Just had to tell you...

I FINISHED MY NOVEL!

*Jumps up and down, then realizes she's in public...*

*Clears throat.* I'm sorry. I'm just ecstatic. I just had to tell you.

<3

Awesome! What's it about?

--Moved--

sweet!

/ninja

That's so cool! I've always wanted to write a book.

Just the rough draft? or the whole thing? Yeah IB has the right idea, what's it about?

Thanks, guys! ^^ It's the rough draft, thought I'm unsure of what to do with it, now. It's a murder-mystery, set in the year 2532. The victim's family tries to prove the accused to be innocent, and is shocked upon discovering the disturbing truth... *shifty eyes*

How might I go about getting a copyright?

Well, it depends on what you want to do with the novel, MewLover. You could put it under a creative commons license, which will offer some legal rights but isn't very enforceable yet, or you can polish it up and try to get it published by a company, who will probably deal with the copyright issues for you, at least unless you get really super rich and famous for it. Of course, getting it published will also change your novel heavily, so it really depends on what direction you feel is best for your novel.

That is great! I am trying to write a book, I know what I am going to do, but I can't sit down long enough to get very far.

The story sure sounds intruiging at any rate.

MewLover, maybe you could help me with MY story I was trying to write...it's been stalled for about a few years now, and I honestly have no idea where to go with it!

I'll make a separate topic about it, is that OK?

Heh, I remember my last attempt at NaNoWriMo. It was called "A Village on the Run" and was written entirely in second person. I didn't get past 3000 words T_T

Apologies for necroposting, I didn't want to start another topic just for the update.

***

I've entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. I had to submit the entire manuscript, the first 5000(ish) words, and a 100-300 word pitch (which will be used to judge the first round, on February 25.) I wanted to see what you guys thought of the pitch*:

When Damian and Derek Lawrence and their longtime friend Eddie Dodson decided to form their company in 2523, little did they know their groundbreaking advancements in robotics technology would leave one of them dead and the others searching for answers. During the summer of 2532, Damian is found murdered. While Desi Lawrence hires an assassin to bring her brother’s killer to justice, Derek believes there is more to the murder than meets the eye. He sets off to save Lila, the woman accused of killing his brother, from the hired assassin aimed at avenging Damian’s death. To make things worse, Lila cannot remember the details of the murder, or anything else for that matter. She has no idea who she is, or if she is guilty or innocent. Her fate and that of everyone at Lawrence-Dodson Enterprises hangs in the balance as the identity of the killer is ultimately revealed. Nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted as this deadly web of deception unfolds.

In our ever-changing world where technology improves at an exponential rate, our human nature is as unalterably self-serving as ever, invariably leading some to betray even those closest to them. Follow the Lawrence family as they attempt to piece together the circumstances behind the death of one of their own, and cope with their loss, as so many of us have been forced to do. LILA chronicles just how far some are willing to go to achieve their goals, as well as just how much one man’s life can mean to those close to him.

*Note: I can't edit my submission now, so I can't fix the pitch anymore for the contest. But I can enter again next year if things don't go well, and use a revised pitch.

It sounds like a really cool story that probably has lots of plot twists. Why did you pick 2532 as the year for it though? Thats a cool scifi future setting but its really far away.

Thank you!

I wanted the advancements in robotics technology to be [more] believable. I thought about setting it closer, but thought that if it was in the near future, it would be even more unrealistic, considering that we're nowhere near the technology in the story at this moment in time.

That's a great pitch. I get a good sense of what the story's going to be about and you let on just enough information to avoid getting that feeling when bad writers say "there's a plot twist but I really don't want to spoil it!", and it seems to deal with some philosophical elements that could be interesting as well.

Yeah, it looks really interesting MewLover. I hope you win so we get to read it! :)

That makes sense then. You must have some cool technology in it.

Thank you, guys! I'm really excited. I don't want to get my hopes up too high, though: I've heard that there's a lot of rejection in this business, and most authors don't get published on their first try. That said, I'm still excited lol.

Am working on a sequel, but not entirely committed to a plot yet. x.x'

Well good luck anyway. Make sure to tell us how it went!

yea i cant wait to hear! always interested in a good book!

Hey, guys. Wanted to tell you that I didn't make it. Found out today that I was eliminated from the contest.

Awwww... Oh well, it sounds like a really cool story anyway. You shouldn't get down just because of this, even J.K. Rowling was rejected by like ten publishers before someone finally published Harry Potter, and now she lives in a castle!

Yeah, you should submit it elsewheres. Make them fools sorry.

Just wondering, have you ever gotten other people to read and review your novel? And I'm not talking about your parents, friends, and siblings - they tend to sugarcoat their critiques, so I wouldn't trust them to point out all the flaws in your story. If you really want to write novels good enough to be published, getting some impartial (if not harsh) reviewers to point out your shortcomings is a good idea.

neon has a crush on ML EX and wants to read her stuff. :s

Honestly I assure you that Mr. Zero is aforethoughtly exaggerating this antic artifice. I am but an unpretentious entity endeavoring to ameliorate your artistry and adroitness in the avocation of abstract and exposition. Any asinine assumptions about my being agitated and/or aroused by an acquaintance on the internet is absolutely absurd.

Thanks, everyone. It's deciding where to submit it that's the problem, now.

@neon: I know what you mean. I'm always asking parents/friends/siblings to be honest about their reviews, but feel like they're not being as critical as I need them to be. Then I look over it and find a problem, and ask them why they didn't point it out. "Didn't see it" tends to be a typical excuse, and one that I don't really trust. My dad recently found a few sites that are supposed to give honest reviews, and I plan on checking into them. My English teacher is reading it, but it's taking her considerably longer than I'd hoped.

LOL! I believe you. [Love the alliteration...] The comment made me feel a bit better, though. ;-)

I agree completely. When one of my friends decided to write a novel I completely ripped it apart, and now he's a much better writer, but now I feel like I've grown too attached to his work now that I've edited it, and find it hard to find flaws now.

So, not only do you have to get impartial people, you need to switch around every once in a while.

I HATE that! I once did a test, gave my friends work that was TERRIBLE, and all they did is compliment on it. I think people need to be more honest for that sort of thing, otherwise nobody will be able to become a better writer. Or at least, I feel that way.