Wesley Said:

New York City?

We Answered:

I live in Los Angeles and am familiar with the academy. this is my advice. the practical part of me says get the degree, preferable without loans and then, get a good job in new yourk and take the classes at the film academy.

the dreamer in me says get a visa, go to new york, find a job either driving a cab, working in a store, trudging packages around, anything to make money and take classes at the academy. give it a good ten years to see if you career takes off and then go back for the business degree.

in La, there are millions of classes to take on the side for working professionals, the New York Film Academy isn't the only game in town. many people work and take a film class on tuesday and thursday nights at UCLA or the LA Film academy. try to do this without incurring a million dollars ( or punds in your case) of debt.

Cody Said:

Employment in New York City & Manhattan?

We Answered:

Well, the point is if your parents can't help or you don't have an extra $65,000 laying around, you get a loan, like most people.
Now, if your school provides-studying abroad, you could come to America for more than a month and do whatever it is you have to do. Lot's of my friends from college here, go over to Europe for a couple months, to study abroad.
You will need those permits and visa and everything. Ofcourse, it's much much easier to find work in the US. There's lots to look into. You need to talk to a representative for your Embassy and US Embassy to have all the information you need, Including our laws. I don't think you wanna come over here, and do jail time, jails here are scary, especially if they put you in one in NYC or Jersey, the home boys would love you :) haha i'm j/k

But how long are you planning to stay? And I don't know pounds to american dollars.

What you could also do is look ahead of time for work, before you come over here, look for any company or whatever you find interest in and try to contact them whether it be through E-Mail or Phone, and you can send your Resume and information to them.

Clifton Said:

Based on the following do you think i will get into The Cooper Union in NYC?

We Answered:

I would say yes but you will never know unless you try.

Timothy Said:

HELP, Is this story good, and what can I do to make it better?

We Answered:

It's a good idea, and has potential to be great. Remember, books are like trees. The plot line needs to split a bit, (like a tree branch) the problem with a lot of good stories is that they are to short! I have that problem myself. You may want to add a few, what I call drift scenes, to spice it up and make it longer. For instance, the girl might have a boyfriend at the time, who the parents approve of, and she has to worry about choosing between what she wants, and what her parents want for her. Or maybe theres a girl back home that the boy still has a few feelings over, or maybe the girl follows him there because she "loves" him

As for the ending, it could just end with him dying, and you could have an epilogue. Maybe the girl meets the boys parents? Maybe the girl finally tells her parents everything she's been wanting to for years? Maybe the girls moves away and talks about what her life is like, living the way he told her.

if you need someone to bounce ideas off of, (or you want to whack me for being so annoying)
unearthly_vamp@yahoo.com

Wilma Said:

Writing a Query letter?

We Answered:

Firstly, there's nothing wrong with getting a start on a query letter now. If the agent or publisher requires the first 5-10 pages of your manuscript with the query then this means they know good writers tend to funk up the query, so they want to see the actual writing and make a decision based on that. If the publishers/agent does not want any sample pages then this means your query can make or break you with that agent and it does need to be nearly perfect, because your manuscript being read hinges on how well you describe your story in the query. You'll need to get feedback on your query from other writers to make sure you're on the right track. There are also places were you can read real and sample queries to see how they're written. Queries are probably the hardest part of novel writing (haha), but you shouldn't lose any sleep over it. Or, at least I wouldn't. If you don't have any publishing credits then just mention that it's your debut novel. If your novel is good enough then it won't matter if you have any publishing credits. One more thing, from the agent websites I've looked at, they've usually stipulated upfront whether or not they're looking for published authors. Same with publishers. So, if they don't mention on their website or in their submission guidelines that you need to be published then don't stress over it. One note, never mention in your query how you've been writing or have loved writing your whole life. It has nothing to do with your novel and this personal information will have no impact on their decision (it's a waste of space and a common mistake).

Secondly, if all these people told you your work is great then that's a red flag that they shouldn't be critiquing your work, especially if you're serious about getting published one day. People who heap praise on your work and can find little to nothing wrong with it does not help you grow and get better as a writer. They hold you back. Your main goal is to know what you're doing wrong, why it's wrong, and how youll make it better. If you just want someone to stroke your ego then you'll find it difficult to get published because you won't be open to real criticism. You're virtually a new writer and amateur writers don't write professionally on their first try.

If you want serious critiques then stay away from (most) teens and your family and friends because they most likely don't know what's required of publishable novels and they don't know the elements of literature. You need to find serious writers who can critique your character and plot development, dialogue, narration, and whether or not the different literary styles you're employing actually work. Your novel can be as entertaining as they come, but it'll be rejected if it's not expressed well, and that includes having good grammar.

Congrats on the degree. See if you can take a creative writing class as an elective to help you get started, assuming you already haven't. GL.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums has examples of successful query letters that you can read. You can also read how other query letters are critiqued and apply those same standards to your query. If you haven't finished the novel, that should be your main concern because a query won't matter if you haven't completed the novel. Don't use obsessing about the query letter as a way to procrastinate with your writing.

Leo Said:

Can I get into law school with what I have?

We Answered:

While your resume is good, and that does count for something, it really comes down to GPA and LSAT. Your GPA is kind of low for political science (depending on where you're planning on applying of course). The best thing you can do is get a great LSAT score. It's good you're taking the course. Take it seriously and do a ton of questions, and you should be able to get a good score and get into those schools you want.

Katherine Said:

Is This A Good Novel? How Successful could it be?

We Answered:

Success? You want to talk about success? Before you can even think about success you need to think about getting an editor so this can be published [which I highly doubt will ever happen because the publishing process isn't glitter and unicorns, you know], and before you can even think about that you need to write, and before you can even think about that you need a halfway decent plot and some talent.
Your summary/plot - Basically, the summary seemed like blah blah, nothing happens, blah blah, at the end something totally unexpected suddenly happens and he dies. Lovely. [Not.] How long do you intend this to be? Because if it's 300+ pages of their 'secret dating', I'd get terribly bored. How do you plan to keep the intrigue up?
As for you preface, toss it. That's no way to start a story. If you think that people will be interested in your story if it begins with lengthy descriptions of several characters' hair colors, then you're sadly mistaken. Start with something interesting, not "This is what Alex looks like. This is his personality. This is what Nick is like."