Welcome to the Circle of Jerks

Jerk News Letter - Issue # 1

Jerk News

Welcome to Issue number 1! Currently in the Circle we have people hard at work going through the long list of people and their books awaiting review. The review book will undergo some changes in the upcoming weeks as we feature different stories.

Jerk Prompts is due for another 'Drop'. Currently accepting members, the game includes a Prompt to be dropped in the group chat with the time frame of 3 days. The rules are simple. Look at the Prompt (or listen to it) then take 30 minutes in one stretch during the three days, and write. When you're done, you post your document do Google Docs and your work of art will be featured in the Prompt Book!

Blood Bourbon has been completed ( sorry for the spam, but the story has been done for monts!). It will be followed by another book from Whiskey's Breaking Universe, named Broken Warrior. These books are supernatural romances, but they contain a healthy bit of action and moral reasoning to satisfy nearly every reader. Keep in mind that The Jerks believe in inclusivity and feature romance that fall outside of societies typical androcentric, binary concepts. If you are not comfortable with equal representation in literature, keep your comments to yourself and politely decline to imbibe.

(Any jerks have any news or things they would like to have considered for the next issue. Send us a private message and let us know!)

Featured Jerk

Potato Man 9001 was one of the early members of the Circle of Jerks, appearing in our midst shortly after the thread was started. He quickly became a steadfast member and contributor during his free time, including reading and supporting other Jerk's works, contributing stories to the group collaboration "How to Wield your Magical Hammer...", as well as participating in thread discussions that varied from mutant chicken hatching to theft of cookies.

A writer from an early age, he wrote his first book in grade seven and had tackled his prolific Blackwyrm Chronicles while as a freshman in Highschool. Currently released in 4 parts, he has brought hundreds, if not thousands, of readers along for the fantastical ride involving a myriad of characters in a fantasy setting that carry a well entrenched sense of hilarity. His newest book, Dead Men Have No Legacies takes a dip into the science fiction realm, and at the time of this article being written contains four chapters. It chronicles the bounties of a "Mortifier" and tries to take a mature balance between humour and darker topics.

Though currently going through his last year in Highschool, on top of writing, editing and reading everything from Science Fiction to Fantasy to Romance, he has started up a Book Club on Wattpad. Called The Book Cult, the club was set up initially for his friends at school. Though he quickly found that managing the club was a little trying, he is dedicated to continuing within the greater Wattpad community in order to spread the sense of community and appreciation for literature through Wattpad and beyond.

His thoughts on the Circle: "You guys welcomed me in when I stumbled upon the forum. The randomness and cookie jokes made me feel at home, and I doubt any other club could replicate that for me. His favourite author at the moment is Old Man Ben (one of the founding members of the Circle of Jerks), who lured him in with his sprawling fantasy, the Gray Mage of Yarborough.

When speaking about how he puts pen to paper, Senor Potato says: " My writing process revolves around writing down whatever comes to mind before going back and editing it. No idea is stupid or strange if you wholeheartedly believe in it. Writing is a skill that takes time to perfect. Trust me, I'm still an amateur. I know I'll keep working away until my wrists fall off, so never lose hope."

(Know a Jerk worthy of a Feature? Nominate someone today in the inline comments! The writer with most nominations by the last week of the month will be asked if they want to participate!)

Poetry Corner

Have a poem you would like featured in an issue? Send us a PM and join the Circle!

Writer's Tips

Creating the habit of writing.

Whether you are someone who is just starting out on the road of writing the stories in your minds, in search of an outlet for the thoughts and feelings in your mind; a writer who took a longer breath than intended and is now searching for a way to start again; or maybe just a writer looking for better habits. One trick about writing is: To Write.

So what does that mean? It could be a million different things depending on the day or writer. Do you plan and outline before you even contemplate opening up a word processor? Do you just sit down and put words to paper? Are you a typer? Or maybe you use pen and paper before transferring it later after the first round of edits. It doesn't matter. That is your process and only yours will work for you in the long run.

But at the end of the day ( or start of the page) You need to sit down and put your story into words. We recommend creating a small goal for yourself, a daily word count that you need to hit. Your goal should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) The first two we've already addressed. The third one, Achievable, is pretty important in this instance.

Make the amount of words something that challenges you, but not so much that you give up. Sure, you would love to say that you write 1,700 words a day ( At that rate you'd write a novel in around a month!). 250 to 500 is a good amount to start off on. If you have a story you are working on, great. If not, then use prompts to just write microstories, to get the words flowing. If you hit a roadblock on your story, reassess, give yourself some breathing room and look at writing something else for a bit. We'll mention writing prompts again, just for good measure. There is a plethora of them on the internet as well as resources here in the Jerk Community to help you with prompts. A prompt is anything ( a statement, a story suggestion, a picture, a song) that you use as inspiration. You look at the prompt then let your mind wander on that topic. Then you sit down and let the words flow out of you.

As you create the habit, you will be able to expand that goal more and more. Jerk writer BksbyBkr started with NanoWrimo, aiming for the 1600+ words a day for a month. Now, writing is so much an addiction that she sometimes puts down over 10k words a day. (on non-working days, of course)

The biggest trick of creating the writing habit is that you write. Don't edit. Edit when you're done. You're going to have to edit your writing a million times over, believe us! But if you stop to edit as you write, you will interrupt the creative process and will sometimes stem the flow of ideas. Remember: The only person who can tell your story is you. And the world wants to hear your voice. Don't focus on the end goal, don't focus on wanting to get readers or fans or publishers. Focus on the story you need to tell and put your heart and soul into it. Put the meaning and the lessons and all your love into your writing. It will never steer you wrong. 

Pocket Prompt

As he flicked through the letters, a small, handwritten envelope caught his attention and his heart began to thump...

Art Corner

Have art that you would like featured in an issue? Send us a PM and join the Circle!

Parting Thoughts

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

- Anton Chekhov