The Mer-Writers Thread

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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.

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Handy article.

Word Count for Novels and Children’s 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.


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:




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.

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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! 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!

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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?

[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]

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]

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_no...ix=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!

[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?