The Mer-Writers Thread

[deepblue]

I thought it might be nice to have a place where those of us who write about mers and/or other sea-beings can come together and talk about writing and the worlds we are creating. We could talk about the stories we're working on, copyright issues, our favorite websites for writers, inspiration, etc.

Anyone game?

[Mermaid Varshana]

Absolutely. I write mostly for catharsis and fun, but that doesn't mean the professionals can't play too :)

[Ashe]

Great idea! I write a lot of poetry, and some very small short stories. Can't wait to show off a bit! xD Jk, I'm not that amazing :P

[Alveric]

Certainly!

[deepblue]

Absolutely. I write mostly for catharsis and fun, but that doesn't mean the professionals can't play too :)

I write because when it's there, I have to. haha. I do love it, and I'd love to be published some day. I might self-publish. Not sure yet. I think I should finish what I'm writing first. heh.


Great idea! I write a lot of poetry, and some very small short stories. Can't wait to show off a bit! xD Jk, I'm not that amazing :P

I'm not amazing either... haha, I used to be pretty damn good, but it's been a long time and starting again is really not the same.


Certainly!

Yay!

Are any of you working on anything specific right now? Anyone have anything they can share?

[Alveric]

Just the same two projects I've been working on for the last year and a half:

The Girl With the Sea-Green Eyes The sequel to The Accidental Mermaid. I'm working on chapter sixteen, about two thirds done.

Spindrift A science-fiction, romance, adventure with Merfolk, Centaurs and space pirates (No ninjas...yet). I'm about three-quarters done.

[Mermaid Varshana]

I went for...goodness...six years before I started writing again? I realized I had a gift for erotica and romance. It's helped me deal with a lot stuff from growing up in repressive Sunday school. I usually write 100% original stuff, but I'm sort of working in the H2O universe right now, a generation later and kind of exploring what-ifs that the show could have run with but wasn't able to. It's more for 20-somethings in the way that Harry Potter grew up with its audience. Which is cool. Lots of established authors still do fanfiction.

[deepblue]

Just the same two projects I've been working on for the last year and a half:

The Girl With the Sea-Green Eyes The sequel to The Accidental Mermaid. I'm working on chapter sixteen, about two thirds done.

Spindrift A science-fiction, romance, adventure with Merfolk, Centaurs and space pirates (No ninjas...yet). I'm about three-quarters done.

I see your link in your sig- when I'm not popping back and forth between writing and mernetwork, I really need to check it out. I love the idea of Spindrift. You never know when it comes to Ninjas. ;) They could be there already, you just don't know it. :p



I'm sort of working in the H2O universe right now, a generation later and kind of exploring what-ifs that the show could have run with but wasn't able to. It's more for 20-somethings in the way that Harry Potter grew up with its audience. Which is cool. Lots of established authors still do fanfiction.

I love that idea. I wish they'd do it for real and put it in Netflix. Even better, I hope you rock it and submit it and they make your words into a show. :)

I'm working on a story about a young woman from a small mer society who's executed for revealing herself to a human, however accidentally- but her life is saved at the last minute and she's found herself on land, in human form, and the person she accidentally revealed herself to is about to come into play. The last time she'd been on land was to mate and the man she was with that night and his uncle, who used to know a mermaid, are her allies. The story also involves her species being in danger from pollution and because man can go deeper into the sea than ever before, and will explore some of the myths of mermaids including the full moon effect, mermaids eating the men they mate with, and the idea that there are no mermen, and more.

In the end, I know where this story is going, but getting there is not as easy as it used to be. I stopped writing most of the time for about ten years, with only a little something here and there.

[Azurin Luna]

I'm writing two different stories at the moment. My story writing comes and goes so I'm not making alot of progress, but it's fun to do. One of the stories is about our world which is falling apart because to few people believe in magic. A few creatures from the other demention are trying to keep the world in one piece. The other story is about a girl who gets stranded on an island after a plane crash. She finds a boy there, who is more then just a boy, as she soon finds out that he is a merman.

[AniaR]

Well, I wrote my book, and I'm working on a follow up. But I've also been tinkering with a story/script for a while now. I'd really prefer to have it as a graphic novel, but I want to actually pay an artist to do it. I've also been reading and writing fanfiction since I was 12 and didn't even know fanfiction was a thing... HAHA. :p guilty pleasure. I take years off in between sorta deal, but I always end up coming back to it. Moreso because I get bored when my fav shows or authors go on hiatus. I go read the works of others and then I get inspired XD For anyone who doesn't know Amazing purchased the rights to several tv/book series, and are getting more, so people can publish their fanfiction and get paid for it! Crazy!

[deepblue]

Ha, I did the same thing when I was 13. Wrote Starman fanfic, and then years later saw the term for the first time. At that time, I did write a little - I found it a good way to keep the creative juices flowing, and I put a werewolf on the USS Voyager. :D I actually got nominated for some best of the web contest for ST:Voy fanfic... but there were pros in that contest, and one won. Which I don't think is fair, but that's another sibject. That was 13 years ago, and the last long thing I wrote til now. O.o

I hope... so far I have 30 pages and it feels pretty dang good.

I heard about the Amazon fanfic situation. I think I have mixed feelings about it, but it also makes sense this would happen. The amount of ff on the web is astounding.

How do you all help yourself get inspired? You know, there are the inspirations that just happen... and then, there are the things I know will get my writer's blood moving. I'll have a third of my screen playing Splash, or Man from Atlantis, or Aquaman, or something like those... and without even paying attention to it, I'm just inspired.

[Mermaid Momo]

I'm trying to write a script and story for a graphic novel I want to do, but I just can't seem to get anywhere! (I guess having too many projects at once will do that to you)

[Mermaid Varshana]

I love that idea. I wish they'd do it for real and put it in Netflix. Even better, I hope you rock it and submit it and they make your words into a show. :)

That would be nice, wouldn't it? There are actually two distinct eras I'm writing in. One is more child-oriented. I loved the idea of Cleo and Lewis having been friends since kindergarten, so I decided to go off on the what-if concept of a human child "Growing Up Mermaid" with a bunch of merlings as friends. A major event years earlier that gets referenced several times, which I'll eventually write down, caused the girls and their life partners to have to flee the Gold Coast for the sake of their families.

At first, I didn't think to use the girls' mermaid powers as heritable, but it makes sense if every cell in their body is affected by the transformation. "So wouldn't mermaids be common if they reproduced?" you ask. I say, "Dude. There were 5 mermaids walking and swimming around just on the Gold Coast within a few years." There's Cleo and Lewis' daughter, who is a few years older than the other merlings (I am SO, SO GLAD that the final episode fixed things between those two characters; you have no idea). I thought that having to live with a massive secret, the protective dad you know Lewis would be, and the temperamental mother that Cleo would be, would probably make any kid they'd have moody and ornery. So she's based both in personality and appearance on Naruto (yes, Cleo is very dark complected, but remember her sister is also a blonde). The human boy is this really quiet, sweet-tempered aspiring ballet dancer who uses his physical and academic achievements as ways to get his parents' attention, because they're old, have grandkids, and don't really have the time or the energy for him. So, this merfamily comes along when he is young and provides this magical distraction from "real life" for over 8 years. I'm working on a series of short stories that chronicles all their adventures.

The other era works on the other side of H2O, the adult side, which reunites the children after about 12 years of being forcibly separated. The boy, a man now, is a successful albeit unhappy lawyer, who is not sure anymore whether or not all those whimsical adventures of his childhood actually happened. This series of short stories is going to function more on overcoming the jadedness of adulthood and handling the responsibilities of such with grace and playfulness.

I feel that budget restrictions limited what the show could do. I WANT to see the majesty of the ocean. I WANT to see Blue Planet-like shit where they're caught in a massive bait ball and they're dodging sharks, dolphins, sailfish and a giant damn baleen whale. So we've got a show with mermaidsand magic? Congratulations, you just opened up a world where basically anything can exist, as long as you don't go off into Charmed and Buffy land where you have fairies, vampires and demons attacking your otherwise normal mermaids. The whole show is about balancing real life with fantasy.



I'm working on a story about a young woman from a small mer society who's executed for revealing herself to a human, however accidentally- but her life is saved at the last minute and she's found herself on land, in human form, and the person she accidentally revealed herself to is about to come into play. The last time she'd been on land was to mate and the man she was with that night and his uncle, who used to know a mermaid, are her allies.

I gotta say, that's a really cool concept. How do mermaids lose their fins in your world? Do they eat humans like sharks do?

[Mermaid Varshana]

I heard about the Amazon fanfic situation. I think I have mixed feelings about it, but it also makes sense this would happen. The amount of ff on the web is astounding.

It's a mixed bag right now, and fanfiction is still looked upon by many self-righteous writers as "writing with training wheels." We've been marketing fanfic for years. We just haven't been calling it that. Big Movies are dying, books are being self-published, and TV is becoming more fragmented and niche. Give it 5 years. Fanfiction will be a HUGE, out-of-the-closet market.


How do you all help yourself get inspired? You know, there are the inspirations that just happen... and then, there are the things I know will get my writer's blood moving. I'll have a third of my screen playing Splash, or Man from Atlantis, or Aquaman, or something like those... and without even paying attention to it, I'm just inspired.
I get a lot of inspiration from music. I have a whole soundtrack to go with every series I write in. I watch a lot of nature documentaries. A huge scene came to me in the tune of "Now is the Start" by A Fine Frenzy while watching the epic Blue Planet bait ball episode.

[Alveric]

My first experience with fan fiction was when I was 12 (that would be 1968). I sent the synopsis of a Star Trek script I'd written to Paramount. They didn't accept it but sent me a Star Trek writers' guide and a uniform badge. I sometimes dream what it would have been like if they'd taken it. Nerdvana!

[Mermaid Dottie]

Well, at least they didn't steal your idea!
My friend's mom sent a couple of Voyager ideas to them, and they used them without crediting her.
I still love them, though.

My first Fanfic was actually for a Manga series called DNAngel, and my second was for the Inheritance Cycle.
Both incompleted, like all of my other stories, including the unicorn book I started when I was 12, then lost when the computer died.

[Alveric]

I'm sure they turned it down because, having been written by a pre-teen boy, the special effects alone would have bankrupted the studio.

[deepblue]

I actually wish there was a show I'd love to write of right now. As much as I love the few shows I watch, I'm not inspired to write fanfic of them, but it was fun.



I feel that budget restrictions limited what the show could do. I WANT to see the majesty of the ocean. I WANT to see Blue Planet-like shit where they're caught in a massive bait ball and they're dodging sharks, dolphins, sailfish and a giant damn baleen whale. So we've got a show with mermaidsand magic? Congratulations, you just opened up a world where basically anything can exist, as long as you don't go off into Charmed and Buffy land where you have fairies, vampires and demons attacking your otherwise normal mermaids. The whole show is about balancing real life with fantasy.


Oh - I agree, they could really get amazing with it if they wanted. Which is what I love about writing fiction set in worlds where anything can happen, there are no fx restrictions.


I gotta say, that's a really cool concept. How do mermaids lose their fins in your world? Do they eat humans like sharks do?

