htt://libertyhallwriters.org

If anyone would like to try Liberty Hall, the place I usually talk about here, I highly recommend it. The address is above. There are some really nice folks there. Some not so nice, too, but I think they mean well. There's no flame wars or anything; the moderators are very strict but fair, and there is a lot of writing that goes on.

Flash Challenges once a week. Short Story Challenges every other week, interspersed with other things--Polish Challenge, Worst Story Challenge, that sort of thing. For every story that is entered in a challenge, you are expected to let critiques happen to it and to give critiques as well. Some of those are excellent, and some are not so well-done; pretty much like everything to do with people, but it does help you see your work in another way. And improve, too.

To join, you'd have to apply; well, it's explained better in the link I gave up at the top.

Hey, good news! My story for the Flash Challenge won the pips for Setting, Characterization, Narrative, and Best Hook . Two of those were ties, but that's okay. It was once tied for Best Story, too, but I do think the best story won, so that's good. It was still nice to have a happy few days, though.

I've got a very nice opening scene on my story, and I think the rest should go easily. I hope so. Well, I guess that's it for now.

Yay, eighty messages!

Anyway, I've finally got a grip on this story, so that's good. I think that there is just no way to get her there to that fantasy place, so it's just best to start with a 'boom', she's there, and go from that point. Instead, what I've been doing is trying to set up why she wants to go, and that's just not very exciting.

I'd seen this technique of boom-there done by one of the authors in Shimmer (http://www.shimmerzine.com/) (I highly recommend subscribing if you'd like to see good writing) and thought it might work for me, too. It's good so far.

Anyway, I need to be working on my story. After a few passes, I'm sending it to U. to work on. I'd feel a little happier about that if U. had liked my Flash even at all, anything, but I am very curious to see what he/she thinks and does with this one.

Hey, I woke up this morning knowing what I needed to do to edit my story. I think that is sooo funny! It's like, okay, I've gone through all this angst, all this beating myself up and feeling awful, and maybe it was just part of my process.

I mean, I've been focusing on writing new stories since August, since even before that, really, but really determined since August. Now I want to edit, but I probably had the girls pretty set on new stuff; it might have taken this long to switch gears.

Also, I'd really committed to that whole story exchange thing, and so was really under the gun. As it is, it's practically incomprehensible, so I had to fix it or at least make it coherent. Maybe my muses said, "Oh, okay. You want that, really?" and so reshuffled themselves. And I haven't actually gotten in there and worked on my story, but I have a good feeling about it, which is a lot more than I've had up until now. Well, ttyl!

Well, they're doing an interesting thing at []. I thought at first that it was a joke, but they're trading manuscripts to work on. We don't have to participate in that, but still, I think it sounds really neat.

I'm too chicken to try, though. It sounds like just the sort of thing that I get in trouble from. I do too much and the person gets mad and wham! there's a fight or someone's crying or it's all awful. I hate that, and I never know that I'm doing too much or whatever at the time.

I also am afraid that I won't do a very good job on someone else's story. I mean, I know I can't do a very good job on my story, so how do I know I'll do better on someone else's? I'd hate to let someone down.

I'll think about it a little more and maybe try. I don't think this round I will, though. I'd like to see how they do. I also don't like getting left out of the loop, but I'm not so sure this is the thing for me. Writing perfectly formed stories first shot out of the box, now, that would be the thing for me! but I'll see how this goes.

I put a story in the Flash Challenge and it's doing very well. There are only three stories total it's in with, so I have a very, very strong suspicion this has a lot to do with it, so there you go .

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.