I tend to write the same characters

That's a very good point! I tend to write moderately sane, well-adjusted, fairly intelligent, mellow people. Other people's universes force you to deal with people who despise each other, true sadistic evil, and bad, senseless things happening to nice folks. When I was writing Star Wars fanfic back in the day (a quick, fond glance to the file drawer full of paper), I had several weeks' worth of crisis over the moral advisability of writing violence. I had to keep telling myself, "You're writing about a war, you're writing about people fighting a war. They're not throwing daisies at each other."

If nothing else, fanfic has forced me to consider a lot of the philosophical bases of behavior and why people act the way they do. It's enabled me to explore the inside of my mind, and if for nothing else but that, I'll never regret "wasting the paper and ink." Back to wasting electrons.

I was just thinking about similar stuff, earlier today.

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Why type it over again? Am I overreacting?

No, I don't think you're over-reacting. I've seen lots of commentary in various places saying "You can't write X, you're a Y!" It's a big reason some writers use pseudonyms, like if Stephen King suddenly wanted to write Harlequin romances.

Pause to shudder in twisted delight.

Would the characters speak like that? Can you hear them in your head speaking the lines you want them to? That's how I do most of my dialogue, I turn on the mental movie projector and see if the rhythm of the words work coming out of that character's mouth. Sometimes they don't, and I lean back in my chair and swear.

Yes, it's you putting the words on the paper. But if you're doing it at all write--and, knowing you, you probably are--then you're not the one speaking on the page. You're just taking dictation.

erika, I think you're panicking a little and that can lead to, maybe not overreacting, but worse-case-scenarioing? I mean, look at some of the shows you watch. They get into the nitty-gritty of street life, do you think all the writers have been cornerboys, if any of them? You can do it, too.

Cereal:

I'm finally doing it. Taking the first draft of the novel I finished about three years ago and going over it with an eye towards marketability. The revised opening is done, and t deep breath I'm asking if anyone would like to see it. t chants calming mantra "They're my friends, they're my friends, if they say it sucks it's not because they hate you"

Specifically, I'm wondering if it's a story that a reader would want to know more of, is the main character plausable, and later questions to follow depending on initial reactions.

So. t muzzling the Interior Critic who is screaming in terror Anyone want to see it?

Connie, I'd love to read it. Is that the only feedback you want, or specific line editing / typo catching stuff, too?

Maybe one or two. Mostly they arrested them or reported on them.

I'll read it, Connie.

Is that the only feedback you want, or specific line editing / typo catching stuff, too?

If you spot typos or glaring usage errors, please, let me know. I'm blind to such things for at least 12 hours after I write stuff. Profile addy?

AmyLiz and Hil, insent. No hurry, I just want to see if I'm on the write track with this opening.

edit: Damned Freudian homonyms. Right track.