Thanks. The way they lose their fins actually evolves in the tale, so I don't want to go into it here right now, until I have settled it in the story itself.

They ate their mates by drowning them, then taking them deep and eating them like anything in the sea would. My creatures don't call themselves mers, but humanity does, and when in that form, they have the teeth and the claws necessary to rip something to shreds.

They're not scary mermaids, they're just equipped for life in the deep sea. The eating of mates, is however, in their past and frowned upon by most, missed by others.

[Mermaid Momo]

Well, at least they didn't steal your idea!
My friend's mom sent a couple of Voyager ideas to them, and they used them without crediting her.
I still love them, though.

My first Fanfic was actually for a Manga series called DNAngel, and my second was for the Inheritance Cycle.
Both incompleted, like all of my other stories, including the unicorn book I started when I was 12, then lost when the computer died.
Woot! Dnangel! The first fanfic I ever wrote was last school year where we had to rewrite the great gatsby using different characters and I used the avengers.

[deepblue]

THAT is awesome.

My creative writing class in high school gave us the assigment to modernize a favorite classic tale, fairy tale or short story. I did The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, in which Braum Bones was a mechanic, Ichabod, a computer programmer, and Katrina, the daughter of a software mogul. The Headless Horseman was a Headless Race Car driver in a black muscle car. Those assignments are so fun.

[Spindrift]

Oh come on, getting a badge and a book from Paramount sounds really cool - I would have been ecstatic if that happened to me at 12 lol. I wanna have a Star Trek Writer's Guide! What kind of stuff was in it?

[deepblue]

Question for y'all.

As you know, when people discuss their tails on this forum, people refer to the fluke of their tails. In nature, in science, they're referred to as flukes. Plural. The left or the right are each referred to as fluke.

How do you prefer to see them referred to in relation to mermaids?

[Alveric]

@Spindrift--It was about ten mimeograph pages stapled together. It was mostly a guide to each major character, the Federation and the major alien races. It was mainly to keep writers within the bounds put together by Roddenberry and the 50 minute limit.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Oh, I've always called it a fluke, but now that I know that it's 2, it makes sense. We have two feet. Even if they're fused, they're probably still semi separate pieces.

[deepblue]

@Spindrift--It was about ten mimeograph pages stapled together. It was mostly a guide to each major character, the Federation and the major alien races. It was mainly to keep writers within the bounds put together by Roddenberry and the 50 minute limit.

I'm so envious. I freaking love that.

[deepblue]

Oh, I've always called it a fluke, but now that I know that it's 2, it makes sense. We have two feet. Even if they're fused, they're probably still semi separate pieces.

I've been writing flukes... and it feels wrong. lol I hope I get more feedback tomorrow. :)

[MerMarla]

Question for y'all.

As you know, when people discuss their tails on this forum, people refer to the fluke of their tails. In nature, in science, they're referred to as flukes. Plural. The left or the right are each referred to as fluke.

How do you prefer to see them referred to in relation to mermaids?

Hi Deepblue! Your right about cetaceans having flukes, a left and right fluke formed from connective tissue. There's no bone in a dolphin or whale's flukes. Sharks and fish have a caudal fin, unless the fish has been bred to have two caudal fins, like some bettas. As a kid, and even now, I will call my fins "flippers". Strictly speaking flippers are the pectoral appendages, similar to our hands. Cetacean flippers do have bone, cartilage and connective tissue.

I pose a thought: even tho cetaceans have two distal appendages used for locomotion, we are combining our feet into a single monofin, hence calling our mermaid tail "propulsion unit" (LOL!) a fluke. I kinda smile at the thought, because when I swam at Weeki Wachee, we called our tails just "tails". There was no differentiation to the anatomy of our costume. We wore a "suit and tail" and we used fins in the tail. Now they wear a top and tail, and still use fins!

So, I guess there is no real answer in my book. Flukes is really the correct terminology. Fins or flippers are also correct, for side appendages. I think using the term "fluke" already has a foot-hold!

LOL with distorted Bubble https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/e/B0C's from giggles!
Mermaid Marla

[deepblue]

I finished. It finished at 52 pages. Short story length, I suppose. Perhaps a little long for a short story, maybe it's a novella. Turned out to have more romance than planned. I already have a second part planned. :D

It's just a first draft. I need to read, rewrite, flesh some things out. And then I think I'll find a writer's site to post it to, because I'm not thinking I'm skilled enough to self-publish this.

I've loved every moment of writing it.

Oh, and I have to come up with a title. ha.

[deepblue]

Has anyone here used writing.com to post their work?

I don't want to assume that my first short story after all these years is good enough to self-publish. But I'd like it hosted somewhere with copyright protections, and that site does that. That way I can share the link in case someone wants to read it.

I have friends proofreading right now. I am waiting to hear back from two of them. One finished it and said it was beautiful, which is awesome.

I didn't intend to write a romance, but it totally ended up that way.

[Azurin Luna]

I was thinking about posting it on Wattpad. It also has a app version

[deepblue]

I hadn't heard of Wattpad. Thank you, I'll look into it.

Have you noticed that as a writer, we often think things that, if overheard, would get us arrested?

Or sometimes, if you think out loud, something could REALLY come across wrong. Heaven forbid anyone should get a hold of your search history with the wrong idea. ;)

For me, just now, it was, "Damn. People don't sink that fast, he has to be weighted."

[tealmermaid]

n/a

[Mermaid Jewel]

Huh I just found this thread. I just finished my novel late May at 50,100 words! It was such an amazing feeling except I'm now doing what I call "epic edits" in which I'm filling in a lot of plot and hoping to add at least 30,000 more words. It also has nothing to do with mermaids but I thought I'd like to share, especially since that was part of the reason I went missing from this forum for so long.

Also, deepblue, I know what you mean! Me and my friend often discuss how many people we've "killed" in our respective stories. ^.^

[deepblue]

Chrome's "incognito" function proves useful when I'm looking up ideas to write about. I don't like leaving a virtual paper trail for art and writing ideas.

I actually leave my web search history off, but I don't really mind a basic cookies trail. :)


Huh I just found this thread. I just finished my novel late May at 50,100 words! It was such an amazing feeling except I'm now doing what I call "epic edits" in which I'm filling in a lot of plot and hoping to add at least 30,000 more words. It also has nothing to do with mermaids but I thought I'd like to share, especially since that was part of the reason I went missing from this forum for so long.

Nice! I just did my final rewrite/ epic edit (I like that) and it added three pages. Part two, book two, whatever I might call it is already started. I have to see if my friends who proofread for me can get to it soon, and after their feedback, I'm going to post it to writing.com. I ended at just over 26,000 words, and I'm astounded because it's been forever since I did anything more than a 30 minute challenge, and those only rarely.

My gods do I feel back to my nature.


Also, deepblue, I know what you mean! Me and my friend often discuss how many people we've "killed" in our respective stories. ^.^

I can't believe I didn't kill anyone in this story. Almost did... but it was an accident. :D

[deepblue]

Pfft. Writing.com seems like a great place to show your work, but anything over 5kb needs a membership. While this is totaly fair, I can't do it for at least two weeks. Argh.

[Sherl]

50,100 words, Mermaid Jewel? Wow. :jawdrop:

I've written a couple of drafts each for one or two chapters of two separate ideas I have. Only one is mer-related, though. I haven't been working on them for quite a while because schoolwork is stealing my writing... LOL. It does not help that the name of the course I'm studying in has the word 'writing' in it! I only have a Hunger Games fan fiction to my name, which placed 2nd in a short story competition last June. :rolleyes:

[deepblue]

Writing.com offered a 50% off deal, so I took it. I had to put the story in two parts due to space. All together it's 58 pages. A novella, apparently.

So, this feels incredibly daunting.

Edit- I'm going to work on it some more.

(http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1943614-Beyond-the-Sea-Part-two)

[MaskedNightingale]

I've been working on a 3 novel sci-fi/fantasy series called "The King Who Never Laughed" for the last 5 years.
I also write fanfiction off and on. One particular fanfiction series I'm working on has a mermaid as a main character and her story is in 3 parts (Leroux/Kay POTO, Doctor Who & H2O).

[mermaidwhisperer]

I'm so used to Facebook when you can 'like' posts. I was having a giggle over the star trek-big budget 13 year old boy thing. That's awesome. Gotta dream big to be big.

Well I'm Sam and I've been writing since I was about 6. I was always the girl who told the ghost stories at slumber parties and scared the other girls home. In fact I made up a story about a fictional haunting here in Mackay ( based on this actual ghost nun who haunts the most haunted house in the world, Borley Rectory) and it's now an urban legend here that a nun haunts the cliff and will fling you onto the rocks at Lambert's Beach if you're up there alone! I made that story up when I was about 8! Lol! And I'm 30 now and it's still going strong :)
I was listening to the radio on last year's Blue Moon, and they were calling for people to accompany the hosts to the look-out for the blue moon to see the 'blue-nun'. The hosts were actually friends of mine so I ended up having the biggest giggle over it! Weird stuff like that happens to me all the time-that's why I think I was born to be a writer.
Anyway I used to write and write and then read the stories back six months later and cringe. I decided that if I didn't want to sound like The Baby-Sitters Club, I better actually expand a bit. So I made myself read the top 100 books of all time in one year and it totally opened my mind up.People sometimes struggle to take me seriously about my writing-I was a cheerleader (in my twenties, lol) and I do roller-derby and circus arts and surfing and I just wrapped up a production of Hairspray in which I played the despicable Amber Von Tussle-but ever since I read that list I've been determined to try my hardest at everything I do and get something worth writing about :) I said I'd live until I was 30-THEN start writing seriously :)
I got the original concept for The Marked Ones while having an argument with a friend. We used to pretend to be mermaids when we were little, as we grew up 100 feet from a beach AND a resort, and at the end of 2011 she posted this pic, which you might have seen-comparing mermaids unfavourably to whales. Calling them barren etc etc.
It really got me thinking about the pre-conceived notions about mermaids, and how there's never been much lore about them, as there is with vampires and so on. I decided that I wanted to be the one to attempt to define them in a way everyone could relate to but most of all-for adults. It was so hard to wrap my head around how they could come to be, their biology, their genealogy and all that, that I researched and plotted for close to 6 months. Then I was surfing and a tiger shark came up 6 feet behind me and even though I freaked I got away from him without incident and suddenly-I had a scene. I sat down and wrote the trilogy ion 3 months. That was a year ago. I've been trying to get it published since January but agents kept saying : 'This is awesome...but it'd be better with YA. Or Vampires.' Over and over again. I peaked out two weeks ago and uploaded it to Kindle and it is taking off so fast! I have my entire town behind me! I'm getting calls from publishers (not the right one yet) and have been in three newspapers and got all fussed over at a writing conference I went to in the Whitsunday's last week. It's going so well that it's blowing my mind a little. I got a review today that had me in tears-in a good way-from some critic/blogger who rated me 4/5 and expressed getting the exact sentiments from it that I intended, so that's fabulous. I'm grinning so much that I look like I slept with a coathanger in my mouth, lol.

