Continuation of Satire Discussion

[BarryDavidson]

In the Constructive Criticism thread, a conversation started there which belongs in its own thread.

[quote="HayleyWriter"]Perhaps you're right and good humour is more generally acceptable than the stronger satire format. I don't know who this guy from The Onion is who you keep quoting but surely this is not your only authority on satire?[/quote]

No, he's just the one on the people who got me thinking in new directions. When I first tried writing satire, I wrote in general terms. I didn't quote anyone, didn't mention names, tried to be too politically correct. None of my pieces did very well.

At that point, I was already writing comedy. I wrote poetry, a few short stories, and was submitting them to a website for feedback. My first satire piece was called "Wicca Finally Proven to Be Hoax," and its original form was pretty drab and boring. It sat for weeks, hardly getting any reviews. Finally, someone familiar with the field did a line by line edit, and gave me an honest review. Needless to say, it wasn't a very "good" review, but it was one of the most helpful I've ever gotten. I revised the piece five different times before finally settling on its final version.

That final version actually did well in the ratings, and got far more reviews.

(Just for clarification. I've been studying religions since I was thirteen. They fascinate me in their similarity to each other, while people fight over their differences.)

[BarryDavidson]

The "What Men Hear" piece did pretty good. I asked the women on the site to write a companion piece called "What Women Hear," but no one too me up on it. That one wasn't as hard to write as I first thought, but I still sent it to over a dozen women before posting it. It did better. Ironically, nine out of every ten positive reviews it got were from women.

Many of my satire pieces, regrettably, were posted on Helium. I wish I had found this site a long time ago. Before finding Constant Content I'd only managed to get eight pieces published. In four years, the totals from my writing has amounted to 300.00 USD.

You all have been great here on the CC forums. Most other writing sites are full of "forum trolls" who spend most of their time attacking everyone and everything. If I have offended anyone here, it was not by specific intent. I was merely testing the waters. I've spent a lot of time and energy "experimenting" online to find a home for my writing. I'll continue to search for a home for my poetry and short stories, but this is a site I can definitely put down roots on.

So, thank you for your answers in other threads.

[HayleyWriter]

"I'll continue to search for a home for my poetry and short stories, but this is a site I can definitely put down roots on."

Barry,
I don't think anyone could ask for a greater commendation than that! I found CC earlier this year and I love it! The people here are great and I love reading the forums. It feels like this my home community for writing, which is something I never had before. I think every comment you have made in the forums has been geared towards generating healthy discussion and debate, like the one on satire, rather than being deliberately offensive. Anyway, I have been reading some of your non-satirical submissions with pleasure and I think you will do well here. I hope you do!

Kind regards,

Hayley