'm enjoying the challenge, I'm enjoying excercising my brain in a new way, and I'm just wondering if I will live long enough to write all my new ideas down in story form...(I'm 29 now, so I have a lot of time...but a lot of ideas too).

From now on, I'm going to write for myself for the rest of my life, but if anyone throws money at me for it..I won't duck!

Oh man, I wish I hadn't uploaded so much! I don't want to put people off!

Email me (james_owen46@hotmail.com) and I'll send you as many or as few words as you want!