So that's me and my writing. It's hard and it's stressful and it feels like I've uploaded my soul to the net to be picked apart but...that's the risk we take :) It's all still so fresh to me-I'm getting 4 hours sleep trying to balance editing the other 2 books with promoting this one. I'm supposed when I talk I don't say : 'dub, dub, dub,' ha ha. I'm actually very nervous discussing it with mer-network folk. I'm sure you all have your own mermaid theories so I've probably run quite a risk of offending some people :) I don't have a tail or anything like that, but I am a coastal girl and they've always been my little icon.
I would like a tail though! In a town like this I'd get 'looks' but I just played a racist bigot in Hairspray so that's already wrecked my rep. Lol I'm known for being a bit random. Besides-we get maybe 20 awesome surf days a year and the rest of the time it's just beautiful water so it would be fun to have another reason to get in!
Mind you...we have a LOT of sharks here. A LOT. Now that I know the chances of actually bumping into an 8ft man-eater are 1 in 20 for me now, I'm a bit : 'Gulp.'

[Mermaid Dottie]

So, I was wondering if anyone wanted to do a round robin with me.
We could pick a setting, establish some natural laws that must be obeyed, and then write like crazy merfolk.
Anymer interested?
And Whisper, I SO want to read your books!
I am bookworm central!

[deepblue]

Hi Sam- I don't think you'd offend anyone here with your own theories. Since mermaids are fantasy, anyone can think anything they want... and if they were real, we don't know anything about them, anyway. :p

The mers in my story are all female, there are no males. This seriously squicks off some mermen fans here. I'm not out to offend anyone, and I think it's a little much to get offended by a fantasy creature's story in fiction. However, in the next part I plan to write, a book 2, there will be a male. But it has to happen when it happens, naturally. They also don't look like traditional mers until a specific situation takes place, which they aren't even aware is a possibility until it happens. If people don't like it, that's okay. I hate what Twilight does to vampires, but that, and the ubelievably poor crafting of the series haven't stopped its popularity. We can't please everyone.

I'm so frustrated right now though. I have no idea my skill level, and I need real critiques. I love that friends have read and responded with "I loved it!" and that it's beautiful, but that doesn't help me ascertain where to go from here. I'm hoping I'll get some reviews on Writing.com, but I can't pay for them, so it's pretty much up to chance. Classes aren't an option, and I don't find books on writing do me a lot of good, the most I can do is read articles on good writing sites and blogs. Even then, I don't know if I'm writing well, and I can only sit here and wait to see if someone reads the damn thing and then reviews it with any kind of skill.

Dottie- I'm sorry I can't take part, it sounds fun. But Beyond the Sea book 2 is calling. :)

[mermaidwhisperer]

Hey go for it Dottie! I've started getting fanmail this week-I can NOT stop smiling! :)

My mermaids live on land, like humans. They opt to live in small seaside communities all over the world-and there's a lot that live very isolated. Their tails form when they're in the ocean and at will-so a new mer might struggle with it, but an established mer could do it in a second-when they're heading out of the water-they will it away, and the scales dissolve. My heroine, Ivyanne, can do both in a moment. One character can leap off a boat in mid-air and transition.
They need to swim a lot. If they don't, they get 'withdrawals'. The water heals them, prolongs their youth, keeps them healthy and thriving-when they're on land for too long, they dehydrate quickly. They lose their equilibrium, their feet blister and crack, they get agitated and insomnia. Once again-it comes down to the mer.Some are great at being on land-they can even be away from the ocean for days. Ivyanne, in the beginning, begins to lose it after an hour or so. Like smoking, it can be in their head too.
I've studied a lot to write this-my mers share a lot of characteristics with dolphins. They don't live underwater-but they can go without breath for about fifteen minutes at a time. They can travel at about 37 miles an hour (I think that's right-I keep getting mixed up with miles/kilometres) and they can live for centuries. The oldest won was almost 1000 when she died. BUT global warming is affecting them-shortening their lifespans significantly down to about 400. So they are guardians of the water-they infiltrate the mainland, putting themselves in the position to make a difference.
There is so much detail I can't go into without giving it all away but they have complex breeding/marriage rules to abide by. 'The Marked Ones' who the title is named for, are a specific strain of mermaid who have been bred just to marry into the royal family and cultivate the bloodline of their creator-Anna L'Court. In the very beginning, Ivyanne is fleeing-she is the princess and she doesn't want to choose a future king, for various reasons :)
It's set in our time too :)

[deepblue]

I love how many mer worlds are created, all while keeping the essential elements that makes a mer a mer. :)


A friend just sent me this, passing it on. Tor's short fiction (speculative fiction, ie; horror, supernatural, fantasy, related) submission guidelines.

http://www.tor.com/page/submissions-guidelines


(http://www.tor.com/page/submissions-guidelines)

[Prince Calypso]

So i need a little help with something all my creative friends
i have to describe this picture as if i came across it in life for a creative writing course i'm taking

12746

thing is i've never really been good at describing buildings and places in great detail
and when i do it always sounds like and i'm just listing off obvious things if that makes any sense

so could you guys help me. write what you see when you look at this picture

[mermaidwhisperer]

The tower thrust out of the dry, rocky ground, more organic than structural, a heaving, fungal mass that writhed in the night. Its foundation seemed precarious-a scaly tail in shades of blue that looked certain to topple under the weight of it's swollen abdomen. It was midnight blue in some parts, a deep sandy gold in others, fusing itself to the desert scape under the inky blue sky like a chameleon. Moonlight burst from within, glowing through windows too oversized to be necessary, too numerous to count. It brought to mind the image of some underwater palace that had been crafted of sand and shell and trapped in earth centuries before- to be released for my amazement alone.

But that's just me

[Prince Calypso]

The tower thrust out of the dry, rocky ground, more organic than structural, a heaving, fungal mass that writhed in the night. Its foundation seemed precarious-a scaly tail in shades of blue that looked certain to topple under the weight of it's swollen abdomen. It was midnight blue in some parts, a deep sandy gold in others, fusing itself to the desert scape under the inky blue sky like a chameleon. Moonlight burst from within, glowing through windows too oversized to be necessary, too numerous to count. It brought to mind the image of some underwater palace that had been crafted of sand and shell and trapped in earth centuries before- to be released for my amazement alone.

But that's just me

:jawdrop:....whoa!
that was fucking epic!!!!!!!!

[mermaidwhisperer]

Feel free to copy and paste ;)

[deepblue]

If you want to learn to write, if you're in that class for a reason, Calypso, perhaps take cues from what whisperer wrote, and see what you can do on your own with it. Besides, I wouldn't encourage plagarizing anyway- with permission perhaps she's ghost writing :)- but to plagarize for a class? Your teacher need only search the words and voila, find it here. A lot of teachers do that these days, because of the problem of Internet research copy/pasting.

But it's a very nice description! :)


So funny, how I thought for certain my story was finished. Not only did I do a rewrite in which I case the main character, the mer, in a less flattering light, I just realized it's only 1/3 way done or so. ha. You never know.

[mermaidwhisperer]

Lol Calypso won't copy and paste :) Wouldn't be much point in doing a writing course if they did.

[Prince Calypso]

Honestly i just needed some inspiration and some ideas. i wasn't intending to copy and paste someone else's work
but the description is really beautiful.

[Mermaid Nemia]

I suggest that you use more than just sight when you're describing it. If you're coming across it in life, you would probably not only see it, but hear the sounds coming from it, feel the textures of it, smell the delicious scents or horrible odors coming from it, and maybe even sense an aura or mood about it. You'd also notice it's surroundings beyond what the picture shows - whether it fits in with the surrounding environment, or seems eerily out of place.

Unless, of course, the assignment calls only for a visual description.

[Mermaid Varshana]

^^^ That. I've been reading through Game of Thrones, which is teaching me that adjectives are good things. For awhile, the trend existed where a writer needs to convey his or her ideas with as few words as possible. It's nice to see that quite possibly the most famous author alive right now goes nuts with description.

I've come to accept that my writing style is geared towards flash fiction. I've tricked myself for many years that, in order to be a good writer, I HAVE to write 300 page novels where every single scene flows into the next. But DragonsDawn, a novel by Anne McCaffery and one of my favorites of all time, is a series of flash fiction stories using the same characters at different points in their lives. So it can work! :D

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I'm a writer. I'm on page 30 some of my first book and plan on writing a mermaid novel. I actually have a thread about writing. And also if you love writing and reading and humor and laughing (haha) o to YouTube and watch the vlogbrothers. They are fantastic. It is John Green and Hank Green (writer and musician) and they mention their families: John: the yeti (Sarah his wife), and his two adorable kids one is brand new. Teehee! And Hank: Katherine
They are fanstastical. Go watch! Lol!

[Alveric]

I bought Whisper's book on kindle and started it last night. The heroine gets naked in chapter one (my complements)!:jawdrop:

Seriously, it looks good.


(I just got reminded that in Spindrift, ​Ari starts out naked in chapter one.):doh:

[deepblue]

lol... my main characters starts off naked, and spends a lot of time naked, come to think of it. There's a lot of sexuality in my story though, as my mermaids use human men for mating. They did stop eating them some time ago, however.

Anyway- this is apropos of nothing here, but I think people need to be honest with writers. My first few drafts had so many issues. As to be expected, it's been ages and I'm getting my writing skills back up to par. But the friends I asked to read it and give me honest feedback really did not. They tried to be nice. I don't want them to be nice. I want them to be constructive, and sure, not harsh, but honest.

Several rewrites later, I'm going to out it up for critique again. It's so much better now, and I'm so much more satisfied.

[deepblue]

Well crud.

Someone I trust gave me a warning about the writing.com site. I've taken it down for now, and might use another route.

And then he told me that it's so good and original, he doesn't think I should do anything but self-publish this final draft.

I really want to just hire an editor and then self-publish, but I don't have that kind of money.

[Mermaid Momo]

@deepblue ,If you're looking for people to edit, why not get someone from the community to edit it for you? or maybe a few people to see what they catch? (a good way to do this is by using google docs and sharing it with other google accounts because the people wan write notes and highlight and you can always see what they're doing or what page they are on.) If you want to go that route, I'd be more than happy to help edit it :)

[Merman Dan]

For the past six years, my creative outlet has been my online D&D game, “Heirs of Turucambi”. What this means is that I take an establish ruleset, 3.5e D&D, mix in my love of the sea, and then add players to nurture and interact with the environment.


The game is set beneath the surface of the sea, so the standard dwarf, human, elf, and halfling have been replaced with sea elves, merfolk, tritons, locathah, and the like.


Many may complain that such an adventure would be limited to coral reefs and shipwrecks, but I do not agree. Envision vast jungles of free-floating sargassum seaweed or forests of mighty kelp. Think of deserts not filled with sand but with urchin barrens and bleached coral. Imagine forests of mangrove roots in the shallows, fields of seagrass, and brambles of living serpent stars. Never mind the hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, undersea rivers, and the effects of seasons of spawning, migrations, storms, and so on.


The game began with a simple premise, the bad guy wanted to pull out the plug at the bottom of the ocean. That evolved into Diadema, the Blackwater Hag, seeking to awaken three magical maelstroms which would siphon the waters of the Solnor Ocean through planar portals into the hollowed caverns of the lesser moon Celene. There, the twin daughters of the demon lord Dagon and elemental princess Olhydra have been imprisoned by their father.


