URPG Stories Chat and Feedback

Write for a couple Hawlucha. can near promise people will be hunting you down instead if so.

 

I would totally do that, if I wasn't tempted to do a spanish luchador story for one.

 

but I don't have anything to pay you with. I'm sorryyy.

 

PAY ME WITH LOVE. Or link to a really good creepypasta, I'd totally call that a fair trade.

 

So I've encountered a bit of a moral dilemma over a URPG story that I was thinking of submitting and I need some help deciding on whether or not to finish it for a grade. Click here for the details/story. If you have the time and want to read all of that, please tell me if the story is fixable. Thankssss.

 

Fear not, I think all writers go through phases like that. And really, it doesn't matter if the first draft isn't good. Most of the time I still don't like the third draft of things. I don't really base any sort of judgment on what I first write, even if its the worst thing ever. Writing is a cycle anyway. First draft is the down draft--you just get it down. Next draft is the up draft--you fix it up. No matter how many drafts that takes.

And really, as embarrassing and horrid as you think those writing attempts are, with each experience, we get better. We can't be writers if we don't write. Gotta slog through the crap before we can get to the good stuff.

I commend your branching out into other genres. I think that's a great idea to experiment. Sometimes it opens up doors and possibilities that weren't thought of before. I went through that with a Poetry class I took. Normally I'm not a big fan of poetry mostly because I don't understand a lot of it, but I learned a lot of things about prose writing by studying poetry too, and even though the poems I wrote were not the best, I was still happy with them.

Personally I think fanfic is great, whether or not you want to write professionally, especially for Fiction. Making up worlds and characters and plots and everything else is hard. Don't feel bad about writing fanfic. I've always believed it was a good thing. It lets writers practice things like plot and tone and style without having to worry about every single detail. Just borrow someone else's world or characters for a short while. It's like how some wannabe animators look at their favorite animations and break them down to imitate them using the same images. It's not for profit but for practice. Plus is flattering to the original author, that someone enjoys their fandom enough to want to spend excess time with it.

After reading your story, I do agree that it's a bit edgy, but that's not entirely a bad thing. You have a different world and tone going, with a twist of dark. Mac was a little quick to act a couple times, but again, he is young and they tend to do that. The relationship with his friend is a little strange on both ends though too. They seemed fairly close while at school, but they turned on each other rather abruptly. Again, maybe age explains this too, but it was still pretty fast. Mac's definitely got some issues under the skin, so I think you can definitely justify his actions some way. It'll probably need some exploration and depth for sure, but I think it can be believable.

The descriptions weren't too bad either. I was more interested in what was going to happen. It was a little whimsical in the very beginning, but that's a different thing. While the mother's perspective is a little overdone, I think the way you told it was just fine. I didn't mind it. I still got a little feel for her character. If the only reason why you included it was to transition, though, you may not need it. It depends if the mother is going to have a bigger part in the story or not. Too hard to judge at this stage, since I've only seen a little part of it XD

I'm sort of wondering about the first section. I found that I enjoyed that part a little better. It was very different. That's probably just my personal preference, though, since I'm not a big angst fan. I do wonder at your choice to use first person and then shift to third person within the same story. Usually that isn't done unless there's a very good reason. It makes them seem disconnected a bit, and the transition is a bit hard. I found myself wanting to know more about what was happening in the first scene than what Mac was doing. They are part of the same story, right? Again, this is another thing that's hard to determine with only a small part.

Long story short, I do think this is salvageable. Really think about what you want to do with it. And don't listen to those nagging voices in your head that hate it. The point is to get everything down first and then trim away. Leave in the mother bit until you get all the rest down and then see what you can nip and tuck. You're a good writer, and the more you do it, the better you'll get. It's brave to venture into uncharted waters, and I think you're doing just fine. The tone matches the topic, and the writing reads easy.

