Devastation...

[Scott Hess]

Wow, so there's yet *another* thing I can do instead of writing! This place!

I'm 200 pages into a novel, and aside from the opening scene...I'm not sure anything has really happened yet. Killin' me. I gotta disappear the main guy's parents...but all this exposition keeps getting in the way.

I need a writers' group here in Chicago. And I'm not using the word "need" lightly. I'm half-decent, have ideas and chops, and yet I'm...wayward. Muddled.

And it's not as if sitting here and listening to Matthew Ryan is gonna cure any of it.

[Christa M. Miller]

There are maybe a dozen to two dozen online zines. Did you see the "BSP" thread here about short stories? The zines mentioned there all have very good reputations. Spinetingler especially works with new writers (like me). Much luck, I look forward to seeing your material!

[Scott Hess]

First...thanks a ton for the comment. Already I like it *here*.

Yeah, it's a first. A rough. But still...

I've outlined a bit. I know who killed who and why. I know the detours and rouge herrings. I know enough. But I keep wanting to just get one more thing in before I get that next thing in, you know?

Any ideas about best short story markets? Where's the place to focus on to get noticed? Ellery Queen? Something new?

Again, thanks for the comment, Christa. Much appreciated.

[Christa M. Miller]

Is it a rough draft? Don't worry so much about the exposition. It sounds like your gut sense is telling you something needs to happen now, so make it happen. Even if it doesn't "work" right now - the point of a rough is to move forward.

You might also like to outline. Some writers outline bit by bit, not all at once. Their outlines are based on what they've already learned from the draft, so they have a sense of structure without hemming themselves in.

As for a writers' group, join the club. :P I'm at home in the boonies with two little kids - it's too easy to become isolated, but I'm fighting it with short stories. If those get published, I figure the novel has hope, too.