Currently, the party travels in a saltwater lake locked within a floating cloud island known as Cloudsea. They travel westward to the undersea fortress of the wizard Drawmij, where one of their allies has been imprisoned.

I keep recaps of past game logs at Squidieval (http://www.squidieval.com)

[coral_sybil]

Well... if anyone is interested I went to school to be an editor, been published once, and worked in two internships that published anthologies, and done some editing work for Fan Fiction Writers.

[mermaidwhisperer]

Ha ha ha I feel the need to point out that my mermaid strips to SWIM in the first chapter, lol

[Gem Stone]

the mermaid book I'm working on now is my personal favorite out of most of my mermaid ideas. the main character (loosely based of myself:$) is a natural born swimmer. her dad is a marine biologist and she doesn't know about her mom. never knew her, and never asked about her. just knew she wasn't around. because of her swimming skills, she joined the swim team, but left a few years later when she couldn't explain why she became faster than the coach. as it goes along, she finds out that three boys in her school were mermen sent to land to keep her safe. she distrusts them at first but quickly realizes that the ocean is much bigger than her and she needs their help to understand the merfolk ways. she finally gets to meet her mom, who is a mermaid and broke a law by having a child with a human. then she must decide whether to continue to live with her father on land or join her mother in the sea

[Merman Dan]

Gem, have you ever seen the pilot episode to the Aquaman TV series that never aired? You might enjoy it. :)

Aquaman (2003) - iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/aquaman/id168272184)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmB8uCSRMQ

[deepblue]

^THAT pilot is why I am in love with a fictional character.

[deepblue]

@deepblue ,If you're looking for people to edit, why not get someone from the community to edit it for you? or maybe a few people to see what they catch? (a good way to do this is by using google docs and sharing it with other google accounts because the people wan write notes and highlight and you can always see what they're doing or what page they are on.) If you want to go that route, I'd be more than happy to help edit it http://mernetwork.com/index/images/smilies/smile.png

Well- it's been in my sig asking for reviews, and there's not a lot else I can do. If you want to go to the site in my sig, and read it, I would love your input! :)



Well... if anyone is interested I went to school to be an editor, been published once, and worked in two internships that published anthologies, and done some editing work for Fan Fiction Writers.

Do you have a set price for editing?

[coral_sybil]

Do you have a set price for editing?

No, I didn't really think of charging anyone. I think of it as:
1. keeping my skills sharp
and 2. if you really like working with me you might mention me on the dedication page.

Mostly number one.

[deepblue]

The manuscript I would like to see edited is 65 pages long. If you could look it over for me, I would definitely mention you if it goes to 'print'- the thing is, someone with skills could also say, "No, this isn't ready and needs more of this or that" which would be so helpful. Can I email it to you or?

[coral_sybil]

Yeah I'll send you my email in a private message.

[Gem Stone]

Gem, have you ever seen the pilot episode to the Aquaman TV series that never aired? You might enjoy it. :)

Aquaman (2003) - iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/aquaman/id168272184)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmB8uCSRMQ
Thank you for that! I would have loved that show! Can I find it anywhere?

[Merman Dan]

Thank you for that! I would have loved that show! Can I find it anywhere?


Alas, they only made the pilot episode. :(

You might enjoy Surface (https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/surface-season-1/id102892391), though. Granted, that show only lasted a season.

[deepblue]

Speaking of shows, does anyone here write in screenplay format? I've been thinking about that- but I want to focus on bringing my writing skills up before approaching a different kind of writing.

Also- Surface was awesome. I recall reading that it was never planned as more than we saw, the producers knew from the get go it was only a one summer replacement series. Nimrod! So cute.

You can watch Aquaman here, in parts. GAH I can't even watch, he ruins me for all real life men. Justin Hartley is a natural with the swimming... it's so good. And I have a bad enough fangirl crush on that man.

WAIT- It totally skips the entire first few minutes- the don't have the part where AC as a child and his mom are in a plane, crash into the sea and are attacked by a mystery creature, and AC is lifted from the water by humpback whales. I can't believe they left that out. It is how he gets the necklace, how he knows his real name is Orrin... geesh.

So if you don't care about that, you can see the rest here.
http://justinhartleymedia.net/videos/11/aquaman-pilot-part-1/

[deepblue]

In honor of the editors in our lives:

13590

[deepblue]

Triple post! Because I want to share this, I'm finding it helpful at the moment.

Author Chuck Palahniuk writes about 'Thought Verbs' (http://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-%E2%80%9Cthought%E2%80%9D-verbs)


In fact there are several essays by him at the site: http://litreactor.com/essays/36-writing-essays-by-chuck-palahniuk

[Mermaid Varshana]

That article = win.

[Alveric]

Here's an illustration I commissioned for the second chapter of Spindrift. It's by Gordon Napier and entitled In the Hall of the Keeper.

13785

[deepblue]

Very nice illustration, Alveric. :) it makes me wonder more about what's going on in the story.

I have a question regarding sexuality in books.

My book is not YA (young adult) fiction, it's for adults. There is sex and sexuality, but I'm wondering about how others feel about sex scenes- when does something go from being a book that includes sex because it's part of life to a book that just became erotica? I know there is a lot of paranormal fiction that discusses a fair degree of sex, but I haven't necessarily read it.

So what do you think, mer-writers? How much sex, detail, etc., is too much in a book for adults? When does it cross over into erotica?

Incidentally, one article I just read made a lot of sense to me. Here are some excerpts from "Writing (and reading) Sex Scenes: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. (http://www.randysusanmeyers.com/2013/04/writing-and-reading-sex-scenes-good-bad-ugly/)"



By realizing that writing about sex isn’t about insert Tab A into Slot B—it’s about the emotion behind the writhing.

By remembering what Elizabeth Benedict (http://www.elizabethbenedict.com/) said in her wonderful book, The Joy of Writing Sex: (http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Writing-Sex-Fiction-Writers/dp/0805069933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269870572&sr=1-1)

Benedict: A good sex scene is not always about good sex, but it is always an example of good writing.
It’s easier to write about sex when it’s ‘bad,’ when the character is damaging herself through the act, or using sex as panacea or cover-up, than it is to write about good sex. Perhaps it’s a variation on Tolstoy’s famous aphorism about happy families vs. unhappy families. All fantastic sex is remarkably similar in how it lights up the brain, while “I gotta get through this somehow” sex is a textured way to reveal the problems in a relationship, which leads to Benedict’s next point:

Benedict: A good sex scene should always connect to the larger concerns of the work.
When writing about my main characters, sisters Lulu and Merry, I wanted to show them reacting in wildly divergent ways to the same trauma (the murder of their mother by their father.) Naturally, their experiences of sexuality were defined by that horrendous act. If I wanted to reveal the ways they were affected by witnessing their mother’s death, I needed to go into their bedrooms, and not in a polite manner.

[Alveric]

Thnks, the book should be out in a few months. If you're curious and can't wait, I prereleased the first two chapters on Deviant Art. http://alveric2.deviantart.com/

As for sex scenes, the difference to me is whether the characters are having sex or whether the writer is engaging in some kind of gratuitous literary masturbation.

[mermaidwhisperer]

The Cover for The sequel to The Marked Ones, 'Three Rings' just went live! Out next Friday![ATTACH]13900[/ATTACH
There’s blood in the water. And the sharks are circling now.
A dream can become a nightmare in a matter of moments, and Ivyanne Court is living proof of this. She thought choosing between three potential husbands she was indifferent to was the worst thing that could happen to her, but she was so very wrong. Choosing between two she cares deeply for is that much worse. Especially when there’s a chance that one moment of irresponsibility has already predetermined her future. Hands tied, heart bound, still mourning the loss of her best friend, Ivyanne cannot believe that having her unspoken wish granted could cause so much misery among those closest to her. The mers are no longer looking to the queen for guidance, or the princess for her decision- but the moon, for they believe that what it reveals as it wanes will illuminate Ivyanne’s path, whether she agrees, or not, for as tides sculpt the sand, the moon shapes their kingdom.But is it that simple? Is a heart divided, merely a heart in denial?In the distance, hidden in shadow but forever watching, someone thinks it is. Someone is convinced that the princess has created conflict in her heart, and will find resolution only by stepping into his arms instead. But he knows she will not listen to him and a quest begins, a journey from The Great Barrier Reef to the Antarctic Ocean, seeking allies to assist him, creating division within the kingdom for the first time in one thousand years. He believes that the moon’s power is dwarfed by his own, and if the princess can’t find a way to rule the men she thinks that she loves out of her heart, that he is going to take them out of her life any way he can. His whole life, other people have drawn the lines in the sand, but now, he is carving his own, deep enough to draw blood.Three Rings sees a shift in the mer way of thinking, but for a kingdom that was previously the pinnacle of perfection, this will be a jarring lesson to learn and will resonate from the community they have claimed as their own, to the furthest reaches of the Mediterranean, drawing fresh souls to Seaview, fresh jealousies, fresh insecurities, and fresh wounds. For what lies beneath is power previously unimagined, and one man is about to bend it to his will.

[Mermaid Varshana]

Very nice illustration, Alveric. :) it makes me wonder more about what's going on in the story.

I have a question regarding sexuality in books.

My book is not YA (young adult) fiction, it's for adults. There is sex and sexuality, but I'm wondering about how others feel about sex scenes- when does something go from being a book that includes sex because it's part of life to a book that just became erotica? I know there is a lot of paranormal fiction that discusses a fair degree of sex, but I haven't necessarily read it.

So what do you think, mer-writers? How much sex, detail, etc., is too much in a book for adults? When does it cross over into erotica?

I don't know. Lots and lots of books manage to have (sometimes very graphic!) sex scenes in them without being erotica, so it doesn't have to be a difficult thing to discern. Also, erotica is not porn. It can be a beautiful writing style.

I'd just go for honest and straight-forward. Write the frickin' scene as it plays out in your head, or start it and fade to black. Benedict is right on the money. We're adults. We know the song and dance by now.

As for one of Benedict's other assertions, I find that negative sex is harder and less satisfying to write for me. I'm fiercely against the common idea that sex often has to be a bad, damaging, destructive act to be interesting in a book. I was raised with the ideology that sex is usually a negative act growing up, and it's contributed to the fact that I will never, ever be able to function that way normally. Additionally, I have friends who continually engage in self-destructive sex and I just see nothing entertaining or engaging about writing it. So, when I write sex, it's usually a cathartic, reaffirming, exploratory scene, because my characters are usually in the process of self-rebuilding or finding themselves. In the process, I find catharsis too :) Which is cool, because fiction is such a broad swath that not all plot points have to center around doom and gloom.

[Mermaid Varshana]

By the way...

This:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/b402a35419ee265e884646f56cae15c5/tumblr_mri4c9Rl1f1rjx3xdo1_500.gif

got published. And it was crazy, crazy successful. I don't think you have to worry about anything there.