The worst that can happen is that you finish it and don't like it. Even if you never post it, you can still say you did it. And who knows, you may find that the idea doesn't work and save it forever only to morph it into something else. I've done that with a lot of my stories. I think you should continue with it and see where it takes you.

 

Winter gave some great advice, and the only thing that I can really add is that your brain wasn't playing tricks on you! What you wrote definitely had some solid strokes of genius, and your brain was smart to pick up on those. The hardest part of writing is getting it all on the page. Looking back at your writing, you're inevitably not going to love it at first - that's why it's a rough draft and not the final copy. While editing might seem rough and you may be asking yourself "why on earth did I think this was good," the important part is to stick to it. Even if you deem it unsalvageable, there's always something in your writing that you can use.

I did quite like your story, if it means anything! I had similar reservations as Winter though, so I'm not going to really delve into it, but at the end of the day, just write what makes you happy. As long as you are satisfied with what you've written!

 

Thanks you guys! I just haven't had that kind of reaction to my writing in quite some time, though I definitely used to when I was first starting out. As for the first part, it does go back to that world but I had to trim that part out because the blog post was too long. I also agree that it was the most interesting part, but it's kind of necessary for me to include some form of flashback in this story because of the ending... or maybe it isn't. I'll definitely play around with that some more.

Also, I do love fanfiction so don't get me wrong there. I just like to joke about how I do it because so many people view it as a strange hobby. I think it's the best way of learning how to write though, since there are so many communities like this one out there that allow you to get honest feedback that you might not be able to receive in any other setting. I think the URPG is an amazing thing because of that, as it allows people to get structured and truly constructive criticism on their work while also allowing them a reward for excelling at the craft. And even if you aren't the best writer around, you can still earn something for your efforts and be viewed as an important presence on the board. That's a lovely thing in my opinion.

Anyway, you guys have convinced me to at least finish the rough draft and see where that takes me. I'm not quite used to doing as much editing as I'll need to with this, but I think it would be more of a waste if I didn't try to salvage it at all.

 

I have a question... I wrote two medium stories, and both have been claimed. How long does grading usually take?

 

You want to be as patient as you can possibly be regarding graders and their wonderful ways. Know that graders LOVE stories and the story section! They wouldn't be doing what they're doing if they didn't. Know that they didn't forget your story and it's not like they're trying to avoid it. We are all busy people. You and I are very busy people. NSFA said this somewhere too I think. She is also very busy and awesomtacular. And each grader is different about how they handle your story (it's a very special process!) and how much time it takes to critically read it / critique it. Give shorter stories at least a week or two. Much longer stories can take weeks to be claimed and then a month or two to actually be graded. the challenge is not just there for the author but for the grader who strives to parallel the amount of work the author put in.

And in the mean time, enjoy yourself! Write more stories, reread past grades, read other stories, all that good stuff. We can learn a lot from other writers. it's partially why I like being a grader so much!

And an unspoken rule: if you ask about the progress of your grade it'll take at least one more week before you actually get it! but I'll make an exception for you BWHAHAH!

don't hate me I had midterms and hosted new students and excuses blah blah your grade will be here pretty soon <3

 

Adding to what Smiles said, keep in mind that Graders don't get to read the story leisurely like everyone else does. They have to actually pay very close attention to what is, and isn't, going on. They need to keep plots in mind, make sure there are no unexplained holes in said plot, that everything fits together nicely and flows well. Reading a story and then breaking down and examining its various components takes more time than simply reading a story . I speak from experience since I used to be a Grader.

 

Back in my day, it took months for a story to even be claimed, let alone graded!

But all jokes aside, like the others said, graders are busy people too with school, work, and all kinds of other responsibilities. A few weeks isn't much to wait for a grade, which is about the usual, if not less depending on grader and length of the story. Definitely write more in the meantime!

 

Yup, me again, complaining again.

I waited a week since posting it, but no grade on my Now You See Me story.

 

Dude.

Back when BMG opened, it frequently took more than two months for a story to be graded. Getting one done in under a month was considered a miracle.