[mermaidwhisperer]

My first book has one sex scene and two quasi make-out scenes. The book is about breeding, so I can't avoid it and wouldn't want to. I write sex how it is, and I'm pretty sure it's about as erotic as it gets. But I'd like to think that out of 40 chapters, the sex only contributes to the story, not detracts. I don't like hump scenes just sprinkled through for the sake of them. I think if there's a lot of it, and it's not symbolic of anything but sex, then it's closing in on erotic territory. Not that that's a bad thing.

[Alveric]

Chapter Three of Spindrift is now available on my Deviant Art page. http://alveric2.deviantart.com/art/Spindrift-Part-One-Chapter-Three-397469927?q=gallery%3AAlveric2&qo=0

I'm releasing it a little at a time to get some feedback. If you read it, let me know what you think.

[deepblue]

I have not been able to write for a couple weeks. I don't consider it writer's block, this is related directly to mental things I deal with daily. But.

When you meet a guy, and decide to date, and without reading anything of yours, he does something exactly as you wrote in a romantic scene, it's totally points in his favor. Oh yes. :)

[Alveric]

An innate sense for what you really like? Gotta be a plus. :)

[mermaidwhisperer]

I'm so excited! The final cover for The Fairytail Saga has been revealed! Coming out October 31st WOO HOO![ATTACH]15065

[deepblue]

MermaidWhisperer- I'm not sure if you've seen this, but the latest installment in the Paranormal Activity film franchise (I won't watch it, the Howard the Duck demon in the first one sort of made me laugh my butt off) is being called The Marked Ones. It's the subtitle, but they're going to use it primarily in marketing, apparently.

http://horrorhomework.com/blog/2013/10/heres-the-trailer-for-paranormal-activity-the-marked-ones/

Which could be really good for you... when people eventually start searching on it, your book could come up. You could get new readers you might not have reached. Woohoo! Kind of lucky for you. :)

[mermaidwhisperer]

Lol I have noticed that! Don't know if it works in my advantage though-I don't know if those people are 'my' people but will be interesting to find out!
Heads Or Tails goes live in 2 days. Cannot WAIT!

[Alveric]

Spindrift Chapter four http://alveric2.deviantart.com/art/Spindrift-Part-One-Chapter-Four-404697219

and chapter five http://alveric2.deviantart.com/art/Spindrift-Part-One-Chapter-Five-411749475

are now available for readers to sample. Please let me know what you think.

[sashiyoop]

My first fanfic was for an anime called Mermaid Melody (which was actually the show that got me into anime in the first place). I'm working on a NaNoWriMo novel right now, about a boy who finds out he's a merman and a half-mer girl who lives in a family of hunters.

[Fun123joker]

My first fanfic was for an anime called Mermaid Melody (which was actually the show that got me into anime in the first place). I'm working on a NaNoWriMo novel right now, about a boy who finds out he's a merman and a half-mer girl who lives in a family of hunters.

same here! it was mermaid melody that got me to watch anime and to look for it insted of what ever is on TV. god that was an awesome anime

[emma11]

I'm filming a short film this summer with a circus mermaid getting free. I am not wonderful at script writing and am looking for someone who is interested on helping! If you've ever been interested in screenwriting on me!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[emma11]

Ahem. Pm me I mean.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[deepblue]

^That sounds like a great idea. If I might make a suggestion, due to having seen a friend of mine having screenplays stolen right out from under his nose when he trusted a 'friend' with it, I'd suggest you keep it close to you if you can. Read some free online info about writing a screen play, write it in story form first, etc. There are so many free resources online for people learning to write.


I have a general question for you all. I was just curious, because my current writing is in first person present, and I'm thinking of changing it to another point of view. What POV do you all prefer? Do you prefer one over the other? Do you feel it depends on the story being told?

[deepblue]

The writing is coming along here and there. I'm struggling more than I'd like, and I know some of it's just because I can't do the kind of solid writing hours I'd like to. Making time for what I can, and hoping to make more soon. It's important enough, of course, but I also have a lot of priorities of equal or even higher importance.

Luckily, one doesn't have to be good at something they love to pursue it as a part of one's life. :)

[Amphitrite]

So I wrote a mer-themed book for NaNoWriMo and really like it (unedited and piece-y though it is, still). But... I'm trying to figure out how I want to proceed to edit it or if I want to edit it...

[Vixy]

I'm writing a novel and short stories involving my own species of merfolk based on a dream and worked on. I'm pretty proud on my merfolk :)

[deepblue]

So I wrote a mer-themed book for NaNoWriMo and really like it (unedited and piece-y though it is, still). But... I'm trying to figure out how I want to proceed to edit it or if I want to edit it...

NaNo has been a great launching point for many stories! Every first draft has to go through so much editing, anyway. :)


I'm writing a novel and short stories involving my own species of merfolk based on a dream and worked on. I'm pretty proud on my merfolk :)

Stories based on dreams can be pretty cool. My mer are my own species, too. Different in many ways than most. I love writing fantasy for that reason... we can do so much outside of what's been done.

[mermaidwhisperer]

I've just released my fourth novel and once again-it's mermaid! It's called Urchin and this time, I've written a 'creation' story set in the eleventh century about the 'first' mermaid :)

[Mermaid Momo]

I admire all of you so much! Writing interests me so much, on the same level as drawing but everytime I begin a story, I don't
Know where to go from there. And I always never work on it again. And I usually start telling the story through 3rd person and it always wraps around into the 1st person? Most people who read what I write can't tell when I start using "I" instead of "he" or the character's name but It really bugs me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deepblue]

I envy those who can draw! I've always wanted to illustrate my work, or make a graphic novel of it.

Have you thought of that? Take your story words into the realm you're comfortable with. You could create a mer comic, or collaborate with an author.

[Mermaid Momo]

I envy those who can draw! I've always wanted to illustrate my work, or make a graphic novel of it.

Have you thought of that? Take your story words into the realm you're comfortable with. You could create a mer comic, or collaborate with an author.

I have though of making a comic but I always run into a problem: it doesn't seem realistic enough to me.
So I scrap it in the end :( or I loose the motivation to do it. I have so many ideas for a mermaid comic, but I'm having trouble organizing them and finding a plot. (I usually have l the backstory but I always miss a problem or journey or something for the characters to actually do or fight against. So I've created this world with no reason antagonist or protagonist to duke it out within it. )And even though I try to create villains, I make them very very complicated until I've added so much that I can't write them as a villain anymore D:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deepblue]

What are some of the most common mermaid tropes? I'd say that unless a writer can do the common ideas better than they've already been done, they should be avoided. Unelss it's an exercise, but if you want to get anywhere as a writer, do the same old ideas keep selling after a while?

Some common mermaid themes I see around are:
Human discovers she's really a mermaid and must deal with the consequences.
Mermaid discovers she is really an important one/and or must save her kingdom.
Mermaid is matched to marry and wants a human instead.
Mer falls in love with a human and must choose between the mer world and theirs.

Which am I missing here?

And of course there are basics to the myths, which I don't think anyone need avoid if it's part of the story. Like vampires, weres, and other supernaturals, there are things that make a fantasy creature what it is. Mermaid myths are often associated with the full moon, tides, and being predatory, and I use those, but hopefully not in a way that's been done already.

[deepblue]

Handy article.

Word Count for Novels and Children’s Books: The Definitive Post (http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/word-count-for-novels-and-childrens-books-the-definitive-post) from Writer's Digest

[Mermaid Catkid]

ive been writing stories ever since i could write:). would it be okay
to put a few paragraphs up here at a time?

[Mermaid Dottie]

A short poem I wrote today.
19426

Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk

[Starfrit]

I'm slowly starting to dip my fins back into the creative-writing water again. I used to do it all the time, but... things happened. It's been almost two years since I sat down and even tried to write anything, so it's a little daunting at times!

Since joining Mernetwork, though, I've found myself basically barraged with inspiration. Designing my mersona, developing her in my head... It's made me want to write!

So I've been writing short little blurbs in a notepad app on my iPod simply called Gills. I have no idea what it's about, exactly, just that it sort of starts out with the main character-- who is basically me (because I am not good at designing characters XD That and seeing as it's intended to flesh out my mersona and my connection to her in the first place, well...)-- who suddenly sprouts a set of gills on her neck, has no idea why, and is kind of caught between constantly freaking out over it and trying to pretend it doesn't exist and hide the problem from people, even as it gets worse; later on she starts to grow scales and basically starts turning into a full-fledged mermaid and chaos ensues. It's kind of intended as more of a comedy, because I really hate taking myself too seriously, but... I don't really know yet. XD

Aside from that, I don't really have anything figured out for it yet; I don't know who the supporting characters are going to be, or what the world these characters live in is like. Are mermaids commonplace, or are they secret? Are there other mythical creatures in this world, and are they commonplace or secret too? I haven't even figured out yet what the explaination is for Main Character/Me to be turning into a mermaid in the first place! Aaauuuggghhh.

Anyway while I was at work tonight it was fairly slow, so in my downtime I grabbed a sheet of paper and started doodling some concept sketches of the main character and such, get a feel for her facial expressions and the like. These are what I have so far:

19470


I'm still sort of tinkering with each of the several blurbs I've got written down so far, but here's the first one I'm fairly confident in, as sort of a sample:


---

Okay, so it should have maybe occurred to me to... I don't know, be a little more concerned, or something, when it didn't go away after the first day. I mean, sure, blowing it off for a day, two days tops... Anyone could do that in my position, right?

In retrospect, letting the problem go for a week straight without saying anything to anybody about it... Yeah. Yeah, okay, that probably didn't help.

But you know, I'm the nervous sort. Even worse, I'm nervous and stubborn on top of it. So when I see a problem, I have my little freak out, and then start coming up with every possible excuse in the book to justify why it's there, why it can't possibly be that serious, why everything will get better if I just let the thing run its course... I'm very good at ignoring things for as long as possible and waiting for them to go away. That's kind of my deal.

The thing is, though, it's kind of hard to ignore the gills sprouting out of your neck when you're a twenty-something-year-old who isn't supposed to have the damn things.

Yeah, my name is Tieri Avalon, and I have a major problem.

---


If anybody has suggestions for things they think could work in the story, like reasons why she might be turning into a mermaid in the first place, it'd be super appreciated! :D I'm basically working on a complete blank slate here, as this is so vastly different from the worldbuilding I'd spent most of my teenage/young-adult life developing that I really don't know where to start!

[deepblue]

I like it. :) And I envy your drawing ability. I would love to be able to illustrate my stories, well enough for a graphic novel would be great.


As for me, right now I'm in a conundrum. Looking at submission guidelines for a few publishers, I see my word count is simply not what most want.

I'm way beyond short story, but not to novel. Most seem to want at least 80k words. I'm at about 50k.

But I want to submit my work as it finally is, at 101 pages, to publishers.

So I have to make a decision. Keep the length and story as it is, which is a length that works for the story and makes me feel like this part is complete. Or add 30k words, which would be like adding another half. It would drastically change things. I don't think it works for me.

I don't want to self-publish. Perhaps I need to keep looking for publishers with novella submissions accepted.

[Gem Stone]

OK, I'm freaking out. I just finished posting a short book (very short) to wattpad. This is the first time I'm opening up and letting people read something I wrote and it's a little scary. It's not a mer book, but if this one goes well, the next one will be. Anyone have any ways to help nerves?

[Mermaid Saphira]

Hello everyone! I am a little late coming to this thread, but I dabble in writing from time to time. I have a novel in mind I'd like to write one day, but something always seems to come up and usually it is writers block :headesk:. Maybe one day I will get my thoughts out there and kick myself into joining NANOWRIMO or something :P.

[Mermaid Wesley]

Ooh yes i have the beginning of a mermaid book written :)

[Emm Cole]

Hi guys and girls! I'm Emm, and S.K. Munt encouraged me to check the Mer Network out. I'm so excited to be here and chat with all of you. I wrote a mermaid series, (Merminia and Keeping Merminia) and I love to interact with other fans of all things Mer, especially those who write it! I look forward to getting to know you all, so don't be a stranger.

[Mermaidwriter]

After my publisher did a flit to South Africa with all the company's money, my two mermaid stories sadly went out of print. However...
I have now self published them so they're back on Amazon - for an extra cheap price! PLUS there is now a THIRD mermaid story, completing the set.
Why not check them out?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515hiFSu2BL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_ OU02_.jpg (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Maid-Trelanton-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00KVNIL9S/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kinc_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0NQJGCDQQK2ZDPSCVRZR)http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51x19K1dGtL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_ OU02_.jpg (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Secrets-Trelanton-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00KX3ZKFY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kinc_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0VCSQX868XKDZRQYRF4C)http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sE%2BIqaTtL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_ OU02_.jpg (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagulls-Exile-Trelanton-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00KZW4ZYA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=19V2XR4SFKPTDKZ2NXSM)

[Emm Cole]

I really love your covers! Just beautiful.

[Emm Cole]

SeaMage108, I'm sort of with you on this. I assume they have human intellect, but also the survival instincts of a fish. So I don't necessarily view them as human either. In my books, they have human thought processes and feelings, but they're instantly defensive and their senses are more heightened to their environment.

[Emm Cole]

21942 So I've teamed up with two other amazing mermaid authors, who write in different genres. We're doing a freebie this Thursday and Friday, and I'd be so honored if some of you who enjoy writing Mer stuff would download a Kindle copy and let me know your thoughts on the story. I could really use the feedback.

[Mermaidwriter]

I really love your covers! Just beautiful.

Aww, thanks! I did them myself :)

[Mermaidwriter]

21942 So I've teamed up with two other amazing mermaid authors, who write in different genres. We're doing a freebie this Thursday and Friday, and I'd be so honored if some of you who enjoy writing Mer stuff would download a Kindle copy and let me know your thoughts on the story. I could really use the feedback.
Your link was there but now it's disappeared! I want to check out your stories!

[Emm Cole]

Your link was there but now it's disappeared! I want to check out your stories! You can find them both here or more on Goodreads. But don't download them yet if you want to read them. They'll both be free on Thursday!http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=merminia&sprefix=mermi%2Caps Are you on Goodreads? I just added your book. I'll have to read it when my pile of books gets a little thinner. :)

[Mermaidwriter]

Thought I would just let everyone know - the first in my series of mermaid tales is now FREE on Amazon for the next five days! Grab it now before this deal swims away!
22673 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Maid-Trelanton-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00KVNIL9S/ref=pd_sim_kinc_2)

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I'm on Goodreads! Welcome all requests, just tell me you're from here. Me: Olivia Buch
I got your book Mermaidwriter! :) And a lot of other free mer-books. I have my book I'm writing on goodreads if anyone wants to add it. ;)

[deepblue]

I've missed out on all the deals! I'll check the thread more often, I'd have liked to take advantage of those.

I've just finished the rewrites and rewrites of the novella I've been working on for over a year. Thanks to the initial help of Coral Sybil, from whom I learned so much when it came to an earlier draft. I changed a few things, too. Having done research on copyright, I had to change one song that was used in the tale, and changed the title.

So now I have an 85 page story with Book Two already creating itself in my head, and I'm in the process of, "Is it good enough to try to publish, self or otherwise?" I will try to get published, and use any rejection letters as an exercise in learning how to improve.

Oh- question for those of you who've published, self or otherwise: do you use a pen name? If so, how did you choose it, and why do you use it?

[coral_sybil]

First off, I'm sorry to SurlySeaNymph, I kind of disappeared while looking at her second draft. Life was just... yuck.

But I'm itching to get back to work and would like to help anyone who would like me too.

Secondly, I've so far been published with my real name. However my future stuff I'm using a pen name, mostly because it's going to be creative non fiction memoir type stuff and I don't need my family to know it's me.

A Pen Name can be a character/persona you create for yourself. Or there are otherways, like the one I use is Middle Name as first name, and then the street you grew up on as your last name. That technique doesn't quiet work if you grew up on a numbered street.

I see Pen Names as a way of being able to put your stuff out there and not having people you know judge you on it's content. For a few Authors it's a way to write things that are normally not seen as suited for them. As JK Rowling used her pen name, if I remember correctly, because Harry Potter was a boy and felt that if people knew it was written by a woman initially they wouldn't respect it and give the book half a chance.

There are many various reasons to use a pen name.

[deepblue]

No worries, the help you gave me on the first was still SO much what I needed. I'm coming from very little education outside of what I myself have read.

At this point, I'm reading about writing a novel synopsis. It's probably not that difficult, but I'm intimidated by it. lol

I think I will use a pen name, for sure. And I have it already. I don't know how most people come up with them, but I didn't want to make the mistake my BF's ex made... she chose a name that is the same as a children's book character- she self-pub'd two, 20 page, erotica stories. I haven't read them, but if you search her pen name, a kid's book comes up first. A little research could have prevented that. Maybe no one else sees that as an issue, but I would rather not choose a name that brings up anyone else much less a kids book if I'm writing erotica.

[deepblue]

Hello all,

Just curious if anyone here has used Red Pen for Rent's services? They offer editorial, design, marketing. I have not used them, which is why I'm looking to see if anyone has.

http://redpenforrent.com

https://www.facebook.com/RedPenForRent

[LauraLWatson]

Can anyone recommend books that my company, The MerFriends, can keep in our "net of tricks" to read to groups of children? Ideally, these would be children's story books and I'd love it if there was a lesson buried within the story. (Story is most important.) We would read these at storytime events (libraries, schools, daycares), rained out events where the pool or lake is cleared, and maybe educational appearances. Most interested in lessons about water safety, environmental responsibility, and kindness. Titles, author, and a short description would be great. And if you know where I can buy them cheap- even better. I'll be buying 5 copies of each book (one for each member of the mer-troupe). Thanks!

[deepblue]

Who here is doing NaNoWriMo? New member Mermaid Angelique mentioned it, reminded me I wanted to ask about it.

I had hoped to, but it's unrealistic for me. My daughter's surgery is tomorrow, we're going to be attached at the hip (no pun... since it's her hips being operated on) for about six weeks. I keep thinking I might try, but I prefer to set myself up for success.

However! I'd love to hear about the NaNoWriMo experiences of others.

[coral_sybil]

I'm doing NaNoWriMo, and thanks to the drama at home I'm not having the best of luck... I'm hoping to catch up with my word count this weekend while everyone is at work.

[deepblue]

Sorry to hear there's drama at home. :/ But you're sticking with the NaNo, that's good. Maybe you can even vent out some argh through it. lol

[coral_sybil]

The main character isn't a mermaid. Her name is Monica and she has a small problem. She has a power she can't control. It gets her in trouble, and while it can be useful it is also really hard to navigate... She is forgotten. She sometimes disappears from a persons attention. They can sometimes not see her, they can forget that they are even talking to her, like stop midsentence and forget her.

It's useful for getting out of problems, as well as getting into problems if people do things when they think they have no witnesses. :P

[deepblue]

Coral Sybil, that sounds interesting, fresh. Not done a million times. I hope it's coming along for you!


Writing a synopsis is far more difficult than writing the damn book was.

ARGH.

[Mermaid Ciela]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and super glad that this thread exists - I can't wait to read all of these mermaid stories! I participated in NaNoWriMo, went to the Night of Writing Dangerously, and won a Kindle Voyage as one of the top fundraisers, so I'm super excited to find some books to put on it! I've been writing mermaid stories for...pretty much as long as I've been writing, and the novel I started in November was one that I'd been planning since I was about 10. I managed to get to 50k, but I'm only nearly halfway through - on chapter nine of twenty. So it'll be a lot longer than I had thought it would be to start out with, but that's alright! The short synopsis of it is that a mermaid princess, Arell, goes out on a journey/adventure/quest to summon the Goddess of the realm to put a stop to the Blue Mountain volcano erupting and destroying her home/Clan. (To do this she has to gather representatives of each of the eight Clans, which is tough because two of them are extinct, and one of them gets kidnapped and hurt in the middle of their travels.)

Also, Laura - if you're still looking for kid-friendly books about merfolk, definitely try to get your hands on Helen Dunmore's Ingo series. There are four books in the series - Ingo, The Tide Knot, The Deep, and lastly The Crossing of Ingo. The last book was tough for me to get my hands on, but they're really great - they're about a young girl (probably somewhere between 10-14) called Sapphire and her brother, Conor, as they discover the existence of the Mer (who have tails more closely resembling those of dolphins or seals than fish, but it's a modern twist on merfolk) and find out that their dad may not have died after disappearing when they were younger. The books talk about a lot of the stuff you mentioned being interested in - water safety, environmental responsibility, kindness. Another series you might be interested in is Liz Kessler's Emily Windsnap books, which are about a girl named Emily Windsnap who lives on a boat but has never been fully submerged in water until she starts swimming lessons in seventh grade, at which point she finds out she's half-mermaid from her father's side. She goes off to rescue him (and find out why her mom doesn't remember him), and so on and so forth. I think there are currently five books in the series, and according to Google it's ongoing, so Ms. Kessler isn't finished with Emily yet. Again, important topics like environmental responsibility (that's mostly in the last book, if I recall correctly), kindness, good communication, trust, etc. are discussed, so you might find them useful. I hope that helped, and wasn't too late!

[LauraLWatson]

Awesome! I discovered Emily Windsnap when they were doing a charity book drive and that was in the stack of books I "bought" for a needy kid. I ended up going back and buying myself a copy. Haha. Story is good, writing is juvenile and eh. I'll look into that other series, sounds good. Are they chapter books or children's story books I can read at events?

[Mermaid Ciela]

Ahh, shucks, they're chapter books. I remember being a kid and having an obscene amount of children's/picture books of The Little Mermaid, but I have no recollection of where they came from or where they are now. There's GOTTA be some picture books about mermaids, though, or at the very least some "be nice to the ocean!" books. Hmmm...

[deepblue]

In case any of you haven't seen it, Coradion posted a nifty writing challenge here: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?9808-Short-Story-Challenge!-December-to-January-31st!

[Mermaid Ciela]

I had seen that, deepblue - thanks for posting about it! I've written something, but then got an idea for something else, which I think will work better, so I'm writing it out now... It'll actually be tough for me to keep it under a thousand words. :doh: :headdesk: I'm up for the challenge, though!!