Come complain after a month.

Alternatively, become a Grader yourself and then grade all the other stories so that the other Graders have none to grade but your own.

EDIT: Sorry, that came off as a bit harsh. But Graders are people with busy lives and jobs and schools who voluntarily take on the burden. You just need to be patient. I wasn't kidding about trying to become one, by the way: the section could definitely use more, and your stories would be graded much faster as a result. It's actually one of the main reasons I became one.

 

I told her to ask here if her story hadn't been claimed after a week, so it isn't really her fault. A grader just dropped that story as well, so I think it's a legitimate complaint to have since it's possible that a lot of graders wouldn't notice that if she didn't mention it.

This subject is pretty touchy in general, since there are three dimensions to the issue (more than that really, but I'll simplify it): the first is that as graders, we are supposed to be responsible for the job we signed up for. If there is a staff of around 8 people and none of them step up and grade anything for over a week or a month, that is kind of a problem, even if this isn't a real job. The second is that all of us have a ton of real life obligations that we can't just throw aside for the sake of our hobbies. Pretty much all of the graders right now are in college or some form of higher education/work. That takes up a helluva lot of time, and is definitely more important than keeping up to date with critiques on Pokemon fanfics. The final thing is that although it probably doesn't seem like it, the URPG story section has been getting more active in the past few months. Just compare the number of stories submitted in January to the number of stories in say, October of last year. It's a small increase, but it's still enough to where it could easily become unmanageable to us.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure all of us agree that we love having this kind of activity in the story section and we want to encourage it to grow even farther. But it's just not realistic for the people currently grading to be able to keep up if the increase continues. And if we don't keep up with it in a somewhat timely manner, the story section will dry up again, which I personally find to be extremely depressing each time it happens. I'd like to keep the new users here interested, and for that to happen, grades need to be more timely.

... And to conclude that overly lengthy lead-up and actually address what CommBA said, if there is anyone out there who wants to become a grader and feels like they have some more time on their hands than us, you should take the grading test. I have no idea what that test has become at this point since I took mine years ago, but it would be nice with the opening of the new PXR branch and the current level of activity around here to have some more graders around. It's not entirely necessary since despite what I said above, I do think we manage pretty well around here, but it certainly couldn't hurt to have more (and to anyone complaining about the time it takes to get critiques, you would be able to help with that problem if you started grading).

 

This. All of this.

lame excuse about how I've been doing homework still and have work and it's really sad but haven't been able to grade quite as quickly, but I'm working on it, I swear!

Also, if we're going to have the "everyone needs to become a grader!" drive, I'd like to add that being exposed to and forced having the opportunity to examine another person's work really helps with your own writing style--in seeing what other people do really well (or perhaps not so well, I guess), you often end up getting some insights or ideas into your own writing, which is really awesome.

And in a less shameless pluggy manner, yeah, I'm sorry that we haven't been able to get to your story sooner. I'll try to grade binge at some point soonish? ._.

 

Yes, yes, y'all accurately sum up my words so well.

 

Well, ya'll are lucky if you are such busy people yet find time to bicker in this thread sorry that was mean

In all seriousness I am taking the grader test now, so I can steal the other stories from you and you have to grade mine. Thanks to Chainy for the idea.

 

I wish I had the time to Grade lol. As it is I'm sorta slacking on the RPs I have atm, but work has been making me so sore and unmotivated lately. I don't know, I like my job well enough I guess, but it just leaves me feeling sorta...bored. Same thing day in and day out.

Bah, this isn't the place for an old codger like me to groan about real-life reshponshibilitiesh. That being said, I'll find time to work on my stories at some point, since I'm using them both for story deals, so I get to add to the problem! Yay?

 

I wish I could like all these posts, but for some reason my computer won't do it or at least won't tell me that it's working? Anyway, I should be grading this weekend but for now it's major school cramming time. I can always spare at least 5 minutes to complain in this thread though, right?