[deepblue]

I know what you mean- I NEVER write short stories. But I did a quick 1000 words for this, because I've been in a writing funk. It was fun.

[deepblue]

The Writer's Circle FB page posted this, I think it's worth posting here.
It won't apply to everyone.
My thoughts on #6 - Although I never was an outliner before, I have actually found doing some, even after the first draft in order to refine it, has been really helpful.

30721

[deepblue]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if any if you uses an editing program. These are two I'm looking at right now.

AutoCrit - https://www.autocrit.com/

ProWritingAid https://prowritingaid.com/

They both seem to have great features that could come in handy, esp for those who can't afford to hire an editor and want their manuscript professionally cleaned up before submission.

[SeaMansa]

You know what I hate?
When you spend hours writing only to find out you haven't actually written anything new, but just editing little minor things from previous things you have written already. #NoProgress >_____<

[deepblue]

^True, but as Chrichton said...

34731

Oh and to follow up with that post I made about editing software- I have been using ProWritingAid, and it is WONDERFUL. It's been extremely educational for me, personally, it's really helped and I do believe my writing has improved due to it. Well worth the purchase price.

[MermaidSasha]

So glad to see other writers on here :) I'm about to start planning out some ideas for a mermaid story/novel(depends on how my writing goes really). What are some of your favorite genres to write in? Has anyone tried to do a horror type mermaid novel?

[Adalira]

I love writing and am working on a book (although i have not worked on it in over a year). That moment when you close yourself of from the world and step into another is simply amazing to me and i can't wait to have more time to start writing again.
I printed out several chapters and had family and a friend and his wife (who is a published writer) read it and they all loved it and keep asking me to write more, but there is the part of not enough time to work on it more and the part of pressure since they liked the first part so much.....what if the next totally sucks or does not live up to the expecatations they have?
But it is so fun to write, such a different way to express creativity where you get to create a complete different world and make it your own :-)
This thread makes me all tingly inside with inspiration to start writing again soon. Thank you! :)

[deepblue]

I love writing and am working on a book (although i have not worked on it in over a year). That moment when you close yourself of from the world and step into another is simply amazing to me and i can't wait to have more time to start writing again.

I agree, I miss the world I created and the characters in it when I'm not immersed in the act of writing it. Going back into the manuscript is liking going home.


I printed out several chapters and had family and a friend and his wife (who is a published writer) read it and they all loved it and keep asking me to write more, but there is the part of not enough time to work on it more and the part of pressure since they liked the first part so much.....what if the next totally sucks or does not live up to the expecatations they have?
But it is so fun to write, such a different way to express creativity where you get to create a complete different world and make it your own :-)
This thread makes me all tingly inside with inspiration to start writing again soon. Thank you! :)



I keep reminding myself that the best writers I've known started off thinking they were awful.

And the people I know who really, really tout themselves as great authors tend to... well, let's say they tend to not be very good story tellers. Eventually, they might be. Sure, some are, some just know and they really are, but it's often not the case.

On another note:

I keep seeing someone (not here) talking about her ebooks, how 'before she was published' blah blah, and such... and they're really short stories, most people would say they're only books in the most technical sense, and she self-published. She was not published, again, except in the most technical sense.

I think writing in this era of ebooks and self-publishing needs a dose of honesty.

There is nothing wrong with self-publishing, so if you go that route, and aren't honest about it, you make it look like you think there was something wrong with it.

There is nothing wrong with writing in any length or style, if it's what you are moved to do, but saying, "I have two published ebooks!" when they're actually so short that people have said they felt it was a waste of $.99, that they seemed like maybe they should have been a prologue or introduction, you're misleading people. Perhaps, that author could have said, "I published two short stories, they're in ebook format." Or maybe I'm the one being too technical. hah.

Also, those people should have checked the page count before buying. :p

Anyway, my break's over. I'm using the pointers given to me by the surprisingly good ProWritingAid to finish editing.

Current writing music: Naiades by Monica Richards (http://www.monicarichards.com/naiades.htm)

[deepblue]

Having seen a number of mers mention Wattpadd, and I having no knowledge of it, I looked into it. Found this article, and I think it's informative enough to pass on.

https://www.standoutbooks.com/6-things-every-author-needs-to-know-about-wattpad/

[Adalira]

Thank you Deepblue!

These days it is so easy to self publish a book that it seems everyone is doing it these days.
I know a woman who self published her book and it showed. Even though her story line was a nice one, there were a lot of spelling misstakes in the book as well as sentences not writing in the correct order which really distracted me from the story.
My friend who is a published writer, lets me pre-read the work he is working on. I get the book in A4 size and take a pencil and highlight spelling misstakes, wrong sentence build up or any other misstakes in his books (for instance, it can happen that he accidentally names character A all of a sudden Character B so it makes no sense, just a simple and easy fixable misstake but can throw off readers a lot).
I feel that with own published books, these details that may not seem important to them ,are in fact very important and are skipped over sometimes.
I have noticed it with own published work often.

My dad got his book published in Septembre and even though it was not a self published book, but actually published by a book publisher, it still has spelling misstakes. I know he had it proof read by my brother and our writer friend but i wish they would have given me time to proof read it as well for spelling misstakes.

Thanks for sharing that link! Looks very interesting! I write in Dutch though so i don't think it would be something for me. If i wrote in English i would most likely get on there :-)

[Prince Calypso]

I a quick question.
Which do you think is better
a story where a teen character becomes a mermaid and goes on from there
or
a story where the teenage character starts out as a mermaid?

same story, different character development

[Adalira]

Both storylines will work well depending on how you write it.
In my opinion it is all about how you write the story, even the most boring storyline can turn into an amazing story when written well.
In both storylines you mentioned there are endless possibilities on how the character developes in the story or how she becomes/became who she is.
I would suggest starting with the storyline that appeals most to you, since you are the one writing the story and simply sit down and start writing it.
What i do is i put on some new age music and go work on the story, many times i find that once i start writing, the story writes itself and while writing i come up with more and more and am completely consumed by that world i created.
Let me reverse your question here, which storyline appeals most to you to work on?

[Prince Calypso]

truthfully I like the idea of either one but I guess if I had to choose it would be the story line where the character becomes a mermaid (think 13th year but darker)

[Mermaid Julianne]

truthfully I like the idea of either one but I guess if I had to choose it would be the story line where the character becomes a mermaid (think 13th year but darker)
I'm on board. Sounds interesting 😈

[Adalira]

That´s also the storyline where many ideas popped into my head with.
The possibilities are truly endless on how she becomes a mermaid, why, how and where.
This is so exciting!

[Prince Calypso]

my only issue is that i'm pulling from so many different ideas and concepts that i'm putting myself in a bit of a whirlwind
I have the basic idea of how I want the story to go planned out, I've got the love interest picked out and most of the other charter put together
I just can't seem to get any of it typed out the way I want because different ideas keep popping in and out my head.
I have typed and retyped the first few pages over and over

[Adalira]

What i would do (and this is only my opinion here so if it sounds unworkable to you, please don't listen to it) is start writing on the story you like the most from all the stories you have in your head.
For example, take a Sunday or any other day and just sit down and keep on writing. Don't read the first chapters back yet. Just try and get as much of the story on paper/laptop/pc/typewriter (which ever you use) as possible.
Later you can work on reading the chapters back and editing them.
I have found myself readibg back chapters way too much, editing them and then having to read everything through to make sure those changes were made everywhere in the book (when it's a name or something else significant to the story)
Try to commit to a storyline that you are happy with.
You always have the option of writing multiple stories at once if you prefer and eventually you will most likely start committing to one of them the most.
So sit down and write and make sure you write for a while, commit to a storyline and write as much about it as you can and as far into the story as you can.
The detailwork you can do later. Try to commit to one for now.
If then you still want to work on other stories as well....simply start writing a new one.
I hope this was helpfull.

[Mermaid Wesley]

My New Years resolution is to write more! I want to make progress on my novels and I'm so slow rn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Prince Calypso]

What i would do (and this is only my opinion here so if it sounds unworkable to you, please don't listen to it) is start writing on the story you like the most from all the stories you have in your head.
For example, take a Sunday or any other day and just sit down and keep on writing. Don't read the first chapters back yet. Just try and get as much of the story on paper/laptop/pc/typewriter (which ever you use) as possible.
Later you can work on reading the chapters back and editing them.
I have found myself readibg back chapters way too much, editing them and then having to read everything through to make sure those changes were made everywhere in the book (when it's a name or something else significant to the story)
Try to commit to a storyline that you are happy with.
You always have the option of writing multiple stories at once if you prefer and eventually you will most likely start committing to one of them the most.
So sit down and write and make sure you write for a while, commit to a storyline and write as much about it as you can and as far into the story as you can.
The detailwork you can do later. Try to commit to one for now.
If then you still want to work on other stories as well....simply start writing a new one.
I hope this was helpfull.

That's actually really sound advice. I'll try that out

[Adalira]

@ Mermaid Wesley : Good luck woth writing. I made that one of my goals for the new year :-)

@ Prince Calypso: Good luck and i hope it helps and works :-)

[MermaidSasha]

My New Years resolution is to write more! I want to make progress on my novels and I'm so slow rn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I made that one of my goals for the new year. I hope to be at least halfway through my novel by the start of next year.

[Adalira]

That sounds great. Good luck with your goal! If you want you can add your goals in the New Years Resolutions thread that i created. It is in the Everything Else section. At around April i will be posting in there to see how everyone is doing with their goals as a remider :-)

[Mermaid Momo]

Okay so I haven't posted here in a very long time, I've finally gotten my hands on The Twice Lost and it's really making me want more mermaid novels/series that aren't all mushy and glitter and for pre-teens and it really got me thinking about writing my own novel again. But the thing is, I'm an okay writer, I just have a problem with keeping the story going for a long time and getting out a nice solid plot. Then I also struggle with wanting to write a novel and wanting to do something with my art like making a graphic novel.

Does anyone have any tips for how to get better at writing long term and creating solid plots and characters? (I also have a huge problem with switching between points of view, I always start of with 3rd person then switch gradually to 1st person and i'm not sure if that will throw readers off. )

Here's a sample of my writing btw, I have a lot to learn

I hate summer. I hate the bugs, I hate the sun, I hate the juicy watermelon everyone laps up like thirsty puppies, I hate the carnivals that seem to pepper every single parking lot of every small and large market in town, I hate the firecrackers that fill the sky in their colorful blooms.
I.
hate.
summer.
Most of all though, I hate my grandma’s old broke down car that trudges down roads sputtering out curses,because that signals the beginning of a long, dreadful, boring, summer. The ride to my grandma’s house isn’t by any means pleasant. The dinosaur crawls past rotting trailer homes, their windows overflowing with trash, rusting cars in ditches, old farm machinery decomposing into red bones on the sides of roads and dirty kids who are too curious for their own good.To some this would be beautiful, a taste of what the southern country really is. To me, this is pure hell. Every summer since i was younger I’ve made the same pilgrimage to my grandma’s small house in the middle of the Mississippian countryside. My grandma is pleasant enough, a small hunched over old woman full of christian morals and old witchcraft she tries to pass off as the word of God. A woman whose hair is a ruffling uncharacterized swirl of curls and knots, sprouting out of her scalp like untamed rose bushes. A woman whose every other word is some kind of prayer or hymn or nursery rhyme.A very pleasant woman. She doesn’t talk much on the hour long trip from the bus stop to her house. The radio is blaring in the small car and she’s singing along in a slightly off tune version of her own making. Every now and then in a fit of sudden spirituality she thrusts both her hands into the air letting the car swerve uncontrolled through the streets then brings them both slamming down on the wheel exclaiming “Praise God! Amen!” and shaking her head excitedly. I lay my head on the door of the car and stare out at the emptiness we pass .
After an hour of listening to my grandma shout “Praise God!Amen!”, and watching the sun roll lazily across my skin, we arrive at our final destination. A small ,ugly, pastel green house surrounded by tall thick trees on all sides and a deep ditch dangerously close to the road and the makeshift driveway.She coaxed the car slowly past the ditch, which my side of the car leaned ominously towards the bottom of , threatening to send us into it at any moment. She parked the car on the side of the house, and shouted “praise God!”one last time before sauntering off up the cracking concrete steps and into the house. I stood for a moment next to the car, staring at the way the sunlight somehow found ways to get in through the thick canopy of trees overhead to touch the grass around the house. Then quickly went inside. The house was exactly like it always has been, horribly decorated with mix matching floral sofas, persian rugs, and angel statues that littered every nook and cranny. I roam the hallways the same way I do every summer. Running my hands over the familiar cracks and tears in the old,worn wallpaper. The house is a cozy two bedroom with a small kitchen and a smaller family room adjourned to a meager excuse for a bathroom.

[Mermaid Momo]

Is anyone here a member of camp nanowrimo? How does it work? Does it restart every single month?

[MermaidSasha]

Have you ever done NaNoWriMo? Its pretty much the same thing only you set your wordcount goal yourself instead of the required 50k in Novemeber

I did camp nanowrimo last year. They have it two times during the some month. I believe the next one is July? I've only done NaNoWriMo itseld once too and sadly didn't reach the word count goal. Camp NaNo differs because you get to pick your own word count(lowest you can go is 10k words). You make sure to check in with your word count like on NaNoWriMo. They have small prizes for if you meet your goal within the month. When I did Camp last year I got a percent off the Scrivener writing program. So instead of paying $40 I only spent $20. Scrivener is DEFINITELY worth it!

You can be put in "cabins" which the people will have your same interests or age or something. Its definitely fun and I'd recommend trying it at least once :)

Hope I helped.

[Prince Calypso]

quick question.
how plausible would it be to have mermaids in a place like morro bay? or any beach city along the California cost?
are there any mermaids from Morro Bay who could tell me about the beach life there. I went a few years ago but didn't really get a chance to take it all in. I remember there being lots of seals though
would morro bay be a place where a small group of mermaids could live without detection if they were careful?

[Mer-Crazy]

Hahaha! I actually did a mermaid roleplay with a guy and we set it in Morro Bay (we made the joke that it was actually a misspell of 'merrow' which is another word/ variety of merfolk). Also Mermaid Miracles was set in Morro Bay when it was filming.

[Prince Calypso]

Hahaha! I actually did a mermaid roleplay with a guy and we set it in Morro Bay (we made the joke that it was actually a misspell of 'merrow' which is another word/ variety of merfolk). Also Mermaid Miracles was set in Morro Bay when it was filming.

that kinda where i got the idea, that and having visited once.
but how plausible would it be for group of three mermaids to live in Morro Bay without being discovered. i know there is a lot of boating and tourist because of morro rock.

[Merman Storm]

I live just down the coast from Morro bay, and have visited it. Most of the California coast is used by someone, either living there, or surfing, or SCUBA diving, or fishing, or whale watching, or just boating. Its hard to imagine any large creature living here undiscovered. However...
Just off Monterrey bay is a deep underwater canyon. Now and then researchers send remote controlled submersibles there to explore, as much of it remains unexplored. Something sufficiently vigilant could remain hidden there.
http://www.geosociety.org/graphics/media/2013/13-80-Fig1Stevensetal.jpg
Near the coast there are also kelp forests, but divers go into those all the time.

[Ligeia]

I am splashing into this thread so hard! I've been looking for a writing thread here for a little while now!

I'm a fantasy writer myself. Ironically, I've never written about them. I need to do that!

Hi all!

[Princess Kae-Leah]

I haven't written fiction in a while because, depessingly enough, it seems whenever I have an idea, someone else comes along with a similar concept, only executed ten times better. I'm actually slightly embarrassed of some aspects of my "Nerissa Sanderson" Fictionpress novella series, because I've since come across so much other mermaid media with similar themes. I feel almost like it's only worth making the effort to write any more if I come up with a truly unique and original idea. I recently came up with a new "mersona", or basically a back story for my mermaid cosplay persona, as a young mermaid princess in the Disney TLMverse who was born unable to swim, which she is somewhat insecure about. I'm really tempted to write fanfiction around my mersona, but the thing is, it would technically be a self-insert into the Disney Little Mermaid universe, since the character is basically me had I been born in a fantasy world, and self-insert fics tend to get a bad rap as being overly "Mary Sue-ish", but I guess a disabled character would subvert the usual perfect Mary Sue tropes. What do you guys think, should I give it a go? Would you read TLM fanfiction surrounding a disabled OC based on my real-life self? Any tips for avoiding the usual Mary Sue self-insert cliche's?

Here's my new mersona:

Princess Kae-Leah is the lovely mermaid princess of the North Pacific Ocean with a sparkly purple tail in the same universe as Disney’s The Little Mermaid who just happens to have born disabled, unable to swim. Due to this, she generally leads a sheltered life, doted upon by her mother, Queen Gwendolyn, rarely leaving the palace of her kingdom and when she does, it’s in a seahorse-drawn chariot, the mer-world’s equivalent of a wheelchair. Although she is insecure about her disability, she tries very hard to compensate for it by studying very hard, especially languages and environmental science, hoping to one day rule her kingdom with her brain making up for her lack of swimming ability.
When Kae-Leah and her mother visited Atlantica on a royal state visit, she quickly becomes good friends with Ariel, who of course is very accepting of her disability, especially when she discovers that Princess Kae-Leah enjoys visiting the surface of the ocean as much as she does, because when posed on rocks above the water, all mermaids’ mobility is limited, no matter how good of a swimmer they are under the water, so it’s an equalizer! Ursula the Sea Witch attempted to take advantage of Kae-Leah’s insecurity by promising to grant her the ability to swim in exchange for stealing King Triton’s trident for her, but she declined, because as much as she’d love to swim, she refused to place the sea kingdom in danger.
Princess Kae-Leah hopes one day to find a merman who would love her in spite of her disability, but for the time being is grateful for the love and support of her family and friends.

[Mermaid Ankhali]

I'm a mer-writer! Although I haven't written much mer-related stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MermaidSasha]

So happy to see so many other writers on here ^.^ I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year and its going well so far. My novel is mermaid/steampunk inspired.

[Mermaid Momo]

So I took the plunge and started writing again. You can read what is posted here:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/92718315-beautiful-monsters/parts

https://a.wattpad.com/cover/92718315-176-k413307.jpg

[Mermaid_Izzy]

I am working on a Mer story, even though I like to write, I have a hard time finding time for it...hopefully I can work on it this summer...


Sent from my ShellPhone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Momo]

I finally figured out how to give you all a preview haha
<iframe width="500" height="280" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" src="https://embed.wattpad.com/story/92718315" ></iframe>

[Alaw ferch Tonnau]

I guess I'm a fantasy writer as I've been writing fantasy novels for years but I've never finished one. I'm determined to finish the one I'm working on at the moment. It's not really mer fiction but some of the characters are merfolk. It's about fairies in British and Irish folklore where merfolk are considered fairies.

[Mermaid Lanier]

I've always been a writer. I've written several finished novellas, lots of short stories, and just finished two books (Beast and Queen) in a trilogy I'm working on. But I've never written anything about mermaids before.

I've had plenty of concepts for them, but never a plot. I think it's because I have a tendency to try and write something earth-shaking and world-changing as far as plot goes (in Knights In Shining Armor, my characters will be rewriting the very pillars of reality!) and a mermaid story would be much more personal for me. I would prefer something just a little quieter where it really focuses on the characters, akin to a romance novel.

In most mermaid books I've read, I get a little upset that the plot gets in the way of me simply learning about their life and the way that mermaids live under the ocean. I would happily sit down and read a book about a mermaid just going about her daily life. A lot of the time, I feel like the plot just gets in the way of that. So as soon as I finish my current trilogy, I would love to start on that.

[deepblue]

Lanier, I hope you will work on that. I love the idea of a day in the life of a mermaid. Sounds nice. :)

I'm working on a final draft of something started long ago. I feel like I'm always learning how to improve my writing, so I'm back at this story. I enjoy it, if I say so myself, and I don't want to give up and leave it at the state it is in. I think I can improve it. So, Exposition Expelliarmus! Because I didn't realize I was using exposition in a way I'd rather not until just a little while ago.


I hope everyone else is having a good writing experience lately!

What is everyone working on? If you care to share.

[MermaidSasha]

I'm working on finishing the rough draft of a fantasy story while also preparing and planning a horror novel for November xD

[Princess Kae-Leah]

https://www.wattpad.com/story/117023712-merfolk-guide-to-the-most-magical-creatures-of-the

My latest online "book':
A faux "textbook" covering the complex and unique biology of the most magical and beautiful (fictional) creatures of the sea. Answers to the following questions and more inside:
*What do mermaids eat?
*Do merfolk have gills?
*Do they have to go to the bathroom like us?
*Do mermaids really wear seashell bras?

[MermaidSasha]

That's awesome!

[deepblue]

The Internet has changed so much in the past ten years. Years ago, I'd write something, get tons of reads and great feedback - usually on a Yahoogroups site, or something else focused on a genre. But now, with so many people writing in the categories, it's just saturated with the things I loved to write about. Including mermaids. There are so many mermaid stories. And granted, the stories with royal lines and battles, people learning they're mer, merfolk societies, are definitely the popular thing, but it's just not what I want to write.

I tried Wattpad a couple years ago, then I decided I didn't like it. But I decided to try again. So I have writing on Wattpad right now. Just one story. I have views, but only one comment. The whole reason I'm there is for feedback. But I'm not getting a lot of reads.

So here is mine, in case anyone wants to read it. It's a lot of parts, but each part is not all that long at all. I think part of my problem is that it doesn't fit easily into a category; it's got some romance, but it doesn't center on it. And I could use a decent cover, for sure. I am not an artist, however, and I can't imagine anyone making it the way I imagine.

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/137259625-moon-at-sea

[Mermaid Delphinidae]

Haven't done much writing in a while, but trying to get back into it. I want to add more action and drama and crazy fantasy stuff to my Guardians merfolk stories, just go nuts.

[deepblue]

Cool, I hope you have some great creative bursts!

I'm stoked- someone left a great comment on my story. :D I don't know if they were from here, but woohoo!

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